Apple's Famed Round Table Haunt Gets Facelift

Where: 59 West 44 Street [map], New York, ny, United States, 10036

6/21/2004 at 1:42 PM
Tags: Hotel News

All the wit that has passed through the halls of the Algonquin Hotel in NYC has finally peeled the New Yorker pages off the walls.

The hotel -- which has hosted the quips and smarminess of Dorothy Parker, John Barrymore, Elizabeth Taylor, Edna Ferber, Robert Benchley and Franklin P. Adams among other Round Tablers -- will close for a month, starting June 27, for renovations of its public spaces and guest rooms, including the famed Oak Room cabaret and the mysterious Round Table room.

"Staying open while completing this work would not have been consistent with the Algonquin's reputation as an oasis of quiet civility in the center of our bustling city," General Manager Anthony Melchorri told the AP last week.

The Algonquin opened in 1902 and became the spot for hipster writers with attitude in the 1920s.

After the renovations, there'll be wi-fi in the lobby, and each of its 174 rooms will have internet access and flat screen TVs.

It's gonna be the bee's knees again in no time, baby -- the real cat's pajamas, I say.