New York Condo Hotels: Everyday Luxury Living
By Jennifer Merritt

The most important part of any vacation is choosing the right luxury hotel, which is why plenty of people choose not to skimp on the sleeping arrangements. For some, it’s the allure of luxury, for others it’s spending a week or so at an exclusive address. Now, imagine if that luxury and exclusivity could be applied to everyday living …

Everywhere you look, big name hotels are being converted into luxury New York condo hotels, particularly in the Big Apple where space for new construction is limited. About 1,100 rooms per year are constructed in Manhattan, but more than that are converted to condos, reports the real estate watchdog Web site, Matrix. Some of the most famed properties are currently undergoing renovations into luxury New York condo hotels, which means turning vacation living into the every day just got that much easier.

One of the most recent upscale properties to be converted into a luxury New York condo hotel is the Mayflower Hotel, located at 15 Central Park West. At least 250 luxury apartments and four levels of stores now occupy the space between the Trump International Hotel and Tower and the Century and 30 Lincoln Plaza apartments.

Another New York condo hotel near Central Park is the Essex House on Central Park South between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. Only about 15 percent of the rooms were converted into condos, which means all the bellmen and whistles that come with staying at a luxury hotel can be incorporated into everyday life.

The Plaza Hotel, one of Fifth Avenue’s most revered landmarks, is another of Manhattan’s hotel properties to undergo such renovations. The hotel, also located off Central Park, closed its doors as The Plaza on April 30, 2005 and reopened in 2006 with 200 condominiums and 150 hotel rooms, in addition to new retail space. Despite the conversion to a luxury New York condo hotel, much of the Plaza’s original charm remains. The Oak Room, one of New York’s most well known restaurants, was largely unchanged, as was the hotel’s largest ballroom. The lure in converting the property was to live life as many of The Plaza’s frequent guests of kings, presidents, and movie and sports stars did—and still do.

Much like The Plaza, The Stanhope, located at 995 Fifth Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, is having 26 of its rooms reinstated as residences. The property, across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is being reconfigured for an early 2007 opening with 22 half-floor apartments, three full-floor apartments and one penthouse that boasts 7,000 square feet of living space and 5,000 square feet of outdoor space. Adding elegance and luxury to The Stanhope’s renovations is British architect John Simpson, who designed additions to Buckingham Palace.

Another property that underwent partial condo conversion is the St. Regis on 55th Street. Sales on the 24 condominium apartments and 22 New York condo hotel units began in March 2006, with 435-square foot studio apartments selling for $1.6 million. Meanwhile, the New York condo hotel units are more temporary and can only be occupied for half the year. Known as the St. Regis Residence Club, the properties offer butler service and interiors designed by Sills Huniford.

Originally constructed by Col. John Jacob Astor in 1904, the renovation is said to have kept much of Astor’s spirit intact. Part of the new construction included the building of a club-like bar room, replete with a mural of Maxfield Parish’s “Old King Cole,” originally a staple of the former Knickerbocker Hotel on Broadway and 42nd Street, also erected by Astor.