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Peter Walbrook

Some of Manhattan's most iconic buildings offer not only a place to rest one's weary  head, but also an atmosphere rich in history.

1. The Peninsula (below left)

Known as  The Peninsula New York  (www.peninsula.com) since 1998, this building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street opened as the  Gotham Hotel in 1905 and was at that point the city's tallest skyscraper. The law in those days stated no alcohol could be sold within 60 metres of a church, and since the  Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church was across the street, the Gotham was denied a liquor licence, failed financially and closed in 1908. Today, the name lives on in The Peninsula's Gotham Lounge, which serves afternoon tea and, ironically, evening cocktails.

2. The St Regis Hotel

Opened on the same street a year before the Gotham Hotel but, escaping the church's alcohol-restriction area by a whisker, the St Regis  (www.starwoodhotels.com/stregis) was the dominant local property for years. It seems to have been usurped by The Peninsula  but it remains a fine hotel, with a similar beaux arts interior, and is the flagship property of the St Regis group of hotels. It was built by  Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, who went down on the Titanic in 1912, the liner's wealthiest victim.

3. The Waldorf-Astoria (top centre)

At one time the largest hotel in the world, the Waldorf-Astoria  (www.hilton.com) is a combination of two hotels built by Astor and his cousin,  William Waldorf Astor.  Initially located on the site of the Empire State Building, it moved to its current location,  301 Park Avenue, in 1931. This was the first hotel in the city to serve as a place for socialising, rather than just as accommodation, something that came about in part thanks to the groundbreaking admittance of unaccompanied women. Today it is run by Hilton Hotels, which is planning a Waldorf-Astoria hotel brand - which will include a property in Singapore - to capitalise on the name of the original.

4. Hotel Chelsea (top, far right)

Hotel Chelsea opened in 1905 in an 1883 apartment building and has since been home to more celebrities than possibly any other hotel in the world. Names as diverse as  Jimi Hendrix,  Edith Piaf,  Henri Chopin,  Sid Vicious and  Mark Twain have all been on the guest list. Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey here, Dylan Thomas died here and  Ruth Harkness, who took the first panda to the US from China,  turned to the bottle here in her later years. A comprehensive history of the hotel can be found at www.hotelchelsea.com.

5. The Algonquin

Home to the famous  Algonquin Round Table of writers, actors and critics in the 1920s, the Algonquin  (www.algonquinhotel.com) opened off Broadway at 59 West 44th Street in 1902 and has been a  New York City Historic Literary Landmark since 1996. The hotel recently underwent an US$8 million renovation but most of the original decor remains, as does the hotel cat -  the latest in a line that has been in residence since the 30s. A couple of doors down the street, and also named after a Native American tribe, the 1923 Iroquois hotel  (www.iroquoisny.com) is a cheaper but similarly stylish alternative.

6. The Carlyle

Named after 19th-century Scottish writer and satirist Thomas Carlyle, the Carlyle Hotel  (www.thecarlyle.com) on Madison Avenue has been a  retreat for US presidents such as Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy. It has also been favoured by royalty from several European countries. Today, it's where you'll find Woody Allen blowing his clarinet of a Monday evening. The hotel's  Bemelmans Bar was recently voted one of the best in New York by Esquire magazine.

7. Hotel Pennsylvania

The largest hotel in the world when it opened in 1919 (introducing the first high-rise lifts to the city), the Hotel Pennsylvania has the distinction of having New York's longest-existing phone number: Pennsylvania 65000, which was made famous by  Glenn Miller - whose big band played at the establishment - in the song of the same name. Surprisingly, the hotel has been earmarked for demolition by its owners, although it is still operating and offers 'affordable accommodations' at  www.hotelpenn.com.

8. The Roosevelt Hotel (bottom right)

A New Year's Eve institution since bandleader  Guy Lombardo first conducted and popularised Auld Lang Syne for Americans here in 1929, the Roosevelt Hotel opened in 1924. Occupying an entire block on Madison Avenue, this property has more than 1,000 guest rooms and was the first hotel in New York to offer spa facilities. Oddly enough, it no longer seems to do so. This is a good choice of hotel for its central location, reasonable prices (if you book online at  www.theroosevelthotel.com), large rooms and heritage value.

9. The Sherry-Netherland

With a lobby 'inspired' by the Vatican Library, the Sherry-Netherland hotel (www.sherrynetherland.com) isn't the most understated of boutique hotels but its 50 spacious guest rooms are less chintzy than its entrance suggests. The construction scaffolding of the building caught fire just before the hotel opened in 1927, offering New Yorkers their first glimpse of a towering inferno. Fortunately, the main structure and its trademark minaret were not badly damaged, and this remains one of the most attractive buildings surrounding Central Park.

10. The Barclay

Now saddled with the cumbersome name  InterContinental The Barclay New York  www.ichotelsgroup.com), the original Barclay Hotel was opened by the Vanderbilt family in 1926 to rave reviews. 'For once I do not find a single detail over which to carp,' wrote  Gretta Palmer in The New Yorker. Celebrities who have stayed there include Nelson Mandela, Marlon Brando, Bette Davis and  Ernest Hemingway. Today, its location, close to the United Nations head-quarters, makes The Barclay a popular choice for world leaders and diplomats.



New York's historic hotels