The Ritz-Carlton Hotel was a luxury hotel in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, owned by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. It was located at 46th Street and

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

until its demolition in 1951.

History

In 1898,

César Ritz César Ritz, born Cäsar Ritz (23 February 1850 – 26 October 1918), was a Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Hôtel Ritz in Paris and the The Ritz London Hotel, Ritz and Carlton Hotel, London, Ca ...

founded the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company with the first location opening in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The Ritz-Carlton Investing Company was established by Albert Keller, who bought and franchised the name in the United States. The New York hotel opened in 1911; it was the first Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the U.S. The opening of the New York location was followed by expansion into

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

. In the early 1920s, there were 15 Ritz-Carlton hotels worldwide. Following its growth, the Ritz Carlton chain in the United States experienced a rapid decline. The Philadelphia hotel was converted into an office building and the Atlantic City hotel was sold. In 1951, the New York hotel was demolished to make way for an office building, leaving only the Boston location.

Later operations

In 1982, Blakely licensed the Ritz-Carlton name to hotelier John Bennett Coleman for two hotels Coleman was renovating, The Fairfax in Washington, D.C., and the Navarro at 112 (now 110) Central Park South in New York City. Coleman renamed them the Ritz-Carlton Washington, D.C., and the Ritz-Carlton New York in April 1982. The two hotels eventually joined the modern chain that would be founded a few years later. Ritz-Carlton's management of the New York hotel ended in 1997, with the hotel joining the Sheraton chain and becoming a Westin, and later an InterContinental. The building was converted to a luxury co-op in 2006. In 1999 Ritz-Carlton acquired the former Hotel St. Moritz in New York City. It was extensively renovated and re-opened in 2002 as a luxury hotel and condominium complex called the Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park.

Architecture

The 1911 Ritz-Carlton’s New York, located in

, was designed by

Warren and Wetmore Warren and Wetmore was an architecture firm based in New York City, a partnership established about 1889 by Whitney Warren (1864–1943) and Charles D. Wetmore (1866–1941). They had one of the most extensive practices of their time, and were e ...

and built in the

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

style. The hotel was constructed as a replica of the Carlton Hotel in London. On June 2, 1911, the New York Times announced a $1 million construction addition to the hotel. An 18-story structure was added to the main hotel, with a lower wing for a new ballroom with private dining rooms and a banquet hall. The addition increased the capacity of the hotel by about one-third. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, large scale infrastructure projects emerged throughout the city, such as the Williamsburg Bridge and the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

system. Consumer culture boomed with the development of luxury

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store under one roof, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made ...

Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is an American luxury department store based in New York City, founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf. , it operates a women's store and a men's store across the street from each other on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. ...

and Bloomingdale’s and mass amusement parks like

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

opened. It is in the context of New York City’s rapid industrialization in

Gilded Age In History of the United States, United States history, the Gilded Age is the period from about the late 1870s to the late 1890s, which occurred between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was named by 1920s historians after Mar ...

America that the Ritz-Carlton New York hotel opened. Between 1900 and 1915, the Midtown neighborhood was under constant construction. In addition to the Ritz-Carlton, many famous landmarks were constructed in Midtown in the same time period, including the

Flatiron Building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a 22-story, steel-framed triangular building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick P. Dinke ...

in 1902,

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal station, terminal located at 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York Ci ...

in 1913, and

New York Public Library Main Branch The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building (commonly known as the Main Branch, the 42nd Street Library, or just the New York Public Library) is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system in the Midtown Manhattan, Midtown neighborhood ...

in 1911. Although the hotel was demolished, the other buildings remain iconic pieces of New York Gilded Age Architecture.

Notable figures

Guests

* Barbara Hutton: Born in New York, cousin to Eleanor Roosevelt and one of the wealthiest women in the world at this time period, attended a lavish ballroom party held at the Ritz-Carlton in 1930. * Prince Paul Troubetzkoy: Russian prince and renowned sculptor, stayed at the Ritz-Carlton's New York location in July 1914. He notably requested accommodations for his two Russian shepherd dogs, even offering to book an entire suite for them.

Employees

: Swiss hotelier César Ritz established the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. * Louis Diat: Served as the head chef of the Ritz-Carlton New York until its demolition. Diat was a culinary innovator best known for creating modern vichyssoise, a cold leek and potato soup, in 1917. He trained under César Ritz, and worked at the Ritz-Carlton New York’s Roof Garden restaurant, where he brought French culinary traditions to New York’s high society. * Vincent Sardi Jr.: Trained at the Midtown hotel before working at his family’s famous Manhattan restaurant, Sardi’s.

References

{{Authority control 1911 establishments in New York City 1951 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 1951 Defunct hotels in Manhattan Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Demolished hotels in New York City Hotel buildings completed in 1911 Hotels established in 1911 Madison Avenue Midtown Manhattan