New Delhi: The Lotte New York Palace is definitely magnificent and has been a Midtown New York landmark since the 1880s. It started off as the private home of a railway magnate who yearned for a Roman palace close to home. It was still in use as a hotel in the 1980s, when Leona Helmsley (also known as “The Queen of Mean”) ran it infamously.
However, for millennials, it will always be best remembered as the glitzy setting for the CW’s frothy fictitious programme “Gossip Girl,” which followed the lives of young members of high society and their scandals.
The Lotte New York Palace is a five-star hotel with 733 guest rooms and suites that is situated at the corner of 50th Street, approximately 10-15 minutes from the famous Central Park.
The prices for the hotel’s rooms can range from about Rs 48,000 per king-size bed to more than Rs 12 lakh per night for the opulent Towers Penthouse Suite, according to the website. The hotel is a 51-story skyscraper with a height of 563 feet.
The hotel gained notoriety in the 2000s thanks to the television programme Gossip Girl, in which Blake Lively’s character Serena van der Woodsen lived there.
Barack Obama and Donald Trump were also guests at Lotte New York Palace in the past. PM Modi has previously stayed at the hotel.
According to News18, the 51-story tower with 733 rooms and suites provides a variety of rooms starting at Rs 48,000 (king-size bed) per night and going as high as Rs 12.15 lakhs (penthouse) per night.
The Palace and The Towers are the two different lodging options offered by the upscale hotel, according to its official website. The penthouse in The Towers can cost up to Rs 12.15 lakhs, while available rooms in The Palace can cost up to Rs 89,000 per night.
When businessman Henry Villard hired McKim, Mead & White to design six exclusive townhouses on Madison Avenue, known as The Villard Houses, the iconic building was created.
The upscale hotel was bought by the Sultan of Brunei in 1992 and later sold to Northwood Investors in 2011, according to Hindustan Times. The opulent hotel was purchased by Lotte Hotels and Resorts of South Korea a few years later (in 2015).
A state-of-the-art fitness centre, spa, Les Clefs d’Or concierges, business centre, 30,000 square feet of meeting and event space, salon, and other amenities are available at the opulent five-star hotel.
