Warwick Hotel

1348 Avenue of the Americas | also 65 West 54th Street, 63 West 54th Street, 1340 Avenue of the Americas | Midtown | built 1926

Open on the map10 entries

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1. 1926

   William Randolph Hearst builds the Warwick Hotel with a penthouse for Marion Davies

   Publisher William Randolph Hearst built the 36-story Warwick apartment hotel, designed by Emery Roth with George B. Post & Sons and costing about $5 million. Hearst planned the entire top floor as an apartment for his companion, actress Marion Davies. The hotel rose 370 feet, held 512 apartments, and was promoted as one of the two tallest apartment hotels in the world.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1927

   June 16

   Hearst hosts a gala for Charles Lindbergh at the Warwick

   On June 16, 1927, Hearst threw a gala at the Warwick Hotel for aviator Charles Lindbergh, with Mayor James Walker and Charlie Chaplin among the guests. That summer composer Irving Berlin made the hotel his Manhattan headquarters. In 1937 Hearst commissioned artist Dean Cornwell to paint murals in the hotel's main dining room for a $100,000 fee.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1937

   Dean Cornwell paints the Warwick's dining-room murals and adds shocking details after a fee dispute

   In 1937 William Randolph Hearst hired the illustrator Dean Cornwell to paint murals in the hotel's main dining room, the Raleigh Room, for a $100,000 fee. Cornwell showed Sir Walter Raleigh receiving his charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1584 and landing on Roanoke Island. After a heated argument with Hearst over the fee, he added details that startled 1930s diners, including bare-bottomed Native Americans.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1951

   January

   Actress Linda Darnell comes home to her Warwick suite and finds it ransacked

   Actress Linda Darnell leased a suite at the Warwick in 1950 as her New York home whenever she was away from Hollywood. In January 1951 she returned to find the apartment ransacked. Thieves took jewelry and a mink stole, which were valued together at $3,000.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

5. 1956

   Elvis Presley gives an interview from the Warwick and says he would rather act than sing

   During the 1950s the Warwick served as Elvis Presley's New York base. In a 1956 interview he gave from the hotel, he rejected the idea that rock and roll music was behind juvenile delinquency. He also admitted that he would prefer acting to singing, provided he turned out to be a good actor, and he said he was not a good singer.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

6. 1966

   August

   The Beatles hold press conferences at the Warwick about Vietnam and the 'more popular than Jesus' row

   In August 1966 the Beatles took suites at the Warwick and held a series of press conferences there. They were asked about the Vietnam War, with George saying that war is wrong, and about the 'more popular than Jesus' controversy, which John dismissed as rubbish. Asked how he felt about the group's sagging popularity, John answered 'very rich.' The Monkees held their own press conference in the Warwick ballroom a year later.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

7. 1968

   Cary Grant moves into the Warwick's penthouse for twelve years

   In 1968 Cary Grant took Marion Davies' former penthouse at the Warwick Hotel as part of a deal to represent the cosmetics firm Faberge, and he stayed twelve years. The hotel had long drawn entertainers, among them Elvis Presley, who used it as his New York base in the 1950s. The Beatles held press conferences there in August 1966.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

8. 1971

   RCA puts a young David Bowie in a Warwick suite to impress him before he signs

   In 1971 RCA brought the young David Bowie to New York to sign a contract and arranged a suite for him at the Warwick, since the record company wanted to impress him. Reportedly he looked out from the suite, in the building where Elvis Presley had once stayed, and asked 'This is it, isn't it?' The account says he knew then that he had made it.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

9. 2004

   Cornwell's painted-over dining-room murals are uncovered and restored, and the restaurant takes a new name

   Several renovations after 1937 had left Dean Cornwell's murals in the Raleigh Room painted over. In 2004 they were uncovered and restored. In their honor the hotel's restaurant was renamed Murals on 54.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

10. 2011

    September

    Iranian President Ahmadinejad checks in at the Warwick, drawing protests and snipers on a nearby roof

    In September 2011 Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad checked into the Warwick after being refused rooms at several other Manhattan hotels. The hotel said it was ready to cater to UN delegates and other representatives. Groups protested throughout the Iranian entourage's stay, and an NYPD SWAT team with snipers lined a nearby rooftop. He returned for the General Assembly in September 2012.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• Warwick New York HotelWikipedia
• The 1926 Warwick Hotel -- No. 65 West 54th StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

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All 178 buildings with stories in Midtown