There’s hardly a more iconic Manhattan street corner than 42nd and Broadway, which is in keeping with the illustrious history of The Knickerbocker, the majestic 16-story, red brick Beaux-Arts building with the mansard roof that has stood on that corner since its construction in 1906.
Originally built to be “New York’s very best hotel” by scion John Jacob Astor IV, The Knickerbocker was the birthplace of the Martini and so well-loved as a high-society playground that it became known as “The 42nd Street Country Club.” The bar featured a 30-foot-long mural of “Old King Cole,” painted by Maxfield Parrish (now housed at The St. Regis). Hotel residents included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Enrico Caruso, and George M. Cohan, while guests like John D. Rockefeller, for whom the Martini was created, dined at lavish parties, eating from solid gold dishes.
©The Knickerbocker
After closing in 1921 due, in part, to the financial toll of Prohibition, The Knickerbocker became an office building and, ultimately, the home of Newsweek. Named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, The Knickerbocker has been reborn as a luxury hotel again, with 330 guest rooms and suites, and a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, and rooftop lounge run by Charlie Palmer.
©The Knickerbocker
Opened in February 2015, The Knickerbocker has been transformed into a sleek and contemporary lifestyle hotel. Doormen and hotel attendants wear historic “knickerbockers” – but the lobby and reception area are void of any gimmicky frills and furbelows. Soaring silver-leaf ceilings and a restrained décor contribute to an atmosphere akin to a prestigious private residential tower.
©The Knickerbocker
The soundproof rooms with electric black-out window treatments average an expansive 350 square feet and include writing desk, lounge chair, and coffee table, while white marble bathrooms feature walk-in rain showers.
Located on the fourth floor overlooking Times Square, Charlie Palmer at The Knick is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as drinks, while Jake’s @ The Knick, a coffee shop and café on the first floor of the hotel serves coffee as well as pastries, granola, fresh fruit and flatbreads from 7 am daily.
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High atop the French Renaissance building, St. Cloud will open in spring 2015 as a stunning 7,500-square-foot rooftop aerie overlooking the glitter of Times Square. An open-air cigar lounge will be complemented by indoor and outdoor seating, as well as the exclusive Waterford Crystal Lounge. Throughout The Knickerbocker, the hotel’s signature Knickerbocker Martini is served from a portable bar cart.
©The Knickerbocker
A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, The Knickerbocker offers signing privileges and priority reservations at Palmer’s Michelin-starred Aureole, located just across 42nd Street.
Named in honor of the city’s 17th-century Dutch heritage, The Knickerbocker lives on today as a benchmark of 21st-century hospitality.
