Hotel Pennsylvania Facts for Kids

Hotel facts and statistics
Hotel Pennsylvania
Quick facts for kids 7th Avenue entrance of Hotel Pennsylvania

Address
Opening date	January 25, 1919
Developer	Pennsylvania Railroad
Architect	McKim, Mead & White
Owner	Vornado Realty Trust
No. of rooms	2,200 at opening, 1,704 currently
No. of floors	22

The Hotel Pennsylvania is a famous hotel in Manhattan, New York City. It is located right across from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden. When it opened, it was one of the biggest hotels in the world. It closed its doors on April 1, 2020.

Discovering the Hotel's Past
The Famous Cafe Rouge
Exciting Events at the Hotel
The Hotel in Movies and TV
Gallery
See also

Discovering the Hotel's Past

How the Hotel Began

The Hotel Pennsylvania first opened on January 25, 1919. It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad company. The hotel was designed by William Symmes Richardson. His firm, McKim, Mead & White, also designed the original Pennsylvania Station nearby.

Changing Names and Owners

The hotel has had many names over the years. From 1919 to 1948, it was called the Hotel Pennsylvania. Then, in 1949, it became the Hotel Statler after Statler Hotels bought it. In 1954, Conrad Hilton bought all Statler hotels, and it was renamed the Statler Hilton.

Later, in 1979, the hotel was sold again and became the New York Statler. In 1983, it was bought by a group of companies, including British Airways and Lufthansa. They renamed it the New York Penta and gave it a big makeover. Finally, in 1991, it went back to its original name, the Hotel Pennsylvania.

Plans to Tear Down the Hotel

Starting in 1997, there were talks about tearing down the Hotel Pennsylvania. A company called Vornado Realty Trust bought the hotel and wanted to build a new office building there. This plan caused a lot of discussion.

Many people wanted to save the historic hotel. Groups like the Save Hotel Pennsylvania Foundation worked hard to protect it. They asked the city to make the hotel a landmark, which would stop it from being torn down. However, in 2008, the city decided not to make it a landmark.

Even though there were plans to build a new tower, the demolition was delayed in 2011. In 2013, the owner, Vornado, said they would not tear it down. They planned to fix it up instead. But later, in 2018, Vornado again mentioned the idea of building a skyscraper on the site.

The Famous Cafe Rouge

The Cafe Rouge was once the main restaurant inside the Hotel Pennsylvania. It became a famous nightclub and music venue. Today, it is a separate event space. It is special because it still looks much like it did when it first opened.

Cafe Rouge's Unique Look

The Cafe Rouge was a very large room with high ceilings. It had a main floor and two raised areas. The design had an Italian feel, with special walls and a ceiling that looked like old wooden beams. There was also a large fountain at one end of the room.

The Big Band Music Era

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Cafe Rouge was a very popular place for music. Famous big bands played there, including The Dorsey Brothers, Woody Herman, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. Their concerts were even broadcast on the radio!

Glenn Miller Orchestra played many times at the Cafe Rouge. During one of their performances in 1940, the song "Pennsylvania 6-5000" was written. This song used the hotel's actual phone number, which is still one of the oldest phone numbers in use in New York City.

Cafe Rouge Today

The Cafe Rouge is no longer part of the hotel's business. It has its own entrance. Most of its original design is still there, including the fountain and the beamed ceiling. In 2014, it was even turned into an indoor basketball court called Terminal 23 for a short time.

Exciting Events at the Hotel

The Hotel Pennsylvania has been the site of many interesting events:

In 1924, the famous magician Harry Houdini showed that a young man who claimed to have X-ray vision was not telling the truth.
The writer William Faulkner, who later won a Nobel Prize, stayed at the hotel in 1925 while writing a novel.
In 1937, Benny Goodman's famous band played and broadcast from the hotel's Madhattan Room.
In 1959, Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba, stayed at the hotel when it was called the Statler Hilton.
The Muppet character Statler, from Statler and Waldorf, was named after this hotel when it was the Statler Hilton.

The Hotel in Movies and TV

The Hotel Pennsylvania has also been featured in films and television shows:

In the 1986 movie The Manhattan Project, the hotel was used as the setting for a science fair. The filmmakers actually held a real science fair there and filmed it!
In 1991, wrestling shows called UWF Fury Hour were filmed in the hotel's Grand Ballroom.
The hotel's Grand Ballroom was turned into a TV studio in 1997. Many popular TV shows like Maury and The People's Court have been filmed there.
In 2009, new studios were built in the hotel for the sitcom Sherri.