I have always wanted to spend a night at New York’s iconic Algonquin Hotel, and I finally got my chance. Was it all it’s cracked up to be? Well … not exactly. But I still enjoyed my stay.
As a writer, the Algonquin holds a special allure because of the famous Algonquin Round Table. It involved members of “The Vicious Circle” from 1919 to 1929, who met for lunch at the Algonquin’s restaurant every day. These members included Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, Edna Ferber, playwright George S. Kaufman, The New Yorker founder Harold Ross, playwright Robert E. Sherwood, critic Alexander Woollcott, and others.
Noel Coward, Harpo Marx, and others of the day were also known to make appearances at the Round Table. The New Yorker may have been conceived there, as Harold Ross founded it in 1925 after winning money at a poker game with other members of The Vicious Circle.
John F. Kennedy once said, “When I was growing up, I had three wishes – I wanted to be a Lindbergh-type hero, learn Chinese and become a member of the Algonquin Round Table.”
The building is Beaux-Arts style architecture and was built in 1902 on West 44th Street between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), which is close to the theater district and Radio City Music Hall. Part of the Historic Hotels of America and a Marriott Bonvoy property today, it has been given four stars. Of course, prices are much higher today than the $2 per night when it first opened. It’s 12 stories high and has 181 rooms, including suites named after Round Table members.
The Blue Bar in the lobby of the hotel has blue lights over it at the suggestion of actor John Barrymore. It opened in 1933 at the end of Prohibition and is graced with drawings by cartoonist and Algonquin regular, Al Hirschfeld.
The Algonquin is also famous for its resident cat. The first one was named Billy. After his death, a stray cat made his way into the premises and was eventually named “Hamlet” by John Barrymore. Since then, there have been many resident Hamlets, along with three female cats named Matilda. The current kitty is the 8th Hamlet, and he’s featured on the notepad found in the rooms. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found during my recent stay.
While I didn’t dine at the Round Table Restaurant, I enjoyed a standard room for one night. I loved the classic decor, and I was excited to discover that it was next door to the Robert Benchley suite and could even apparently adjoin that suite. The only named suite mentioned on the hotel’s website is the Barrymore Suite, but I assume there’s also at least one named after Dorothy Parker in the hotel. She was purportedly living there at the time of her death, leaving an unpaid tab.
My 165-square foot room had a queen-size bed, large television, desk, safe, two complimentary bottles of Evian, and an iron and ironing board. While the hotel’s website says I should have had a bathrobe, there was no robe in my closet.
I especially loved the Roman-style shades, but the temperature situation in the room was problematic. There was no thermostat to be found, and the heat that emanated from the heater/fan/air conditioner below the windows was too much, even at its lowest setting.
Yet, turning it off soon made the room too cold. I found myself getting up in the middle of the night to turn off the heat and then needed to turn it back on in the morning. I assume this is a problem due to the age of the building.
The service and ambience at the Algonquin was lovely, and with the exception of the thermostat issue, I would recommend it. I can’t speak to how the air conditioning would fare in the heat of summer, however.
Regardless of the temperature issue, it felt wonderful to be in the building that was so important to literary icons and such a vital part of the history of my city.
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