I found this history of the Plaza interesting. I’ve never been to New York and my only exposure to the Plaza was with Eloise and her adventures. I found the earlier history of the hotel more compelling than the more recent history of real estate transactions.

The Plaza by Julie Satow is a well written book about the Plaza. Lots of information and history of the famous hotel.

First of all, this is definitely one of those books that appeals more to a niche audience than to everyone. However, The Plaza is a landmark that everyone with a love of NYC knows and should learn a little more about. This microhistory provides plenty of background - maybe even too much. The in depth history of the hotel itself is fascinating, but it does get a little in the weeds on some parts. It would do well with a little more storytelling weaving together the drier parts into something a little more interesting.

I've always loved seeing the Plaza in movies and visiting it when I go to NYC. Eloise is one of my favorite children'ss book characters! However, as I started reading the history of the hotel I got bogged down by all the names and details. At some point, I may go back and read certain chapters, but sitting down to read it cover-to-cover was a no-go for me.

While this book was not for me, I could see others being really interested! The author clearly did her research and there are many fascinating tidbits in this book. If you're looking for a thorough history of the hotel and of NYC in general, this book may be for you!

This book was super good. It was super original and I flew through it. It didn't feel like anything I've read in the past. Can't wait to read more from the author!! This book was unputdownable.

Easy to read and attention getting as the reader follows the history of this hotel. Who knew that all the different owners each had a varied view of what The Plaza should be and how it was accomplished. Very entertaining.

This is rich in detail, which may be too much for some readers. Others will appreciate that detail. The book is well researched, and it is also a bit uneven, and some sections well bore some readers. It could be considered a nostalgia book. It's well done overall.

I really appreciate the review copy!!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book- the Plaza is a setting for so many different novels and films, I've always been curious about it. Satow covered a LOT of history here, over a century, and countless different figures. It did sometimes become a little overwhelming with detail, but overall, a fantastic biography of a historic landmark. A must-read for anyone who comes across the Plaza in their readings!

A bit too dry for my tastes, jumped around chronologically in a manner that I found distracting. I had hoped the historical aspect of this building to carry more weight, I suppose.

I found this book so fascinating, I've never been to NYC but of course I've heard and seen pictures of The Plaza. I think Julie Satow really brought it to life, there was a perfect mix of the actual building itself and the people involved with it. The whole story flowed with lots of information and was never dry or boring.

Really detailed history of a famous New York landmark hotel. Part of its fame is the long list of luminaries, good and not so good, that stayed there. WIth different owners and attitudes there are some fascinating stories. It is probably more meaningful if you have some connection to the hotel, however it is pretty interesting.

Some of the stories seem to stray from the story so it can drag a bit, Its a good story.

NYC, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting

It feels like a love song to the grand past of a once Grand Building that has evolved into a different time and incarnation. It's about all of the luminaries who stayed there and the impact they had on the hotel and on the public who adored them. And it's about the fascinating entertainer who embodied and wrote the iconic series of books about a young girl named Eloise and her home at the Plaza Hotel. I loved the walk through NYC history as viewed through the perspective of an iconic institution and it's patrons.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Twelve Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Thank you to Net Galley and Twelve Books for the chance to read and review this book. This is a very well written biography of one of the most famous hotels in New York. Even though The Plaza has been visited by many famous people throughout it's colorful history, it has had it's ups and downs. This book explores all the different owners and how each owner changed and remodeled the famous landmark. It was so fun to learn about this exciting place and all of the interesting people that have been a part of it. I really enjoyed this book-highly recommend!

Julie Satow's The Plaza is an interesting read - combining the stories of the characters that resided in The Plaza and the ins and outs of commercial real estate. The book proceeds chronologically from the building of the original plaza to the conflict of the present day owner.
I wish this book had either been fully focused on the gossip surrounding the bold-face name residents of The Plaza or on the hotel business/real estate dealings. As it stands, the book is about halfway to what I would like it to be.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an arc for review.

This book was 200 pages longer than it needed to be. The story of the Plaza Hotel was interesting however there were too many tangential stories that were unnecessary and distracting.

I’ve been lucky enough to stay at the Plaza when it was truly glamorous.A wonderful book about this New York landmark the gossip the history really enjoyed.#netgalley#the plaza

I’ve always been obsessed with this old NYC landmark and all its glamour. This book did it perfect justice to the majestic building. I loved it.

For anyone that loves or has lived in NYC, this book is for you - such amazing research - you’ll find out a whole new history and story to an iconic building/hotel that is just fascinating!

This detailed history of the Plaza Hotel is a mixed bag for the reader, whose enjoyment of this book will be largely dependent on how interested they are in the minutiae of commercial real estate. (File me under: Not very).

There is some fascinating information in this book, to be sure, particularly the chapters that focus on the early history of the Plaza. I just wish the author had focused more on the architecture, design, and goings-on at the hotel rather than the intricate financial circumstances present each and every time the hotel was bought and sold.

For the record, Satow acquits herself well on that topic in addition to the other parts of the Plaza’s history which were of greater interest to me. The entire book is well-researched and the information always presented well. I just wish the primary focus of the research included had been closer to what is advertised by the publishers summary.

The Plaza Hotel, at the gateway between Midtown and the Upper East Side, operates as its own neighborhood, a fishbowl of wealthy characters and eccentric personalities enamored by the iconic structure’s great charms.

In Julie Satow‘s rich and generously detailed new book, the famous hotel seems to breathe oxygen, its many notable and unusual guests bringing vibrancy to its 112 year old halls. I’m tempted to call this book a biography.

Satow, a real estate writer and New York Times contributor, never treats the Plaza Hotel, a luxury accommodation that most of us have never stayed in, like an untouchable antique. In retelling its history, she always links it to the city at large, to the changing whims of the metropolis.

What made the Plaza so exceptional when it opened in 1907 was that its treasured exclusivity could be admired by the public. The wealthy classes, escaping the confines of Fifth Avenue mansion living, began gallivanting in hotels like the Plaza where their fashions and foibles could be spied upon by the world at large.

“The Plaza and its compatriots became preeminent places to show off, enjoy one’s wealth and cement one’s status in high society,” writes Satow. “At the Plaza you could march through the lobby in the latest fashion and be assured of appearing in the society column, the hotel hallways being clogged with reporters in search of gossip to fill the next day’s papers.”

But the Plaza was not always filled with admirable or even friendly people, and sometimes likable people became irritable and weird here. The great Enrico Caruso once destroyed the hotel’s entire clock system in messy tantrum. So many wealthy dowagers lived at the hotel that they were at one point dubbed “the thirty-nine widows of the Plaza.”

The Plaza’s financial troubles paralleled those of the city at large, and the 1960s and 70s saw some dark times. They even evicted the beloved Eloise author Kay Thompson from her room. Madness!

And then Donald Trump arrives, purchasing his personal Mona Lisa (as he referred to it) in 1988. This accounts for his cameo appearance in the film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York which prominently featured the Plaza. It would cause the hotel some grief in later years.

“Once, a Plaza employee got in the elevator with a family decked out in bather suits and swim goggles. She informed the disappointed tourists that unlike in the movie, the real Plaza had no pool.”