The hotel was built in 1905 as the Gotham Hotel and was designed in the neo-classical style. It went into bankruptcy in 1908, partly because it could not acquire a liquor license as it was too close to the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Also, it was overshadowed by more luxurious hotels, like the St. Regis across the street and the Plaza Hotel just a few blocks north. The hotel was acquired in the 1930s by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. As they needed the maximum amount of leasable retail floor area, the company tore out many of the hotel’s public rooms. In 1979, the Swiss hotel owner Rene Hatt took over the hotel and started a long renovation process, intending to reopen it as the Nova Park Hotel. It was this renovation which added the hotel’s rooftop pool and fitness centre. The Nova Park plan eventually failed, collapsing in a bankruptcy, foreclosure and a series of lawsuits. The hotel was finally reopened in 1987, after $200 million of work, as the Hotel Maxim’s de Paris, an outpost of the famed Parisian restaurant Maxim’s. That enterprise quickly failed, and the hotel was sold in 1988 to its current owner, the Peninsula group. It spent $45 million on a second renovation in 1999.
The hotel offers a limousine transfer service to New York’s three main airports: John F. Kennedy International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. For these transfers, there is a choice between limousines or Mini Clubmans. The five function rooms have a combined floor area of 3,300 sq ft (31 m²). The hotel has three restaurants: the Yabu Pushelberg-designed Clement Restaurant and Bar (named after Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels‘ CEO, Clement Kwok), the Salon De Ning rooftop bar and terrace (which offers views of Fifth Avenue and the Manhattan skyline), and the Gotham Lounge (named after the hotel’s original name). The fitness centre at the hotel is located on the top floor. The pool is in a glass-enclosed room, and during the summer, a sundeck is available. The hotel’s spa is one of the biggest in New York City, with a floor area of 35,000 sq ft (3,300 m²) over three floors, and it is one of only two Forbes Five Star-rated spas in the city.
