Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Barbizon Hotel for Women, Ace Hotel, Hotel QT and others


About a week ago I watched Grey Garden's with Drew Barrymore as Edith Bouvier Beale and Jessica Lange as 'Big' Edith Bouvier Beale. The film was very well done, I liked it but with my modeling lifestyle what stood out was when I heard of Edith Bouvier Beale living in the Barbizon Hotel. Of course today I think Barbizon is full of crap- a waste of money for girls who seriously want to find work as a model- however when I researched Edith in Wikipedia I found: "From 1947 until 1952, she lived in the Barbizon Hotel for Women, hoping to find fame and possibly a husband in Manhattan/"

So Naturally I researched this hotel curious about it. This is what I found:

The Barbizon Hotel for Women, built in 1927, was symbolic of the cultural change as women began to come to New York City for professional opportunities, but still wanted a "safe retreat" that felt like the family home[2]. It is located at 140 East 63rd Street, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City, New York State, USA. It recently switched from hotel operations and has been renovated for condominium use.

For most of its existence, no men were allowed above the ground floor and strict dress and conduct rules were enforced. The hotel became a more standard hotel when it began admitting men as guests in 1981. In 2002, a $40 million renovation was completed and the name was changed to the Melrose Hotel.

Even after the condo renovation, there are still 13 women living under the old arrangements at the hotel.

The building includes a large indoor pool, and air rights to adjacent properties were purchased when the building was constructed, ensuring plenty of light and unimpeded views for the upper floors.


I love the history of NYC so I found this very Interesting.

My original hunt for interesting hotels started with a post I saw on StyleHive.com
about The Library Hotel, that stated "Each of the ten guestroom floors at the Library Hotel in New York City is dedicated to one of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System*: Social Sciences, Literature, Languages, History, Math & Science, General Knowledge, Technology, Philosophy, The Arts and Religion."

Then while in Philly this weekend with my family, my mom handed me a tear sheet from Budget Travel Magazine that featured New York City budget traveling and the Ace Hotel, where "guest are encouraged to color the rooms with paint ball and chalk.

Then there was a modeling job I did for Fuji TV, featuring in the Hotel QT on 45th Street, right off Times Square there is a wet bar, where you can take a dip in their pool and get a cocktail. That was my job for the feature, I showed off the pool with a cocktail in hand. The pool was able to be seem from the lobby. The hotel is now called Room-mate Grace, but the pool is still there.

No comments: