Canadian World Traveller Fallr 2016 issue American World Traveler Fall 2016 issue | Page 77

The historic Algonquin Times Square in New York City
by Mike Cohen
Located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, the historic Algonquin
Hotel commands the center of 44th Street, just a block and a half
away from Times Square. The Algonquin first opened its doors in
1902. Today it is part of the Marriott chain’s Autograph Collection.
For 100 years, the Algonquin has been greeting and lodging the
country's most prominent writers and literary personalities, as well
as the leading figures of the American stage. The hotel is best
known, perhaps, for the members of the Round Table, a group of
luminaries who had in common both the ability to fire blazing witticisms and to withstand being on the receiving end of them. The
tone they set during their daily meetings set the literary style of the
1920s. After World War I, Vanity Fair writers and Algonquin regulars Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley and Robert E. Sherwood
began lunching at the Algonquin. Though society columns referred
to them as the Algonquin Round Table, they called themselves the
Vicious Circle. "By force of character," observed drama critic
Brooks Atkinson, "they changed the nature of American comedy
and established the tastes of a new period in the arts and theatre."
Each of the 181 rooms and 25 suites features a comfortable welllit work desk, as well as complimentary Wi-Fi. Always one step
ahead of everyone else, the hotel was the first to offer accommodations to actors and single women travellers. We stayed in a very
comfortable one bedroom Noel Coward Suite, named for the legendary playwright, composer, actor, singer and director. There are
framed Playbill covers from Coward’s productions in the room.
The layout was ideally suited for us. There is a nice sized entrance,
with the master bedroom to the right, a large bathroom straight
ahead and the living room with a pull out couch to the left. But
that is not all. The latter is also somewhat of library, with shelves of
books to choose from. You can also download the special Folio
app, which will provide access to a wide variety of ebooks you can
read as long as you remain on the premises.
The Algonquin was recently the site of a large pre-Tony Award
party for the creative team and cast of Waitress.
Delighting thirsty revelers when it opened at the demise of the
Prohibition in 1933, The Blue Bar has moved – both physically and
eruditely – through decades of Times Square hotel bar trends.
There is also The Round Table Restaurant and the casual Lobby
Lounge.
As a cat lover we are always excite to see Matilda, the house cat.
She is a real beauty and can be found sleeping in atop her cat
house at the front desk or making her way through the different
cat doors o