InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel

InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel is a luxury hotel in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.

InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel
Front Entrance
General information
Location111 East 48th Street, on the west side of Lexington Avenue from 48th to 49th Streets, Manhattan, New York
Coordinates40.7556603°N 73.9742035°W / 40.7556603; -73.9742035
Opening1926
Technical details
Floor count14
Design and construction
ArchitectCross and Cross
Other information
Number of rooms702[1]
Number of suites32
Website
intercontinentalnybarclay.com

History
Maps from the 1920s (top) and the 1950s showing the site of The Barclay, center right

In 1926, the Vanderbilt family funded the building of The Barclay, a luxury hotel in Manhattan.[2] The New York Central Railroad built the hotel on air rights of its subsidiary the New York State Realty and Terminal Company and it was known to be elegant, glamorous and popular in social circles.[3] The Barclay was designed by the architects Cross & Cross who also designed the Tiffany & Co. flagship store.[4] In 1931, after the completion of Grand Central Terminal, the Barclay got power from hydraulic tanks in the basement of Grand Central.[5] Twelve years later, in 1938, Cornell Club of New York took over the entire third floor. [6]

In June 1978, Loews Hotels won a bidding war against a group of Middle Eastern investors, and purchased the Barclay, Roosevelt and Biltmore hotels for $55 million from the bankrupt Penn Central Transportation Company, which operated them through their Realty Hotels division.[7] The following month, Loews re-sold the Barclay to InterContinental Hotels, which renamed it The Barclay Inter-Continental. After a $32 million renovation, the hotel was renamed the Inter-Continental New York in 1982.[8] Another restoration in 1995 restored the lobby and public areas at a cost of $20 million.

The hotel celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 2001 and was rebranded the InterContinental, The Barclay New York.[9] In 2009, the hotel became the InterContinental New York Barclay.[10]

Tenants

Caswell-Massey had its flagship store in InterContinental New York Barclay for over 80 years. Caswell-Massey, the oldest chemist and perfumer in America, was the first and oldest tenant of the Barclay.[11]

Famous guests

Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlon Brando, Jimmie Durante, Debbie Reynolds, Ernest Hemingway and David O. Selznick all called the Barclay home.[12] In 1992, when Bill Clinton first ran for President, the Barclay was his New York headquarters.[13]

References
  1. InterContinental Barclay
  2. AOL-Travel
  3. "TLC-Magazine". Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  4. InterContinental Barclay Fun Facts
  5. "TLC magazine". Archived from the original on June 15, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  6. The Cornell Club of New York
  7. Horsley, Carter B. (July 29, 1978). "3 Prominent Midtown Hotels Sold; 2 May be Turned into Apartments". The New York Times.
  8. "Two vintage New York hotels regain past splendor". Christian Science Monitor. February 11, 1982.
  9. "InterContinental Hotel History". Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  10. "Sustainable Hospitality Council". Archived from the original on October 21, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  11. "Manhattan Blogspot". Archived from the original on August 5, 2015. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  12. "Travel Tips-New York Luxury Hotels". Archived from the original on May 1, 2010. Retrieved November 11, 2010.
  13. New York Archived October 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
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