In September, a historic New York City hotel completed the first phase of its conversion and rebranding. The former Benjamin, a designated New York City landmark, first opened in 1927 as The Beverly Hotel near Grand Central Terminal and was acquired by Sonesta International Hotels Corp. in 2022. Now, as The Benjamin Royal Sonesta New York, the property combines the building’s historic architecture with contemporary design elements.
According to General Manager Simon Chapman, the property’s most recent renovation was in 2007—“and it was really just a soft renovation,” he said. Once the hotel came under the Sonesta umbrella, the team determined that a much more thorough upgrade was necessary. “And as with any renovation, you just keep making it better and better and better as you go.”
With design from the DLR Group, the renovation updated both the public spaces and the 209 guestrooms, including the historic Benjamin Suite. The team also created the new Beverly Suite, named for the property’s original moniker. The design team worked extensively with Sonesta’s regional and senior-level leadership to create the hotel’s new look, Chapman recalled.
Step by Step
The property remained open during the renovation, and once construction was underway, the hotel’s team implemented a buffer zone between where guests were and where work was being done. “There was such a big buffer in terms of which floors I had out that I could actually isolate [the construction] into a certain part of the building,” he said. “There was no real displacement or any issues.”
Updating 100-year-old plumbing had to be handled carefully, however. An early step involved installing valves in every guest bathroom, Chapman recalled, because without these the team would have had to shut down water to drain the pipes before work could commence. “That [would] inconvenience guests,” he said. Adding valves allowed water to be turned off to one room at a time, leaving other rooms to operate normally.
Updated Accommodations
Extended-stay properties—then known as “apartment hotels”—from the first decades of the 20th century often had a wide range of room types and sizes on any given floor, Chapman said. “A stack of rooms might be the same, but generally, each room has a different layout design.” Rather than knocking down walls, the team sought ways to make all of the elements not only fit, but work together cohesively.
Describing the guestrooms as “overly large” for the city, Chapman said the renovation made them “a lot more spacious.” Galley kitchens were updated and walk-in showers replaced tubs in the bathrooms. The design team removed the carpeting that had been in the guestrooms and replaced it with hardwood flooring, Chapman said—“which, I think, a lot of people expect, and they feel it's a little bit cleaner and easier to maintain.” The accommodations also got an updated lighting system that senses when people are not in the room, helping to reduce energy consumption.
The property’s 98 suites, meanwhile, got new lounge seating with sleeper sofas and burl wood topped coffee tables. Artwork in the rooms celebrate Manhattan style.
The newly-renamed Beverly Suite has a living room with a library wall, a sleeper sofa and a marble dining table with a wooden base and six velvet dining chairs. “I always liked the layout of the Beverly Suite, but now that they've actually really spent quite a bit of money on actually turning this around and making it into a specialty suite, I think it's even more impressive,” Chapman said.
The Benjamin Suite, meanwhile, has a gallery art wall and a wooden conference table (that can double as a dining table) with leather wingback chairs. The headboard in the bedroom takes up a full wall and the new walk-in closet has a custom millwork cabinet.
While Chapman cites “a lot of smart decisions that were made” as part of the acquisition, rebranding and renovation, he highlighted the decision to keep the existing revenue and sales team on board amid all the changes. “People are always a little concerned and worried when there's a new company that comes in,” he acknowledged. Since the existing team had done “very well” and “had a lot of history” with the property, Sonesta invited them to be part of the rebranded hotel. “It’s helped us get back on our feet a lot quicker, and these last few years have only gone from strength to strength,” he said.