Bonus: Not One But Two Kinds of Landmark Status

The hotel’s history of lodging many famous writers and theatrical greats helped earn it a New York City Landmark designation in 1987, the year ownership switched hands from Bodne to a Japanese company. The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the hotel more so because of its history as a “watering hole for writers and actors” than for its architecture, designed by Goldwyn Starret.

Additionally, the literary greats that walked its halls, ate in its restaurants, and slept in its rooms earned the Algonquin a Literary Landmark designation by the American Library Association in 1996.

Next, check out the Algonquin’s $10,000 Martini and these 7 Historic Manhattan Hotels.