Every year while in New York, my boyfriend and I make it a point to stop into the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel located on 59th Street. I love stepping inside the Park Lane’s beautiful lobby with its grand winding staircases, red antique rugs, and twinkling crystal chandeliers. I don’t know what it is about the Park Lane that I like so much, as it is not the grandest of New York hotels. Though I do believe it is the friendliest. Despite once being owned by Leona Helmsley, aka the “Queen of Mean”, the hotel’s lobby is warm and inviting and the staff is extremely friendly. Walking into the Park Lane feels more like walking into a friend’s home than a hotel. I just love it! The hotel was first owned by New York billionaire Harry Helmsley. When he passed away in 1997, he left his entire $5.5 billion dollar fortune to his wife Leona. Part of that fortune included the Park Lane Hotel. After Harry’s death, Leona kept a duplex apartment at the Park Lane and would frequently be seen in the lobby and restaurant. When Leona died, she left $12 million to her Maltese poodle named Trouble. After it was made public that the dog was worth a fortune, Trouble started to receive death threats and security (for the dog) had to be hired at a cost of $100,000 per year! LOL I am not kidding.
This year, on our last day in New York, I happened to poke my head into Harry’s, the Park Lane Hotel bar, to see if it looked like a cool place to grab a drink. While poking around I struck up a conversation with a cocktail waitress who told me that the bar is somewhat of a celeb hang out. So, of course, I dragged my parents and boyfriend back there later that night to grab a drink and do some star stalking. 🙂 Sadly, while stalking Harry’s we did not spot any celebs. According to our cocktail waitress, though, both John Voight and Keanu Reeves had made an appearance at Harry’s the previous night. Apparently John Voight is something of a regular and always visits Harry’s when he’s in town. Unfortunately, as much as I begged her, our waitress couldn’t remember the names of the other celebs who had frequented Harry’s in the past. New Yorkers crack me up – it seems that none of them really care all that much about celebrities. LOL
Even though we didn’t spot any celebs, Harry’s was still a very cool place to grab a drink and I highly recommend stalking it. With it’s dark wood paneling and long marble bar, Harry’s definitely evokes a feeling of Old New York and it was the perfect place to spend our last night in the Big Apple.
Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂
Stalk It: Harry’s New York Bar is located on the second floor of the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel which is situated at 36 Central Park South in New York.