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In the late 1950s Prince Serge Obolensky would celebrate the Russian New Year by gathering former czarists around him at La Boite, the nightclub he designed in the basement of the St. Regis hotel. There the Russian nobles would concoct Zhzhonnka, a festive blend of wines, cognac and sugar, which was mixed in a large bowl then ignited.
Inevitably the prince, flushed from the Zhzhonnka, would grasp a sword in his teeth and dance about La Boite until he sank to the floor and had to be helped to his table by waiters.
Today the St. Regis is a bit like Prince Obolensky: Noble blood courses through its veins, but the hotel is worn and weak in the knees.
Once New York's grandest hotel, the St. Regis last week closed for renovations under circumstances that surprised and perplexed local hoteliers, real estate experts and even hotel employees. Its current owners, Sheraton Corp. and Equitable Real Estate Investment Management Inc., have offered a complicated, enigmatic list of possibilities to describe the hotel's future.
Meanwhile, no architects have been chosen for the renovation, and no plans drawn up. The hotel sits empty, its 360 employees farmed out to local Sheraton and other area hotels.
"It's highly unusual to close down a hotel with no plans in place," says John Fox, a partner at the Manhattan consulting firm Pannell Kerr Forster.
But behind the scenes, insiders say, the St. Regis is caught up in the conflicting goals of its current owners. Disenchanted by the hotel's performance, Equitable wants to sell the property to the highest bidder. Sheraton, meanwhile, is searching for a deal that would allow it to remain in some way associated with the hotel.
The owners believe that the extravagant price Donald Trump paid for the Plaza Hotel and the interest of foreign hotel chains in New York mean they can command a hefty price tag of $120 million, say industry sources. After all, its location at Fifth Avenue and 55th Street ought to warrant such a premium. And it would be prohibitively expensive to duplicate the lavish hotel, decorated with Waterford Crystal chandeliers and marble from Caen, France.
"I've walked every luxury hotel in this city. I don't think any of them have everything...