The Roger Smith Hotel was a family-run hotel established in 1929 and located at 501
Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street (Manhattan), 131st Street to Gra ...
in
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 ...
,
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 ...
.
History
The hotel was built as part of a chain of Roger Smith Hotels. The Roger Smith Corporation opened the first Roger Smith hotel in
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford () is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, Connecticut, Weste ...
on December 29, 1928 with Frederick Charlton as its first manager. They went on to add seven other hotels to the chain over the next ten years. The
Elton Hotel
The Elton Hotel is located at 30 West Main Street in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is an early 20th-century building by local architects Griggs & Hunt in the Second Renaissance Revival architectural style.
It was built in 1 ...
in Waterbury, Connecticut, was a Roger Smith property when John F. Kennedy made an important campaign stop there November 6, 1960, just before his election. The Stamford branch was demolished in 1981. The Roger Smith Corporation bought the Behriont Hotel, located in
White Plains, New York
White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...
, and Hotel Brittany in 1931. The Brewster Hotel and the Hotel Cameron were acquired in 1934. Other hotels were added to the Roger Smith chain in
Holyoke, Massachusetts
Holyoke is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, that lies between the western bank of the Connecticut River and the Mount Tom Range. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 38,247. Loca ...
in 1937,
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.47th Street and
Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side (Manhattan), East Side of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street (Manhattan), 131st Street to Gra ...
in Manhattan, was taken over by the Roger Smith Corporation in 1938. Prior to that it was called the Hotel Winthrop, whose building had been constructed by Hearn & Erich in 1926. The hotels in the chain were either destroyed due to dilapidation or changed ownership, as was the case of the White Plains branch. James Knowles took over the management of the Manhattan hotel in 1988 and it is perhaps the only of the eight hotels still bearing the name Roger Smith. Knowles is a painter and sculptor. He graduated from
Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
and the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
with degrees in painting and sculpture. His father-in-law was Oscar de Lima, who had run the Roger Smith before him. Knowles took over the property after de Lima's death in 1987.
The hotel closed in 2021 and was sold to a timeshare company in 2022. The vacant building was resold in January 2024 to another timeshare company, Holiday Inn Club.
Architecture
The current structure features 136 rooms. The building's facade is made of bricks. The decor is heavily influenced by art and features artistic pieces created by Knowles, who is both the hotel's president and artist-in-residence. Two pairs of bronze statues adorn the main entrance.