The Roosevelt Hotel New York owned by Pakistan International Airlines has announced that it will be closing its doors permanently as of October 31 this year. The hotel posted the following statement on its website “Due to the current economic impacts, after almost 100 years of welcoming guests to “The Grand Dame of New York” The Roosevelt Hotel is regretfully closing its doors permanently as of October 31, 2020”.
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On its Facebook page, the hotel wrote “we have enjoyed being a part of your stories, and an integral part of the history of Midtown Manhattan since 1924. For those guests with future reservations, we are working on communicating alternative accommodations. We truly love each and every one of you. And may your passion for our Great City continue…as Teddy would have wanted”.
The Roosevelt Hotel is a historic luxury hotel, located at 45 East 45th Street (between Madison Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue) in Midtown Manhattan, Manhattan, New York City. The hotel, named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, opened on September 22, 1924. The hotel was closed for an extensive $65 million renovation from 1995 to 1997.
Beginning in 1979, the hotel was leased by the Pakistan International Airlines through its investment arm PIA Investments Ltd. (“PIA”), with an option to purchase the building after 20 years. Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was one of the investors in the 1979 deal. In 1999, PIA exercised their option and bought the hotel for $36.5 million, after a legal battle with owner Paul Milstein, who claimed it was worth much more. In 2005, PIA bought out its Saudi partner in a deal that included the prince’s share in Hôtel Scribe in Paris in exchange for $40 million and PIA’s share of the Riyadh Minhal Hotel (a Holiday Inn located on property owned by the prince). PIA has since controlled 99 percent interest in the hotel, while the Saudis have only 1 percent.
In July 2007, after a major $65 million (equivalent to $80,147,000 in 2019) renovation, PIA announced that it was putting the hotel up for sale. The increasing profitability of the hotel, at the same time as the airline itself started to incur massive losses, resulted in the sale being abandoned. On January 1, 2011 The Roosevelt Hotel’s General Manager stated the hotel is once again undergoing extensive renovations but will remain open during the process.
In July 2020, Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on Privatization decided to run the hotel through a joint venture rather than privatising it.
There are a total of 1,025 rooms in the hotel, including 52 suites. The 3,900-square-foot (360 m2) Presidential Suite has four bedrooms, a kitchen, formal living and dining areas, and a wrap-around terrace. The rooms are traditionally decorated, with mahogany wood furniture and light-colored bed coverings.