The UWS has a rich architectural history, and among its many impressive pre-war buildings there are some that were originally designed as hotels. Below we’ve listed some of the more notable ones in this category.
The Ansonia
2109 Broadway, between 73rd and 74th Streets
Let’s start the list with the famous Ansonia, a building that has been inhabited by many famous New Yorkers. William Earle Dodge Stokes commissioned Paul E. Duboy to build the Ansonia Hotel in 1899. Guests stayed in luxurious apartments, some of which included drawing rooms, libraries, and formal dining rooms.
Perhaps the most outrageous feature of this former hotel was the lobby fountain that housed the LIVE SEALS. Today the Ansonia is a full service condominium with a good volume of trade. Floor plans range from studios that were once maids rooms to massive four bedrooms and beyond.
Continue reading: EARLY 1980s STORIES OF ANSONIA
Bretton Hall
2350 Broadway, between 85th and 86th Streets
Photo by Jim.henderson via Wikimedia Commons
The architect Harry B. Mulliken, now a residential building, built the Hotel Bretton Hall in 1903 and called it the largest hotel in Uptown when it opened.
Mulliken designed a number of other hotels, including the Spencer Arms at 140 West 69th Street (now a cooperative) and the Severn at 170 West 73rd Street (now a rental). He was also the architect of the Lucerne Hotel at 201 West 79th Street.
“In the early 1980s, an organization called Artists Assistance Services rented apartments in Bretton Hall at lower prices to artists. One condition was that they had to share their rooms with a “cultural activity” such as a karate class, “read a 1985 New York Magazine article entitled” The Broadway Blues. “
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The Alden
225 Central Park West, between 82nd and 83rd Streets
Photo by Patricia Youngquist
The renowned architect Emery Roth built this Historical building as Hotel Alden in 1926. In ours Interview with Roth’s great-granddaughter, Robyn Roth-Moise, we learned that the iconic architect himself lived in the building and that there was a popular restaurant in the lobby of the building. The sixteen-story building was converted into a cooperative in 1984.
The Park Royal
23 West 73rd Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue
The architect George F. Pelham built the Park Royal in 1926 website“The Park Royal was a new concept in New York living in the 1920s, the apartment hotel. It was intended as a home for those who did not want the hassle of private residence. The Park Royal would offer all the amenities of a hotel along with individuality for each resident to create a unique home. Only permanent residents were accepted. ”The building was converted into a cooperative in 1985 and is now mostly for his. known nice lobby.
The Orléans
100 West 80th Street on Columbus Avenue
That’s great Building from 1898 was designed by Buchman & Deisler as a 140-room hotel, its Upper West Side – loud Landmark west! – comprised three adjoining townhouses (215, 217 and 219 West 71st Street) and one townhouse at 20 West 70th Street, all built between 1891 and 1892. Although these are charming and attractive buildings, none could match the grandeur of their 80th Street project that would emerge 6-7 years later. In 2014, The Orleans was converted into a condominium with four and five bedroom mezzanines.
