November 11, 2005
Buckingham Hotel reopens Martinelli Penthouse
The 75-year-old Buckingham Hotel last month reopened its rooftop Martinelli Penthouse, capping off the multimillion dollar modernization of the classical-music themed hotel located across the street from Carnegie Hall.
 Named for long-time resident and Metropolitan Opera tenor Giovanni Martinelli, the 2,000-square-foot penthouse on a private floor has king and queen bedrooms, a fireplace, stainless steel kitchen, flat-screen TVs, two bathrooms, and a 4-way wraparound terrace with views of Carnegie Hall and Central Park and midtown Manhattan skyline.
Closed for the past 50 years, it was also once used as a pied-à-terre and dance studio by Broadway showman Bobby Van.
The price: $2,500 a night.
The Buckingham also renovated the lobby, incorporating deconstructed-musical-instrument installations, Carnegie Hall-style red velvet, a gold leaf ceiling, musical-themed collages, ebonized ash-covered walls to evoke a Steinway piano and fiddleback anigre matching the back of a violin. The black ebony reception desk curves like a grand piano and floor lights shine through glass, changing color at the flick of a switch.
The design, led by Paul Taylor of the New York-based Stonehill & Taylor Architects and Planners, also incorporates a score by Polish composer and one-time prime minister of Poland Ignacy Jan Paderewski in his own handwriting, sandblasted onto glass.
The 1920s Emery Roth building, designed during the arts and crafts movement, now features the "Dancing King" stained glass entryway, which forms the hotel's logo.
The Buckingham Hotel is located at 101 West 57th St. at 6th Avenue, map.
November 11, 2005 02:54 PM in Architecture, History, Hotelology, Midtown
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