Last year the Tiffany Suite at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City was redesigned. It’s a 1,700 square foot suite on the 14th floor overlooking Fifth Avenue and Central Park. The St. Regis was originally built in 1904 by John Jacob Astor and both the St. Regis and the Tiffany & Co. buildings are landmark buildings on Fifth Avenue. The suite has jewel inspired references and uses the ‘Tiffany Blue’ color as an accent color throughout. Above is a photo of the dining room and the team at Benjamin Moore especially selected these three colors for us that would be closest to the famous color. From top to bottom: Harbourside Teal #654, Coastal Paradise #655, Caribbean Cool #661. A custom paint color was created by the St. Regis design team and John Loring, Director Emeritus of Tiffany & Co, for the actual suite. The suite costs a cool $8,500 plus tax per night which includes a lot of amenities like 24 hour butler service, daily breakfast, airport transportation, champagne etc. etc.. The attention to detail is quite spectacular from the Tiffany china and glassware to the drawers being lined with Tiffany Blue which make it such an amazing experience. Wow. (for more interesting facts about the hotel see below)
How did J.J. Astor come up with the name for the hotel? After visiting a lake in upstate New York, Astor’s niece recommended he call it after the lake- St. Regis. Astor did some research on the name of the lake and it was named after a 17th c. French monk named Francois Regis who was known for his hospitality to travelers.
On September 4th, 1904 the St. Regis opens it’s doors. Trowbridge and Livingston were the architects and Arnold Constable did the interiors. The cost to build the hotel was 5.5 million dollars. (unheard of at the time- Astor spared no expense) The cost to stay at the hotel was $5/day.
In 1912 Astor divorces his wife Ava and marries a 19 year-old woman named Madeline which shocked New York Society. Sadly Astor drowned on the Titanic trying to save his dog from the kennels on the ship. He gave his new wife his seat on the life boat and she survived. His son vincent inherits the hotel, sells it and then later takes it over after a buyer defaults in 1935.
The popular “Bloody Mary” cocktail was invented by the St. Regis bartender, Fernand Petiot in 1935. It was originally called the “Red Snapper”.
In 1965, Harry Platt, then president of Tiffany & Co, began hosting supper dances in the Versailles Room and were the most sought-after affairs in New York. Famous guests at the time were Bing Crosby and Alfred Hitchcock.
The hotel went through many restorations over the years. Most recently in 1991 the hotel went under a 100 million dollar restoration, this is when the Tiffany Suite, Christian Dior and Orient Suites are added. Then again in 2006 it’s interiors were updated, this time by Sills Huniford- known for their work for Vera Wang. The Bottega Veneta Designer Suite also opens in 2006.
