Image via Complex Original
Originally thought to be at an equivalent level of glamor to the Fifth Avenue Hotel, the St Regis was built by JJ Astor IV to be solely owned by him. Unlike the Waldorf-Astoria, which was co-owned by his cousin WW Astor, the St Regis was to take advantage of the growing popularity of the uptown location.
By the turn of the 20th Century, the area just south of Central Park was becoming the hottest spot in the city. To this day the intersection of 57th and 5th is still considered the most lavish 4 corners in Manhattan. Only briefly was it marginalized with the presence of the Warner Brothers Studio Store until being ousted by Louis Vuitton in 2004.
Meet the hotel that started it all.
The Titanic Claims Hotel Owner's Life
At the suggestion of Astor’s niece, JJ named his new hotel venture after the St Regis Lake in the Adirondacks, itself having been named after the monk John Francis Regis, who was known for his hospitality. Sadly, only eight years after opening the hotel, JJ died on board the Titanic and his son Vincent eventually sold it to the Duke family.
In 1927 the Dukes added a new wing to the hotel on its east side along 55th Street, doubling the capacity to over 500 rooms. Later, the famous Maxfield Parrish painting of Old King Cole was relocated from another former Astor hotel, the Knickerbocker, and became the centerpiece and namesake of the famous bar where Fernand Petiot invented the Bloody Mary.
The Hotel Changes Hands Once Again
With the Great Depression the Dukes could no longer afford operating the hotel and sold it back to Vincent Astor, who then in turn took it upon himself to restore it to New York’s most elegant hotel.
With the younger Astor’s passing in 1959, the hotel was sold in several short successions until the Sheraton chain picked it up in 1966. After several renovations it was reopened in the fall of 1991 as one of the most luxurious hotels in the world and it eventually became the flagship of the Starwood Hotel brand of St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, which provide ultra-luxury establishments in major destinations.
Tiffany, Dior, and Bentley Provide Luxury Renovations
The original building is an 18-storey Beaux Arts style building with heavy baroque-esque ornamentation and a faux-mansard roof. Designed by the firm of Trowbridge & Livingston, it was the tallest hotel in the city when construction completed in 1904. The building was made a NYC Landmark in 1965.
The original interiors were by Arnold Constable, but much of those have been since entirely revamped. In fact, a series of interiors with luxury sponsorship were commissioned in the past couple of years. Tiffany, Dior, and Bentley are the first three to provide themed suites, with the latter providing access to the first 2013 Bentley Muslanne in the United States.