You can book New York's The Plaza again
Kitty Bean Yancey, USA TODAY, 9/25/2007 (excerpted)
The venerable hotel at the foot of Central Park is turning 100 and reopening by early January after a two-year, $400 million renovation.
I was told there will be about 200 private apartments and about 150 condo units that can be rented out, plus about 130 hotel guestrooms. The hotel will be managed by Fairmont; I was quoted a room rate starting at about $750 plus tax for early January. Some rooms may be available as early as December; Fairmont is saying early 2008 for sure.
The bad news is there will be far fewer rooms than the 700-plus the Plaza used to rent out. The good news is that for those of us who can't always spring for pricey hotels is that the public spaces will be open again. So we can brunch in the restored Palm Court and have a drink in the Oak Bar. There also will be more shopping opportunities, opening this winter.
The Plaza, after all, is more than a hotel. It's the home of the fictional Eloise, the place where Mr. Big had his pre-wedding brunch in TV's Sex and the City , the setting for Neil Simon's movie Plaza Suite , where Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones had their wedding reception, and where thousands of Americans have had tea, become engaged, or pulled the drapes for a spectacular view of Central Park.