New York's Giant Hotels.

Progress, Volume XIV, Issue 8, 1 April 1919, Page 476

New York's Giant Hotels.

The "Pennsylvania" and the "Commodore," the Two Largest Hotels in the World. The principal feature of interest which has occurred in New York during the past four weeks, was the opening of the two largest hotels in the world to the travelling public, known as the "Pennsylvania" and the "Commodore." The tide of travel constantly flowing into New York City, year in and out and during all seasons, has created a demand for hotel accommodations which are generally acknowledged to be unequalled by any other city in the world. The new hotel Pennsylvania," located on Seventh Avenue immediately opposite the igreat Pensylvania Railroad Station, of which an illustration

is herewith presented, has the distinction of being the largest hotel in the world. This hotel has 2200 rooms. It has twenty-two floors from the street level to the roof inclusive and three levels in the pent house. , The entire plot of ground on which it is erected measures 200 x 400 feet "and is covered with solid building for four stories above the street level to the approximate height of'the Pennsylvania Station on the opposite side of the street. The exterior treatment of the building consists of Indian limestone and buff brick. The centre of the Seventh Avenue facade consists of a portico of six lonic columns, which mark the main entrance of the hotel. The building is set back fifteen feet on Seventh Avenue, thus producing a plaza in front of the station. The lower floors are devoted mostly to public rooms, and on the street level are located the main

lobby, office, dining and tea-room, men's cafe, bar and shops of various kinds. The office lobby, which is the largest of any hotel in the city, immediately on entrance creates an atmosphere of comfort and cheerfulness. Sixteen great fluted columns rise from the floors, with a mezzanine gallery midway between the columns. Off this mezzanine promenade are located the writing room, library, ballroom and hairdressing parlours, and a step up from the gallery level, on the front of the house, there is located a fascinating shopping arcade, which consists of a succession of small shops, where the traveller may purchase almost anything he requires.

Above the lower area the shape of the building

has been devoted to the typical floor plan for bedrooms and large alternate wings with wide courts adopted.. There are a total of four bedroom wings, each wing being 54 feet wide over all, the three courts being each 40 feet in width. Each bedroom has its own bath and there are seventeen bedroom floors averaging 125 bedrooms to a floor. Two of the floors are equipped with special sections composed of living and reception rooms, pantry, diningroom and bedroom, which permits of from three to ten rooms being thrown into one suite. On the first bedroom floor two Turkish baths, one for men and the other for women, are located. The Seventh Avenue roof, facing the Pennsylvania Station, contains a garden restaurant, the second wing roof being left uncovered for use as an outdoor lounging space accessible from the roof garden by a wide bridge across the first court.

An unusual innovation in connection with this hotel consists of the bedroom doors which are ordinary doors, but instead of the usual panel each door is fitted with a contrivance which permits of room service without intrusion of servant, the guest opening the door panel and placing in a miniature closet clothes to be cleaned and pressed, shoes to be polished, etc. From opposite panels the articles are taken and returned by the servant, a signal being displayed to the occupant of the room announcing that the service has been rendered.

The new "Commodore" hotel is located at FortySecond Street, next to the Grand Central Station. It is twenty-eight storeys above the street grade with five levels below the street, a part of the structure being erected over the New Subway extension. This hotel contains 2000 rooms and as many baths, all of which are outside the room. The main lobby is unique and designed to facilitate the comfort of the many guests to be cared for. The feature of the main lobby is a row of massive columns, which produce the effect of an Italian garden, a mezzanine igallery affords a promenade and lounging space about the colonades. The grand banquet hall is designed along lines of French Empire periods. The main restaurant has a ceiling modelled with Italian Arabesque ornament, suggesting the fresco decorations in the Vatican and the Villa Madonna in Rome. There is also a commodious men's cafe designed in the English Tudor style with a grill room in Tyrolean effect. Thousands of guests visited the opening of both hotels, 2500 participating in the dinner-dance on the night of the opening of the Pennsylvania. Visitors and guests at the Hotel Commodore are greatly interested in its many new ideas in hotel operation and equipment and it is claimed that it represents everything that is up-to-date in hotel construction. Its service will be all that the most discriminating traveller could desire. But few New York hotels enjoy such close railroad and rapid transit connections. The present era of magnificent equipment is illustrated in a marked degree by the two new giant hotels just opened for business.