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84-621: Hotel Astor was a hotel on Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City , United States. Built in 1905 and expanded in 1909–1910 for the Astor family , the hotel occupied a site bounded by Broadway , Shubert Alley , and 44th and 45th Streets. Architects Clinton & Russell designed the hotel as an 11-story Beaux-Arts edifice with a mansard roof . It contained 1,000 guest rooms, with two more levels underground for its extensive "backstage" functions, such as

168-478: A business degree , and/or certification programs formally prepare hotel managers for industry practice. Most hotel establishments consist of a general manager who serves as the head executive (often referred to as the "hotel manager"), department heads who oversee various departments within a hotel, middle managers , administrative staff, and line-level supervisors. The organizational chart and volume of job positions and hierarchy varies by hotel size, function, and

252-449: A general manager who serves as the head executive (often referred to as the " hotel manager "), department heads who oversee various departments within a hotel (e.g., food service), middle managers , administrative staff, and line-level supervisors. The organizational chart and volume of job positions and hierarchy varies by hotel size, function and class, and is often determined by hotel ownership and managing companies. The word hotel

336-435: A 50-story skyscraper completed in 1972 and designed by Der Scutt . 40°45′28″N 73°59′11″W  /  40.757778°N 73.986389°W  / 40.757778; -73.986389 Hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds,

420-430: A block of hours typically between 8 am and 5 pm, before the typical night shift. These are similar to transit hotels in that they appeal to travelers, however, unlike transit hotels, they do not eliminate the need to go through Customs. Garden hotels , famous for their gardens before they became hotels, include Gravetye Manor, the home of garden designer William Robinson , and Cliveden , designed by Charles Barry with

504-558: A chapter devoted to chimneypieces in his Idea della archittura universale . Those in the apartments of princes and important personages, he considered, might be grand enough for chimneypieces with caryatid supporters, such as one he illustrated and a similar one he installed in the Sala dell'Anticollegio , also in the Doge's Palace. In the 16th century, from the examples engraved for Sebastiano Serlio 's treatise on architecture, caryatids became

588-731: A dresser, a refrigerator , and other kitchen facilities, upholstered chairs, a television, and en-suite bathrooms . Small, lower-priced hotels may offer only the most basic guest services and facilities. Larger, higher-priced hotels may provide additional guest facilities such as a swimming pool, a business center with computers, printers, and other office equipment, childcare, conference and event facilities, tennis or basketball courts, gymnasium , restaurants, day spa, and social function services. Hotel rooms are usually numbered (or named in some smaller hotels and B&Bs ) to allow guests to identify their room. Some boutique, high-end hotels have custom decorated rooms. Some hotels offer meals as part of

672-474: A fallen caryatid. Robert Heinlein described this piece in Stranger in a Strange Land : "Now here we have another emotional symbol... for almost three thousand years or longer, architects have designed buildings with columns shaped as female figures... After all those centuries it took Rodin to see that this was work too heavy for a girl... Here is this poor little caryatid who has tried—and failed, fallen under

756-855: A fixture in the decorative vocabulary of Northern Mannerism expressed by the Fontainebleau School and the engravers of designs in Antwerp . In the early 17th century, interior examples appear in Jacobean interiors in England; in Scotland the overmantel in the great hall of Muchalls Castle remains an early example. Caryatids remained part of the German Baroque vocabulary and were refashioned in more restrained and "Grecian" forms by neoclassical architects and designers, such as

840-486: A form of property ownership also referred to as a vacation ownership involving the purchase and ownership of an individual unit of accommodation for seasonal usage during a specified period of time. Timeshare resorts often offer amenities similar that of a full-service hotel with on-site restaurants, swimming pools, recreation grounds, and other leisure-oriented amenities. Destination clubs on the other hand may offer more exclusive private accommodations such as private houses in

924-652: A guest with lifestyle or personal image in specific locations. They are typically full-service and classified as luxury. A key characteristic of lifestyle resorts is focus on providing a unique guest experience as opposed to simply providing lodging. Lifestyle luxury resorts are classified with a Five Star hotel rating depending on the country and local classification standards. Example brands include: Waldorf Astoria , St. Regis , Wynn Resorts , MGM , Shangri-La , Oberoi , Belmond , Jumeirah , Aman , Taj Hotels , Hoshino , Raffles , Fairmont , Banyan Tree , Regent and Park Hyatt . Upscale full-service hotels often provide

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1008-781: A hospital since the Middle Ages . The French spelling, with the circumflex , was also used in English, but is now rare. The circumflex replaces the 's' found in the earlier hostel spelling, which over time took on a new, but closely related meaning. Grammatically, hotels usually take the definite article – hence "The Astoria Hotel" or simply "The Astoria". Facilities offering hospitality to travellers featured in early civilizations. In Greco-Roman culture and in ancient Persia , hospitals for recuperation and rest were built at thermal baths . Guinness World Records officially recognised Japan's Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan , founded in 705, as

1092-459: A limited amount of on-site amenities. Economy hotels are small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer basic accommodations with little to no services. Extended stay hotels are small to medium-sized hotels that offer longer-term full-service accommodations compared to a traditional hotel. Timeshare and destination clubs are a form of property ownership involving ownership of an individual unit of accommodation for seasonal usage. A motel

1176-457: A limited number of on-site amenities that only cater and market to a specific demographic of travelers, such as the single business traveler. Most focused or select service hotels may still offer full-service accommodations but may lack leisure amenities such as an on-site restaurant or a swimming pool. Examples include Hyatt Place , Holiday Inn , Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn . Small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer

1260-585: A motif on its eastern facade. In 1905 American sculptor Augustus Saint Gaudens created a caryatid porch for the Albright–Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York in which four of the eight figures (the other four figures holding only wreaths) represented a different art form, Architecture, Painting, Sculpture , and Music . Auguste Rodin 's 1881 sculpture Fallen Caryatid Carrying her Stone (part of his monumental The Gates of Hell work) shows

1344-412: A neighborhood-style setting. Examples of timeshare brands include Hilton Grand Vacations , Marriott Vacation Club International , Westgate Resorts , Disney Vacation Club , and Holiday Inn Club Vacations . A motel , an abbreviation for "motor hotel", is a small-sized low-rise lodging establishment similar to a limited service, lower-cost hotel, but typically with direct access to individual rooms from

1428-410: A room and board arrangement. In Japan , capsule hotels provide a tiny room suitable only for sleeping and shared bathroom facilities. The precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe . For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travelers. Inns began to cater to wealthier clients in the mid-18th century. One of

1512-536: A rose garden by Geoffrey Jellicoe . The Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi , Sweden , was the first ice hotel in the world; first built in 1990, it is built each winter and melts every spring. The Hotel de Glace in Duschenay, Canada , opened in 2001 and it is North America's only ice hotel. It is redesigned and rebuilt in its entirety every year. Ice hotels can also be included within larger ice complexes; for example,

1596-909: A stay or re-admission through security checkpoints. Some hotels are built with living trees as structural elements, for example the Treehotel near Piteå , Sweden, the Costa Rica Tree House near the Jairo Mora Sandoval Gandoca-Manzanillo Mixed Wildlife Refuge , Costa Rica ; the Treetops Hotel in Aberdare National Park , Kenya ; the Ariau Towers near Manaus , Brazil, on the Rio Negro in

1680-572: A traditional hotel. Extended stay hotels may offer non-traditional pricing methods such as a weekly rate that caters towards travelers in need of short-term accommodations for an extended period of time. Similar to limited and select service hotels, on-site amenities are normally limited and most extended stay hotels lack an on-site restaurant. Examples include Staybridge Suites , Candlewood Suites , Homewood Suites by Hilton , Home2 Suites by Hilton , Residence Inn by Marriott , Element , and Extended Stay America . Timeshare and destination clubs are

1764-502: A type of booking for less than 24 hours where the customer chooses the check in time and the length of the stay. This allows the hotel increased revenue by reselling the same room several times a day. They first gained popularity in Europe but are now common in major global tourist centers. Hotel management is a globally accepted professional career field and academic field of study. Degree programs such as hospitality management studies ,

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1848-560: A type of economical hotel first introduced in Japan, where people sleep in stacks of rectangular containers. In the sleeping capsules, beside the bed, the customer can watch TV, put their valuables in the mini safes, and the customers also can use the wireless internet. Some hotels fill daytime occupancy with day rooms , for example, Rodeway Inn and Suites near Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida . Day rooms are booked in

1932-613: A very limited number of on-site amenities and often only offer basic accommodations with little to no services, catering to the budget-minded traveler seeking a "no frills" accommodation. Limited service hotels often lack an on-site restaurant but in return may offer a limited complimentary food and beverage amenity such as on-site continental breakfast service. Examples include Ibis Budget , Hampton Inn , Aloft , Holiday Inn Express , Fairfield Inn , and Four Points by Sheraton . Extended stay hotels are small to medium-sized hotels that offer longer-term full-service accommodations compared to

2016-881: A wide array of guest services and on-site facilities. Commonly found amenities may include: on-site food and beverage (room service and restaurants), meeting and conference services and facilities, fitness center, and business center. Upscale full-service hotels range in quality from upscale to luxury. This classification is based upon the quality of facilities and amenities offered by the hotel. Examples include: W Hotels , Sheraton , Langham , Kempinski , Pullman , Kimpton Hotels , Hilton , Swissôtel , Lotte , Renaissance , Marriott and Hyatt Regency brands. Boutique hotels are smaller independent non-branded hotels that often contain mid-scale to upscale facilities of varying size in unique or intimate settings with full-service accommodations. These hotels are generally 100 rooms or fewer. Small to medium-sized hotel establishments that offer

2100-491: Is a hotel chain that offers branding to independently operated hotels; the chain itself is founded by or owned by the member hotels as a group. Many former referral chains have been converted to franchises; the largest surviving member-owned chain is Best Western . The first recorded purpose-built railway hotel was the Great Western Hotel , which opened adjacent to Reading railway station in 1844, shortly after

2184-618: Is a male version of a caryatid, i.e. , a sculpted male statue serving as an architectural support. The term is first recorded in the Latin form caryatides by the Roman architect Vitruvius . He stated in his 1st century BC work De architectura (I.1.5) that certain female figures represented the punishment of the women of Caryae , a town near Sparta in Laconia , who were condemned to slavery after betraying Athens by siding with Persia in

2268-428: Is a small-sized low-rise lodging with direct access to individual rooms from the car parking area. Boutique hotels are typically hotels with a unique environment or intimate setting. A number of hotels and motels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture. Some hotels are built specifically as destinations in themselves, for example casinos and holiday resorts . Most hotel establishments are run by

2352-648: Is a type of short-stay hotel found around the world, operated primarily for the purpose of allowing guests privacy for sexual activities , typically for one to three hours, but with overnight as an option. Styles of premises vary from extremely low-end to extravagantly appointed. In Japan, love hotels have a history of over 400 years. In 2021 a New York-based company introduced new modular and movable hotel rooms which allow landowners and hospitality groups to create and easily scale hotel accommodations. The portable units can be built in three to five months and can be stacked to create multi-floor units. A referral hotel

2436-880: Is built into the remains of an opal mine. Located on the coast but high above sea level, these hotels offer unobstructed panoramic views and a great sense of privacy without the feeling of total isolation. Some examples from around the globe are the Riosol Hotel in Gran Canaria, Caruso Belvedere Hotel in Amalfi Coast (Italy), Aman Resorts Amankila in Bali, Birkenhead House in Hermanus (South Africa), The Caves in Jamaica and Caesar Augustus in Capri. Capsule hotels are

2520-552: Is derived from the French hôtel (coming from the same origin as hospital ), which referred to a French version of a building seeing frequent visitors, and providing care, rather than a place offering accommodation. In contemporary French usage, hôtel now has the same meaning as the English term, and hôtel particulier is used for the old meaning, as well as "hôtel" in some place names such as Hôtel-Dieu (in Paris), which has been

2604-729: Is often determined by hotel ownership and managing companies. Boutique hotels are typically hotels with a unique environment or intimate setting. Some hotels have gained their renown through tradition, by hosting significant events or persons, such as Schloss Cecilienhof in Potsdam , Germany, which derives its fame from the Potsdam Conference of the World War II allies Winston Churchill , Harry Truman and Joseph Stalin in 1945. The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower in Mumbai

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2688-890: Is one of India's most famous and historic hotels because of its association with the Indian independence movement . Some establishments have given name to a particular meal or beverage, as is the case with the Waldorf Astoria in New York City , United States where the Waldorf Salad was first created or the Hotel Sacher in Vienna , Austria, home of the Sachertorte . Others have achieved fame by association with dishes or cocktails created on their premises, such as

2772-731: The Amazon ; and Bayram's Tree Houses in Olympos , Turkey. Some hotels have accommodation underwater, such as Utter Inn in Lake Mälaren , Sweden. Hydropolis , project in Dubai , would have had suites on the bottom of the Persian Gulf , and Jules' Undersea Lodge in Key Largo , Florida , requires scuba diving to access its rooms. Caryatid An atlas or atlantid or telamon

2856-651: The George and the Tabard . A typical layout of an inn featured an inner court with bedrooms on the two sides, with the kitchen and parlour at the front and the stables at the back. For a period of about 200 years from the mid-17th century, coaching inns served as a place for lodging for coach travellers (in other words, a roadhouse ). Coaching inns stabled teams of horses for stagecoaches and mail coaches and replaced tired teams with fresh teams. Traditionally they were seven miles apart, but this depended very much on

2940-645: The Great Western Railway opened its line from London. The building still exists, and although it has been used for other purposes over the years, it is now again a hotel and a member of the Malmaison hotel chain . Frequently, expanding railway companies built grand hotels at their termini, such as the Midland Hotel, Manchester next to the former Manchester Central Station , and in London

3024-839: The Greco-Persian Wars . However, Vitruvius's explanation is doubtful; well before the Persian Wars, female figures were used as decorative supports in Greece and the ancient Near East. Vitruvius's explanation is dismissed as an error by Camille Paglia in Glittering Images and not even mentioned by Mary Lefkowitz in Black Athena Revisited . They both say the term refers to young women worshipping Artemis in Caryae through dance. Lefkowitz says that

3108-909: The Hotel de Paris where the crêpe Suzette was invented or the Raffles Hotel in Singapore , where the Singapore Sling cocktail was devised. A number of hotels have entered the public consciousness through popular culture, such as the Ritz Hotel in London , through its association with Irving Berlin's song, " Puttin' on the Ritz ". The Algonquin Hotel in New York City is famed as

3192-481: The "Great White Way". Hotel Astor's success triggered the construction of the nearby Knickerbocker Hotel by other members of the Astor family two years later, although that property became commercial office space within a few years. The Astor set the pattern for "a new species of popular hotels that soon clustered around Times Square, vast amusement palaces that catered to crowds with scenographic interiors that mirrored

3276-802: The 1910s, the Astor Bar acquired a reputation as a gay meeting place. During World War II, the Astor Bar was one of three American hotel bars "world famous for their wartime ambience", alongside the Top of the Mark at the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco, and the men's bar at the Los Angeles Biltmore . Unlike the flamboyant late-night scenes at the automats , gay patrons at the Astor Bar were welcomed, allotted an entire side of

3360-399: The 1920s as "Fred Rich and his Hotel Astor Orchestra" and also as "The Astorites." Among many other later musicians, the swing era bandleader Tommy Dorsey appeared regularly on the rooftop bandstand, and it was there that Frank Sinatra made early New York appearances with Dorsey's band from 1940 to 1942. Another regular, in the 1950s, was Carmen Cavallaro and his orchestra, advertised on

3444-691: The 19th century. Luxury hotels, including the 1829 Tremont House in Boston , the 1836 Astor House in New York City , the 1889 Savoy Hotel in London, and the Ritz chain of hotels in London and Paris in the late 1890s, catered to an ever more-wealthy clientele. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is part of a United States law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin in places of public accommodation. Hotels are included as types of public accommodation in

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3528-435: The 2000s as hotel chains have been building economy-priced, limited-service franchised properties at freeway exits which compete for largely the same clientele, largely saturating the market by the 1990s. Motels are still useful in less populated areas for driving travelers, but the more populated an area becomes, the more hotels move in to meet the demand for accommodation. While many motels are unbranded and independent, many of

3612-608: The Acropolis temples and the return of the stolen Caryatid to Athens along with the rest of the so-called Elgin Marbles is the subject of a major international campaign. The Acropolis Museum holds the other five figures, which are replaced onsite by replicas. The five originals that are in Athens are now being exhibited in the new Acropolis Museum, on a special balcony that allows visitors to view them from all sides. The pedestal for

3696-528: The Act. Hotels cater to travelers from many countries and languages, since no one country dominates the travel industry. Hotel operations vary in size, function, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies that operate hotels have set widely accepted industry standards to classify hotel types. General categories include the following: International luxury hotels offer high-quality amenities, full-service accommodations, on-site full-service restaurants, and

3780-465: The Astor Bar?" The ribald tune " She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor " explored a similar theme. The hotel was completely renovated in 1935, and again in 1949. It was sold to real estate entrepreneur William Zeckendorf on September 1, 1954. However he sold it again just two weeks later, on September 15, 1954, to Sheraton Hotels , which renamed it the Sheraton-Astor . Zeckendorf repurchased

3864-503: The Astor had a place in popular culture for decades, from the extended double entendre song "She Had to Go and Lose It at the Astor", to its appearance in the 1945 film The Clock , which provides a good view of the wartime-era lobby (although reconstructed in Hollywood). The first notable regular dance band at the Astor was that of Fred Rich , who made many records for Columbia Records and its budget subsidiary Harmony Records in

3948-881: The Erechtheion caryatids, installing copies in the Forum of Augustus and the Pantheon in Rome , and at Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli . Another Roman example, found on the Via Appia , is the Townley Caryatid . In Early Modern times, the practice of integrating caryatids into building facades was revived, and in interiors they began to be employed in fireplaces , which had not been a feature of buildings in Antiquity and offered no precedents. Early interior examples are

4032-611: The Mammut Snow Hotel in Finland is located within the walls of the Kemi snow castle; and the Lainio Snow Hotel is part of a snow village near Ylläs , Finland. There is an arctic snowhotel in Rovaniemi in Lapland , Finland, along with glass igloos. The first glass igloos were built in 1999 in Finland , they became the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort with 65 buildings, 53 small ones for two people and 12 large ones for four people. Glass igloos, with their roof made of thermal glass, allow guests to admire auroras comfortably from their beds. A love hotel (also 'love motel', especially in Taiwan)

4116-491: The Strip, with a total of over 67,000 rooms. The Null Stern Hotel in Teufen , Appenzellerland , Switzerland, and the Concrete Mushrooms in Albania are former nuclear bunkers transformed into hotels. The Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón (named after the author ) in Guadix , Spain, as well as several hotels in Cappadocia , Turkey, are notable for being built into natural cave formations, some with rooms underground. The Desert Cave Hotel in Coober Pedy , South Australia,

4200-429: The ballroom so that the combined rooms could seat up 1,100 persons. The Palm Garden, or "L'Orangerie", located in the rear of the first floor lobby, was intended to represent an Italian garden. Its ceiling, painted to represent a Mediterranean sky, was partly concealed by feigned vine-covered pergolas. Blue lighting, hanging lamps draped in vines, swaying fern baskets, and scenic pictures of the out-of-doors further enhanced

4284-404: The car park. Motels were built to serve road travellers, including travellers on road trip vacations and workers who drive for their job (travelling salespeople, truck drivers, etc.). Common during the 1950s and 1960s, motels were often located adjacent to a major highway, where they were built on inexpensive land at the edge of towns or along stretches of freeway. New motel construction is rare in

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4368-411: The caryatid removed to London remains empty, awaiting its return. From 2011 to 2015, they were cleaned by a specially constructed laser beam , which removed accumulated soot and grime without harming the marble's patina . Each caryatid was cleaned in place, with a television circuit relaying the spectacle live to museum visitors. Although of the same height and build, and similarly attired and coiffed,

4452-455: The defining characteristic of a resort hotel is that it exists purely to serve another attraction, the two having the same owners. On the Las Vegas Strip there is a tradition of one-upmanship with luxurious and extravagant hotels in a concentrated area. This trend now has extended to other resorts worldwide, but the concentration in Las Vegas is still the world's highest: nineteen of the world's twenty-five largest hotels by room count are on

4536-434: The figures of Heracles and Iole carved on the jambs of a monumental fireplace in the Sala della Jole of the Doge's Palace, Venice , about 1450. In the following century Jacopo Sansovino , both sculptor and architect, carved a pair of female figures supporting the shelf of a marble chimneypiece at Villa Garzoni, near Padua. No architect mentioned the device until 1615, when Palladio 's pupil Vincenzo Scamozzi included

4620-558: The first hotels in a modern sense was opened in Exeter in 1768. Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in the early 19th century, and luxury hotels began to spring up in the later part of the 19th century, particularly in the United States. Hotel operations vary in size, function, complexity, and cost. Most hotels and major hospitality companies have set industry standards to classify hotel types. An upscale full-service hotel facility offers luxury amenities, full-service accommodations, an on-site restaurant , and

4704-481: The four terracotta caryatids on the porch of St Pancras New Church , London (1822). Many caryatids lined up on the facade of the 1893 Palace of the Arts housing the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago . In the arts of design, the draped figure supporting an acanthus -grown basket capital taking the form of a candlestick or a table-support is a familiar cliché of neoclassical decorative arts. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota has caryatids as

4788-464: The goddesses Athena and Artemis . The Erectheion caryatids, in a shrine dedicated to an archaic king of Athens, may therefore represent priestesses of Artemis in Caryae, a place named for the "nut-tree sisterhood" – apparently in Mycenaean times, like other plural feminine toponyms , such as Hyrai or Athens itself. The later male counterpart of the caryatid is referred to as a telamon (plural telamones ) or atlas (plural atlantes ) –

4872-509: The highest level of personalized and professional service in major or capital cities . International luxury hotels are classified with at least a Five Diamond rating or Five Star hotel rating depending on the country and local classification standards. Example brands include: Grand Hyatt , Conrad , InterContinental , Sofitel , Mandarin Oriental , Four Seasons , The Peninsula , Rosewood , JW Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton . Lifestyle luxury resorts are branded hotels that appeal to

4956-443: The highest level of personalized service, such as a concierge , room service , and clothes-ironing staff. Full-service hotels often contain upscale full-service facilities with many full-service accommodations, an on-site full-service restaurant , and a variety of on-site amenities . Boutique hotels are smaller independent, non-branded hotels that often contain upscale facilities. Small to medium-sized hotel establishments offer

5040-418: The hotel in December 1957, regaining control of it in March 1958 and returning it to its original name. During this period, the hotel was managed by Prince Serge Obolensky . As an indirect result of Zeckendorf's 1965 bankruptcy, the Astor was sold for $ 10.5 million in 1966. It closed and was demolished in 1967 by Sam Minskoff & Sons. After several years of delays, the hotel was replaced by One Astor Plaza ,

5124-408: The insulation values of the walls it needs no conventional heating or air conditioning system, although the Maya Guesthouse is built at an altitude of 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) in the Alps. Transit hotels are short stay hotels typically used at international airports where passengers can stay while waiting to change airplanes. The hotels are typically on the airside and do not require a visa for

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5208-438: The land. The hotel opened on September 9, 1904. The 35,000 square feet (3,300 m) Hotel Astor was built in two stages, in 1905 and 1909–1910, by the same architects in the same style. Upon completion, the structure occupied an entire city block at a reported total cost of $ 7 million. Architects Clinton & Russell had designed a number of Astor commissions; here they developed a very Parisian Beaux-Arts style . The Astor

5292-465: The load.... She didn't give up, Ben; she's still trying to lift that stone after it has crushed her..." In Act 2 of his 1953 play 'Waiting for Godot', author Samuel Beckett has Estragon say "We are not caryatids!" when he and Vladimir tire of "cart(ing) around" the recently blinded Pozzo. Agnes Varda made two short films documenting Caryatid columns around Paris. 1984 Les Dites Cariatides 2005 Les Dites Cariatides Bis. The musical group Son Volt evoke

5376-419: The marquee under the banner "On the Astor Roof". In 1933, it was the site of Fiorello La Guardia 's election night party when he was first elected mayor of New York. In 1947, stuntman John Ciampa scaled the exterior of the hotel as part of a publicity ploy for the Sunbrock Rodeo and Thrill Circus. A 1947 post card, Hotel Astor claimed "1000 rooms, 1000 baths" and as "The Crossroads of the World" Beginning in

5460-464: The meeting place of the literary group, the Algonquin Round Table , and Hotel Chelsea , also in New York City, has been the subject of a number of songs and the scene of the stabbing of Nancy Spungen (allegedly by her boyfriend Sid Vicious ). Some hotels are built specifically as a destination in itself to create a captive trade, example at casinos , amusement parks and holiday resorts . Though hotels have always been built in popular destinations,

5544-566: The mid-18th century, and consequently grew in grandeur and in the level of service provided. Sudhir Andrews traces "the birth of an organised hotel industry" to Europe's chalets and small hotels which catered primarily to aristocrats. One of the first hotels in a modern sense, the Royal Clarence , opened in Exeter in 1768, although the idea only really caught on in the early-19th century. In 1812 Mivart's Hotel opened its doors in London , later changing its name to Claridge's . Hotels proliferated throughout Western Europe and North America in

5628-583: The name refers to the legend of Atlas , who bore the sphere of the heavens on his shoulders. Such figures were used on a monumental scale, notably in the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Agrigento , Sicily . Some of the earliest known examples were found in the treasuries of Delphi , including that of Siphnos , dating to the 6th century BC. However, their use as supports in the form of women can be traced back even earlier, to ritual basins, ivory mirror handles from Phoenicia , and draped figures from archaic Greece. The best-known and most-copied examples are those of

5712-401: The ninth floor, opened on September 29, 1909 with a dinner that was part of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration . Measuring 50 by 85 feet (15 m × 26 m), the Banquet Hall was decorated in the Rococo style of Louis XV and featured a high-groined arch ceiling in ivory white and old gold, supported by grouped caryatids . A gallery spanned the south and west sides, affording a fine view of

5796-495: The oldest hotel in the world. During the Middle Ages , various religious orders at monasteries and abbeys would offer accommodation for travellers on the road. The precursor to the modern hotel was the inn of medieval Europe , possibly dating back to the rule of Ancient Rome . These would provide for the needs of travellers, including food and lodging, stabling and fodder for the traveller's horses and fresh horses for mail coaches . Famous London examples of inns include

5880-411: The ones above St Pancras railway station and Charing Cross railway station . London also has the Chiltern Court Hotel above Baker Street tube station , there are also Canada's grand railway hotels . They are or were mostly, but not exclusively, used by those traveling by rail. The Maya Guesthouse in Nax Mont-Noble in the Swiss Alps, is the first hotel in Europe built entirely with straw bales. Due to

5964-462: The other motels which remain in operation joined national franchise chains, often rebranding themselves as hotels, inns or lodges. Some examples of chains with motels include EconoLodge , Motel 6 , Super 8 , and Travelodge . Motels in some parts of the world are more often regarded as places for romantic assignations where rooms are often rented by the hour. This is fairly common in parts of Latin America . Hotels may offer rooms for microstays ,

6048-485: The oval bar, and expected to be discreet (by the standards of the time). Thus "the Astor maintained its public reputation as an eminently respectable Times Square rendezvous, while its reputation as a gay rendezvous and pickup bar assumed legendary proportions." The bar was further immortalized in Cole Porter 's song " Well, Did You Evah! ", which includes the line, "Have you heard that Mimsie Starr / Just got pinched in

6132-541: The perception. The rooftop garden, with bandstand and observatory, was one of a number constructed in the city between 1880 and Prohibition , among them the American Theater on Eighth Avenue, the garden atop Stanford White 's 1890 Madison Square Garden , and the Paradise Roof Garden opened by Oscar Hammerstein I in 1900. In later years, the noted landscape architect Takeo Shiota redesigned

6216-474: The roof's North Garden on a Japanese theme. Artwork in the original lobby included four murals by William de Leftwich Dodge depicting Ancient and Modern New York . The ballroom held a marble group called the Three Graces , by sculptor Isidore Konti , with all three figures modeled on Audrey Munson , along with murals by designer Edward G. Unitt. As a popular meeting place and New York City landmark,

6300-433: The room, which could accommodate 500 diners. A large Austin pipe organ was installed; in 1910 Leo B. Riggs was appointed organist and gave daily concerts for the hotel's guests. The organ's manuals included an integrated piano. The smaller ballroom, seating 250, was decorated in the neoclassical Louis XVI manner and could be joined with the larger ballroom. Still another adjoining room, "The College Hall", could also open to

6384-414: The six Caryatids are not the same: their faces, stance, draping, and hair are carved separately; the three on the left stand on their right foot, while the three on the right stand on their left foot. Their bulky, intricately arranged hairstyles serve the crucial purpose of providing static support to their necks, which would otherwise be the thinnest and structurally weakest part. The Romans also copied

6468-705: The six figures of the Caryatid porch of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis at Athens. One of those original six figures, removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century in an act which severely damaged the temple and is widely considered to be vandalism and looting, is currently in the British Museum in London. The Greek government does not recognise the British Museum's claims to own any part of

6552-446: The successor to the Astor family 's Waldorf-Astoria on 34th Street . William C. Muschenheim and his brother, Frederick A. Muschenheim, conceived plans for the grand hotel in 1900. The area was then known as Longacre Square and stood beyond the fringe of metropolitan life, the center of New York's carriage-building trade. The Muschenheim brothers became the proprietors for absentee landlord William Waldorf Astor , from whom they leased

6636-521: The term comes from the Spartan city of Caryae, where young women did a ring dance around an open-air statue of the goddess Artemis, locally identified with a walnut tree. Bernard Sergent specifies that the dancers came to the small town of Caryae from nearby Sparta. Nevertheless, the association of caryatids with slavery persists and is prevalent in Renaissance art . The ancient Caryae supposedly

6720-426: The terrain. Some English towns had as many as ten such inns and rivalry between them became intense, not only for the income from the stagecoach operators but for the revenue from the food and drink supplied to the wealthy passengers. By the end of the century, coaching inns were being run more professionally, with a regular timetable being followed and fixed menus for food. Inns began to cater to richer clients in

6804-832: The theatricality of the Great White Way ." Within its restrained exterior, the Astor featured a long list of elaborately themed ballrooms and exotic restaurants: the Old New York lobby, the American Indian Grill Room decorated with artifacts collected with the help of the American Museum of Natural History , a Flemish smoking room, a Pompeiian billiard room, the Hunt Room decorated in sixteenth century German Renaissance style, and many other features. The Large Ballroom (or Banquet Hall), on

6888-539: The wine cellar. The hotel was developed as a successor to the Waldorf-Astoria . Hotel Astor's success triggered the construction of the nearby Knickerbocker Hotel by other members of the Astor family two years later. The building was razed in 1967 to make way for the high-rise office tower One Astor Plaza . With its elaborately decorated public rooms and its roof garden, the Hotel Astor was perceived as

6972-548: Was an important element in the growth of Times Square and its character as an entertainment center. In 1904, New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved his newspaper's operations to a new tower on 42nd Street in the middle of Longacre Square (later One Times Square ). Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan Jr. to build a subway station there and rename it Times Square. The Theater District would soon occupy magnificent new auditoriums along Forty-second Street, and electric lighting transformed this strip of Broadway into

7056-425: Was one of the six adjacent villages that united to form the original township of Sparta, and the hometown of Menelaos ' queen, Helen of Troy . Girls from Caryae were considered especially beautiful, strong, and capable of giving birth to strong children. A caryatid supporting a basket on her head is called a canephora ("basket-bearer"), representing one of the maidens who carried sacred objects used at feasts of

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