At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel

by Curtis Gathje

At The Plaza is a pictorial record and an anecdotal history of the world's most famous hotel: New York's Plaza. As a story, it traverses the breadth and scope of Gotham's high society during the American Century. As a photo collection, it's like no other, capturing the hotel's remarkable presence on the ever-changing New York scene.

For almost one hundred years, The Plaza has mirrored the social history of Manhattan: its tastes in design, entertainment, restaurants and accommodations, as well as its adjustment to Prohibition, the Great Depression, two World Wars, the Cold War, women's rights, smokers' rights, animals' rights and British rock-and-roll. The first guests to sign the register-Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt-set the standard for the long procession of luminaries that followed: Mark Twain, Diamond Jim Brady, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marilyn Monroe, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and the Beatles, among many others.

In At The Plaza , the hotel's official historian has compiled a tremendous collection of photographs and vignettes chronicling the colorful history of a building, an institution, and a city.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 25, 2000

Reviews

[Sharon Barrow Wilfong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite coffee table sized, yet a very nice collection of photos, both black and white and color, dating back to the 1880s when the original Plaza was built and following its history through the years with interesting tidbits of the rich and famous who stayed there. It was a nice follow up to the previous book I read on this famous New York Hotel.

[L.M. Elm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great visual look at the history of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan in New York City.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice pictorial history of the great hotel.