Oak Room (Algonquin Hotel)
Coordinates: 40°45′21″N 73°58′56.4″W / 40.75583°N 73.982333°W
The Algonquin Hotel is a historic hotel located at 59 West 44th Street in Manhattan (New York, New York). The hotel has been designated as a New York City Historic Landmark.
The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwin Starrett. It was originally conceived as a residential hotel but was quickly converted to a traditional lodging establishment. Its first owner-manager, Frank Case (who bought the hotel in 1927), established many of the hotel's traditions. Perhaps its best-known tradition is hosting literary and theatrical notables, most prominently the members of the Algonquin Round Table.
The Algonquin Hotel was originally designed as an apartment hotel, whose owner planned to rent rooms and suites on year-long leases. When few leases sold, the owner decided to turn it into a hotel which he was originally going to name "The Puritan". Frank Case, upon discovering that Algonquian tribes had been the first residents of the area, persuaded the owner to christen it "The Algonquin" instead.
Case took over the lease on the hotel in 1907 and bought the property on which the building sat in 1927 for US$1 million. Case remained owner and manager of the hotel until his death in June 1946. In October that year, The Algonquin was purchased by Ben Bodne of Charleston, South Carolina for just over US$1 million. Bodne undertook an extensive restoration and renovation effort. Bodne sold the hotel in 1987 to a group of Japanese investors and the Algonquin changed hands a number of times before ending up with Miller Global Properties in 2002. Following a two-year, US$3 million renovation, the hotel was sold again in 2005 to HEI Hospitality.
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