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The 'Algonquin Hotel' is located at 59 West 44th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The 174-room hotel opened in 1902 and its first owner-manager, Frank Case (who bought the hotel in 1927), began its tradition of hosting literary and theatrical notables.

Contents

History

Hotel traditions

In popular culture

References

Bibliography

External links

History

The Algonquin Hotel was originally designed as an apartment house. When few apartments were rented, the owner decided to turn it into a hotel which he was originally going to name "The Puritan." Then-manager Frank Case, upon discovering that the Algonquin tribe had been the first residents of the area, convinced the owner to christen it "The Algonquin" instead.^[1]
In June 1919 the hotel became the site of the daily meetings of the Algonquin Round Table, a group of journalists, authors, publicists, and actors who gathered to exchange bon mots over lunch in the main dining room.^[2] The group met almost daily for the better part of ten years. This famous circle, as well as the number of literary greats who lodged there, earned the hotel its status as a New York City Historic Landmark. The hotel was so designated in 1987.^[3] Some of the core members of the "Vicious Circle" included Robert Benchley, Heywood Broun, Marc Connelly, Jane Grant, Ruth Hale, George S. Kaufman, Neysa McMein, Dorothy Parker, Harold Ross, Robert E. Sherwood and Alexander Woollcott.
Drama critic Brooks Atkinson is quoted on the plaque establishing the landmark, claiming of the Round Table, "By force of character they changed the nature of American comedy and established the tastes of a new period in the arts and theatre."
Renovations to the hotel were undertaken in the 1940s, 1980s and 1990s. An $8 million renovation was completed in 2004. While these renovations have modernized the hotel, it retains its old-fashioned decor. The hotel was sold in 2005 for a reported $74 million.
The Algonquin has a lively cabaret business in the Oak Room. The Blue Bar is located in a former horse stable adjacent to the building.

Hotel traditions

The hotel has a tradition of keeping a cat that has the run of the hotel. The practice dates to the 1930s, when owner-general manager Frank Case took in a stray. Hotel lore says actor John Barrymore suggested the cat needed a theatrical name, so he was called 'Hamlet'. Decades later, whenever the hotel has a male he carries on the name; females are named 'Matilda'. The current Algonquin cat, a Matilda, is an eleven-year-old Ragdoll who was named 2006 cat of the year at the Westchester (New York) Cat Show. Visitors can spot Matilda on her personal chaise lounge in the lobby; she can also be found in her favorite places: behind the computer on the front desk, or lounging on a baggage cart. The doormen feed her and the general manager's executive assistant answers Matilda's e-mail.^[4]

In popular culture

Owner-manager Frank Case wrote three books about the hotel:

★ ''Tales of a Wayward Inn''

★ ''Do Not Disturb''

★ ''Feeding the Lions'' (a cookbook)
Frank Case's daughter, Margaret Case Harriman, penned ''The Vicious Circle'' in 1950.
In 1984 the Algonquin appeared in Ghostbusters as the 'Sedgewick Hotel'.
The 1994 film ''Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle'' gives an entertaining celluloid portrait of the group at the Algonquin and elsewhere. However, the film was shot in Canada.
In 1996 the hotel was designated a national literary landmark by Friends of Libraries USA. The organization's bronze plaque is attached to the front of the hotel.
Each fall the hotel is host of "Parkerfest" sponsored by the Dorothy Parker Society. ^[5]

References

1. With Malice Toward All: The Quips, Lives and Loves of Some Celebrated 20th-Century American Wits, , Dorothy, Herrmann, G. P. Putnam's Sons, ,
2. History of the Round Table
3.
4. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5590366 The Algonquin Hotel's Feline Celebrity NPR 2006-7-29
5. Parkerfest

Bibliography

★ James R. Gaines, ''Wit's End: Days and Nights of the Algonquin Round Table'' (New York: Harcourt, 1977).

★ Kevin C. Fitzpatrick, ''A Journey into Dorothy Parker's New York'' (Berkeley: Roaring Forties Press, 2005).

External links

★ Official hotel site

★ NPR story on the diamond martini

★ Algonquin review from 1951

★ Algonquin Round Table site