The Commodore Hotel itself had fallen on hard times before the makeover. It had it's ups and downs...
https://fitzpatrickauthor.com/2019/0...mmodore-hotel/
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Designed by architects Whitney Warren and Charles D. Wetmore, who also planned Grand Central Terminal, and completed in 1919, the Commodore was named after Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, who built Grand Central. It offered 1,956 guest rooms on 28 floors, making it one of the largest hotels in the city. The Commodore claimed to have the largest banquet and ballroom in North America—it could seat 3,500 for dinner—and hosted many of the nation’s most distinguished functions. Its large ballroom and proximity to the train station made it perfect for public events held by political groups.
The Commodore has a rich history of famous visitors. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald moved to the hotel during their honeymoon in April 1920, after being thrown out of the nearby Biltmore. When they arrived, they pushed themselves around the revolving doors for half an hour. President Franklin Roosevelt watched his election returns here, and it was here in 1948 that Richard Nixon, heading a subcommittee of the House Un-American Activities Committee, confronted accused spy Alger Hiss with his accuser, Whittaker Chambers. Senator John F. Kennedy began his New York State campaign for the presidency here in September 1960.
Before it was renovated, the hotel also had the grim distinction of being one of the most popular locations in the city for people to leap to their death.
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https://www.iridetheharlemline.com/2...-hotel-part-1/
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Opened in March of 1919, the Hotel Commodore was one of eight hotels constructed as part of Terminal City, and one of three that was accessible without having to step outside from Grand Central. Named for “Commodore” Cornelius Vanderbilt, the hotel used a maritime motif throughout, from a terra cotta sailing ship decoration on the façade to the custom made brass doorknobs that likewise featured a ship on the water. Designed by two of Grand Central’s architects—Warren and Wetmore—the Commodore was certainly more reserved in aesthetic in comparison to the Terminal, yet still incorporated attractive French Renaissance elements. The George A. Fuller Company served as builder and general contractor, and this was the fortieth hotel that they had constructed at that point.
In total, the Hotel Commodore contained 2,000 guest rooms of varying sizes, each with their own private bathroom—something that wasn’t standard in hotels of that era. Though the hotel’s lower floors had a boxy footprint, the upper hotel room floors formed the shape of an H. Service and passenger elevators were located at the center of the H, which was connected to the east and west wings via a central hallway. Higher floors featured larger suites, with the fanciest rooms on the outward-facing sides of each wing, overlooking either Lexington Avenue, or Grand Central. Lower floors had smaller, more affordable rooms, some of which only contained showers as opposed to full bathtubs.
Although the hotel’s main entrance was on 42nd Street, a unique feature of the Commodore which was marketed to drivers was a special motorists’ entrance accessible from the Park Avenue Viaduct. Guests could park their cars outside this entrance and check in with the designated attendant, while their vehicle was relocated to the joint Biltmore / Commodore garage by valet. Due to the fact that the subway, as well as one of Grand Central’s loop tracks, run directly under the building, special considerations were needed during the construction and design of the hotel to limit vibrations from trains. For visitors arriving by train or through the front entrance, a short flight of stairs led to the check in counters on the mezzanine level, an atypical layout also necessitated by the unique geography.
Like many upscale hotels of the era, the Commodore had its own orchestra and staged supper shows every evening (except Sundays), which were also broadcast several days a week on local WOR radio. The Hotel Commodore’s orchestra proved popular even outside of New York, and even had a song reach the Top 40 for 1933, which you can take a listen to below. Bernhard Levitow and Johnny Johnson both served as leader of the ensemble, and a multitude of other musicians also guest starred. Hotels profited handsomely after the end of prohibition, and crowds flocked to see these dance bands at hotels throughout the city. Many guests must have been thirsty after dancing the Foxtrot and listening to the music, as beverage sales at the Commodore and other nearby hotels were up nearly 8 times in December 1933, compared to the same month in 1932, before prohibition’s repeal.
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Just as Grand Central experienced, time eventually took its toll on the Commodore. By the 1970s the hotel was losing money, and had earned a seedier reputation. Though the Commodore was the first hotel in New York City to offer in-room movies, New York Magazine noted that half of their library of films were X rated. The hotel’s manager at the time assured the publication that they were tasteful sex films, “not porn-house type movies” or “out-and-out skin flicks.” Yet not long afterward the hotel rented space to a massage parlor called Relaxation Plus, which you can watch their commercial and decide for yourself, or just read the court case where the hotel was finally fed up enough to evict the business for its improprieties.
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