November 06, 2007

The Pierre closing for $100 mln renovation on Dec. 31

The Pierre will temporarily close as a hotel December 31 for a $100 million renovation of its 200 rooms, Cafe Pierre and the bar, but its already-renovated banquet spaces will remain open for business during 2008, property manager Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces said in a statement dated Monday.

The Pierre plans to reopen as a hotel in "early 2009."

The 42-story Pierre, which first opened to the public in October 1930, originally had 700 apartments, including ones occupied by "upscale guests, who leased apartments in the building long term, " according to the book "Grand Hotels of the Jazz Age: The Architecture of Schultze & Weaver," edited by Marianne Lamonaca and Jonathan Mogul.

If you want a room for the last night at The Pierre, your options start at $500, rising up to $4,635 for the grand one-bedroom suite, breakfast included.

The Pierre is located at Fifth Avenue at 61st St., map. (Conveniently, Google Map's street view shows you what the hotel looks like amid renovation, since its construction materials for the earlier work blocked the Fifth Avenue sidewalk for quite awhile.)

The Pierre's closing should coincide with the nearby reopening of The Plaza hotel, which is still shooting for a December 3 debut, according to its website.

Earlier: NY's golden hotel era architects: Schultze & Weaver
Money-losing Pierre hotel to close for renovations

November 6, 2007 09:21 AM in Architecture, History, Hotelology, Upper East Side

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