The Plaza Hotel

The Plaza Hotel is an eighteen story hotel at 768 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, overlooking Grand Army Plaza and Central Park South, designed by the architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh in a French Renaissance-inspired chateau style with a steep mansard roof and opened on October 1, 1907, replacing an earlier Plaza Hotel of 1890 on the same site. The firm Warren and Wetmore added an annex between 1919 and 1921, and the building's original construction cost of 12.5 million dollars was exceptional for its era. Once holding more than 800 rooms, the hotel was converted in a 2008 renovation into 282 hotel rooms alongside 181 residential condominiums, while retaining grand interior spaces including the Oak Room, the Palm Court and a large ballroom. Designated a National Historic Landmark and a New York City Landmark, it is now owned by Katara Hospitality and operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.