4. Astor House
Moving back to Manhattan, Astor House was the first luxury hotel in New York City, situated on Broadway between Barclay and Vesey Street across from City Hall. It opened in 1836 and had running water before the Croton Aqueduct was completed in 1842, and its distinguished guests included Abraham Lincoln, who gave a speech there before his presidential election.
Built on the former site of one of John Jacob Astor’s homes, the granite-covered hotel boasted more than 300 guest rooms that went around an interior courtyard. In 1913, the hotel was demolished in phases to accommodate the construction of the subway, one of many lost hotels of New York City that were related to the Astors.