St. Regis hotels and resorts is a brand for luxury hotels and part of Starwood hotels. The name originates from the famous St Regis Hotel in New York City, built in 1904 by Colonel John Jacob Astor IV, and located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street ( would he have started 100 years later, I presume he would have named it “555”). Unfortunately The Colonel perished with the Titanic.
His daughter was married to a Russian prince, Serge Obelensky, who brought fame to the hotel .
The site of the original St. Regis, at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street, was a residential neighborhood when Astor broke ground for it in 1902. He wanted to create a hotel where gentlemen and their families could feel as comfortable as they would as guests in a private home; in fact, he frequently used The St. Regis as a place for his personal guests and visiting relatives to stay at his invitation.
For their comfort, Astor introduced such “modern” conveniences as telephones in every room, a fire alarm system, central heating and an air-cooling system that efficiently predated modern air conditioning and allowed each guest to control the temperature of his room. Mail chutes were installed on each floor, a newsworthy innovation at that time. One of the hotel’s other novel features was a special design “for the disposition of dust and refuse” – one of the first central vacuum systems. All maids had to do was plug their vacuum cleaner’s hose into sockets situated throughout the hotel.
Throughout its history of nearly a century, St. Regis Hotels have invariably attracted the most glamorous, creative and intriguing personalities of each era. In New York alone, Colonel Serge Obelensky, the Russian Prince who had been a page at the Czar’s court before he escaped the revolution and grew up to marry Alice Astor, was associated with the St. Regis for many years; Marlene Dietrich, William Paley and his wife Barbara (“Babe”) lived at The St. Regis as did Salvador Dali and his wife Gala; and actress Gertrude Lawrence instructed her agent to arrange all her press appointments at The St. Regis.
Reading this, I thought: “Maybe “Des Indes” in The Hague will be renamed “St Regis Des Indes”…”
Source: St Regis History
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