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.Reading this, I thought: “Maybe “Des Indes” in The Hague will be renamed “St Regis Des Indes”…”
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.
Source: St Regis History
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