Opening 1926 Architect Cross and Cross Number of suites 86 | Floor count 14 Number of rooms 685 | |
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Location 111 East 48th Street, New York, New York, United States | ||
InterContinental New York Barclay Hotel is a historic luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
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History
In 1926, the Vanderbilt family funded the building of The Barclay, a luxury hotel in Manhattan. The New York Central Railroad built the hotel on air rights of its subsidiary the New York State Realty and Terminal Company and it was known to be elegant, glamorous and popular in social circles. The Barclay was designed by the architects Cross & Cross who also designed Tiffany & Co. In 1931, after the completion of Grand Central Terminal, the InterContinental Barclay got power from hydraulic tanks in the basement of Grand Central. Twelve years later, in 1938, Cornell Club of New York took over the entire third floor. Ivy League Schools have used The Barclay as well.
In 1978, InterContinental Hotels purchased The Barclay from Loews Hotels which had bid on hotel assets of The Penn Central Corporation (ex- New York Central Railroad) which operated four Grand Central City hotels through their Realty Hotel Group one of which was The Barclay. The hotel went through a $32 million, four year renovation and became the Hotel InterContinental. Another restoration in 1995 restored the lobby and public areas and cost $20 million.
Hotel InterContinental celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 2001 by reclaiming its roots by renaming the hotel InterContinental, The Barclay New York. In 2009, the hotel went under another name change, InterContinental New York Barclay, combining both names from previous history of the hotel. The hotel also began a holistic sustainable hospitality program, “Sustainability in the City”.
Tenants
Caswell-Massey had its flagship store in InterContinental New York Barclay for over 80 years. Caswell-Massey, the oldest chemist and perfumer in America, was the first and oldest tenant of the Barclay.
Famous guests
Bette Davis, Gloria Swanson, Mary Pickford, Marlon Brando, Jimmie Durante, Debbie Reynolds, Ernest Hemingway and David O. Selznick all called the Barclay, “home”. In 1992, when Bill Clinton first ran for President, the Barclay was his New York Headquarters.