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When Donald Trump took a chance on Columbus Circle by opening a glitzy hotel in the former Gulf + Western building, it was considered a risky bet.
That was nearly five years ago, and no new hotels had been built in the area for decades. Wealthy travelers were used to looking for lodging on the exponentially fancier East Side. Plans appeared hopelessly stalled for a massive development across the circle that would guarantee a steady stream of guests.
But the bet turned out to be a good one. Trump International Hotel & Tower not only found an audience, but also has become part of a remarkably fast transformation of the former hospitality wasteland into a place where some of the world's top hoteliers want to be.
"We feel New York may be the most important city in the world," says Wolfgang Hultner, chief executive for the Americas at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, a Hong Kong hotel operator that has chosen Columbus Circle for its first Mandarin Oriental luxury hotel in the city.
The 250-room hotel will be in the $1.7 billion AOL Time Warner Center, the mixed-use real estate development that Mr. Trump didn't know would ever come to fruition, and which now promises to change the face of the West Side.
"This building is going to be like Rockefeller Center was. It's a major keystone in the city," says Mr. Hultner.
Forget that New York is in the midst of its first big hotel slump in a...