JW Marriott Essex House | |
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General information | |
Location | 160 Central Park South New York City, New York |
Coordinates | 40°45′59″N 73°58′43″W / 40.766252°N 73.978512°WCoordinates: 40°45′59″N 73°58′43″W / 40.766252°N 73.978512°W |
Opening | 1931 |
Owner | Anbang Insurance Group |
Management | Marriott Hotels |
Height | 461.0 ft (140.51 m) |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 43 |
Design and construction | |
Architect | Frank Grad & Sons |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 509 |
Number of restaurants |
South Gate Restaurant and Bar Lobby Lounge |
Website | |
JW Marriott Essex House New York |
The JW Marriott Essex House, opened in 1931 and commonly known as the Essex House, is a 44-story luxury hotel with 509 Art Deco style rooms, located at 160 Central Park South in Manhattan, across the street from the southern border of Central Park. The building also includes a large number of condominium residences. It is immediately recognizable by its original red neon rooftop sign.
JW Marriott Essex House New York is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Construction began on October 30, 1929, one day after the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The hotel was first intended to be named the Park Tower and then the Sevilla Tower. However the Great Depression slowed construction and the hotel did not open until October 1, 1931, as the Essex House. It was built on part of the expansive site of José Francisco de Navarro's "Navarro Flats", built in the 1880s as an experiment in condominium apartments.
The following year, the hotel erected its iconic six-story sign on the roof. It was also taken from its bankrupt owners by the US Government's Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which owned it for the next 15 years. In 1946, the hotel was bought by the Sterling National Bank & Trust Co. They sold the Essex House to Marriott Hotels in 1969, who operated it until 1985 as Marriott's Essex House. Marriott sold the hotel to Japan Air Lines (JAL) in 1985, who ran it under their Nikko Hotels division as Essex House Hotel Nikko New York. Japan Air Lines then sold it to Strategic Hotels & Resorts in 1999, who brought in Starwood Hotels to manage it under their Westin Hotels division as Essex House - A Westin Hotel.