Who Owns the Plaza Hotel? History of New York’s Most Famous Hotel

Plaza Hotel NYC Photo by Brian Kachejian

The Plaza Hotel at Fifth Avenue and Central Park South has passed through the hands of American hotel magnates, international investors, banks, developers, and one future United States president. Today, the hotel ownership interest is held by Katara Hospitality, Qatar’s flagship hospitality company, while Fairmont Hotels & Resorts manages the hotel.

There is one important distinction behind that simple answer. The Plaza is no longer a conventional hotel building owned from top to bottom by a single company. Since its major condominium conversion in the 2000s, the landmark has operated as a mixed-use property containing hotel accommodations, hotel condominium units, separately owned private residences, and commercial spaces. Katara Hospitality owns The Plaza hotel business and ownership interests, but individual private residences within the building can have their own owners.

The ownership structure is only the latest chapter in a remarkable story that began before the present Plaza was built. The hotel standing today opened in 1907, but it was actually the second Plaza Hotel constructed on this extraordinary corner beside Central Park.

Who Owns the Plaza Hotel Today?

Katara Hospitality owns The Plaza hotel today and continues to list the New York property as part of its international portfolio. The company is based in Qatar and serves as the country’s flagship hospitality asset owner and manager.

Katara acquired the hotel ownership interests in 2018 in a transaction reported at approximately $600 million. The purchase included the controlling interest previously held by India’s Sahara India Pariwar as well as the remaining ownership interests connected with other investors.

The hotel itself continues to be managed by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Fairmont currently markets 282 guestrooms and suites at The Plaza.

Does Donald Trump Still Own the Plaza Hotel?

No. Donald Trump has not owned The Plaza Hotel since 1995.

Trump purchased The Plaza in 1988 for approximately $390 million. The heavily financed acquisition became difficult to support during the real estate downturn of the early 1990s. In 1992, the Plaza operating company entered a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring that gave bank lenders a 49 percent interest in the hotel while Trump retained 51 percent.

In 1995, Trump’s remaining interest was sold as part of a transaction involving Singapore-based CDL Hotels International and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Trump has had no ownership interest in The Plaza since that deal.

Why the Plaza’s Ownership Is More Complicated Than It Sounds

The modern Plaza is a mixed-use condominium rather than an 800-room conventional hotel under one simple ownership structure.

New York court records describing the post-conversion property identify a residential section containing 181 residential apartment units and a hotel section containing 130 transient hotel rooms and 152 hotel condominium apartments. The building also contains separate commercial units.

That is why statements that one company owns “every part of The Plaza” can be misleading. Katara Hospitality owns the hotel ownership interests and The Plaza remains in Katara’s hospitality portfolio, but private residential apartments within the landmark can be separately owned.

The First Plaza Hotel Was Built Before the Present Landmark

The Plaza Hotel standing today was not the first hotel to occupy the site.

Construction on the original Plaza began in 1883 on land that had previously been used by the New York Skating Club. The original developers ran into financial trouble before the building was completed. New York Life Insurance Company foreclosed on the project and brought in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White to complete the hotel and redesign portions of the interior.

The first Plaza Hotel opened on October 1, 1890. It stood for only fifteen years before its owners decided that the increasingly fashionable corner deserved something much larger and more luxurious.

In 1905, the first Plaza was demolished.

The Present Plaza Hotel Opens in 1907

The men behind the new hotel included financier Bernhard Beinecke, hotelier Fred Sterry, and Harry S. Black, president of the Fuller Construction Company. They hired architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh to create a hotel capable of competing with the grandest establishments in the world.

The new Plaza was constructed in twenty-seven months at a reported cost of $12.5 million. It opened on October 1, 1907, exactly seventeen years after the first Plaza had opened on the same site.

One of the hotel’s first guests was Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, who arrived by carriage on opening day. The new Plaza immediately became a symbol of the wealth and social ambition surrounding Fifth Avenue and Central Park at the beginning of the 20th century.

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh Designs a New York Landmark

Henry Janeway Hardenbergh was already one of America’s most important hotel and residential architects when he designed The Plaza. His New York work also included the original Waldorf and Astoria hotels and The Dakota on Central Park West.

For The Plaza, Hardenbergh created a French Renaissance-inspired hotel with a château-like roofline, elaborate stonework, grand public rooms, monumental entrances, and interiors intended to rival the great hotels and palaces of Europe.

The address was as important as the architecture. The hotel rose at 768 Fifth Avenue, where Fifth Avenue meets Central Park South and Grand Army Plaza. Its windows overlooked Central Park at a moment when the blocks surrounding the park were becoming some of the most prestigious residential and commercial addresses in the United States.

Conrad Hilton Buys The Plaza in 1943

The ownership story took a major turn in October 1943 when hotelier Conrad Hilton and Atlas Corporation acquired The Plaza for approximately $7.4 million.

Hilton had already begun building the hotel empire that would make his name internationally famous. The Plaza gave him one of the most prestigious properties in New York.

During the Hilton period, the Oak Bar opened in January 1945 and became one of the hotel’s best-known gathering places. Hilton invested heavily in the property while strengthening The Plaza’s reputation as both a luxury hotel and a center of New York social life.

A.M. Sonnabend and the Hotel Corporation of America

Hilton sold The Plaza to hotel executive A.M. Sonnabend in 1953 in a transaction reported at approximately $15 million. Sonnabend’s Hotel Corporation of America later took over management of the hotel and eventually became known as Sonesta International Hotels.

The 1950s and 1960s became one of the great cultural periods in Plaza history. The hotel was already famous, but appearances by entertainers, politicians, international figures, and literary personalities pushed it even further into the public imagination.

Westin Takes Over The Plaza in 1975

In 1975, Western International Hotels acquired The Plaza for approximately $25 million. The company later became Westin, and the hotel operated for a period as The Westin Plaza.

The Westin years included one of the most historically important events ever associated with the building: the 1985 international currency agreement that became known around the world as the Plaza Accord.

By the late 1980s, however, New York’s real estate market had entered an extraordinary boom, and The Plaza once again became the target of a high-profile buyer.

Donald Trump Buys The Plaza in 1988

Donald Trump acquired The Plaza in 1988 for approximately $390 million, an enormous price for a hotel at the time. He publicly described the property as a masterpiece and compared it to owning the Mona Lisa.

Trump appointed his then-wife, Ivana Trump, president of the hotel. During their ownership, renovations were undertaken in guestrooms, public spaces, and banquet areas while The Plaza continued operating as one of New York’s most famous luxury hotels.

The price paid for the property, however, was supported by substantial borrowing. When the real estate market weakened in the early 1990s, The Plaza’s debt became increasingly difficult to manage.

The Plaza Files for Bankruptcy Protection in 1992

In November 1992, Plaza Operating Partners filed a prearranged Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan. The restructuring was not a closure of the hotel. The Plaza continued operating while its ownership and debt were reorganized.

Under the restructuring, bank lenders received a 49 percent stake in the property. Trump retained 51 percent and continued to operate the hotel, while hundreds of millions of dollars in debt and guarantees were restructured.

The arrangement stabilized the immediate financial situation but did not restore Trump to full ownership. Within three years, another group of international investors would take control.

Prince Alwaleed and CDL Acquire The Plaza in 1995

In 1995, Singapore-based CDL Hotels International, led by Kwek Leng Beng, partnered with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to acquire control of The Plaza in a transaction valuing the hotel at approximately $325 million.

The deal ended Donald Trump’s ownership of the property. The new investors committed money to improving the hotel and modernizing its operations while preserving its identity as a luxury landmark.

Fairmont became closely associated with management of The Plaza during this era, beginning the operating relationship that continues today.

El Ad Buys The Plaza for $675 Million

Another enormous real estate transaction came in 2004 when El Ad Properties acquired The Plaza for approximately $675 million.

The new owner had a dramatically different plan for the building. Rather than operating the entire structure as a traditional hotel, El Ad proposed converting a large portion of the property into luxury condominium residences.

The plan triggered intense opposition from hotel workers, preservationists, elected officials, and New Yorkers who feared that one of the city’s most famous public hotels was about to become primarily a private apartment building.

The Plaza Closes for Its Great Condominium Conversion

The Plaza closed in 2005 for an enormous restoration and redevelopment. The project eventually cost approximately $450 million.

The final plan preserved a hotel operation while creating separately owned luxury residences and hotel condominium units. The conversion fundamentally changed the economic structure of the building. What had once been an 800-room hotel became a mixed-use landmark containing 282 hotel rooms and suites together with a separate residential section.

The project also restored major historic public interiors rather than simply replacing them. The Plaza reopened after the transformation in 2008.

Landmark Protection Helped Preserve The Plaza

The Plaza’s architectural importance had been recognized long before the condominium conversion.

New York City designated the exterior of The Plaza a landmark in 1969. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

In 2005, as the controversial conversion was moving forward, New York City also designated major Plaza interiors as landmarks. The protected spaces included the Palm Court, Grand Ballroom, Terrace Room, Edwardian Room, Oak Room and Oak Bar, and the Fifth Avenue and 59th Street lobbies.

Those protections helped ensure that even as the financial structure and private areas of the property changed, some of the rooms most closely associated with generations of New York social history remained recognizable.

Sahara India Takes a Controlling Stake in 2012

In 2012, Sahara India Pariwar acquired a controlling 75 percent interest in The Plaza and related commercial interests in a transaction valued at approximately $575 million. Prince Alwaleed’s Kingdom Holding retained a minority interest.

Fairmont continued operating the hotel.

Sahara later faced serious financial and legal problems in India, and The Plaza was eventually placed on the market. After years of attempted sales and changing investor interests, another international hospitality owner emerged.

Katara Hospitality Buys The Plaza in 2018

Katara Hospitality acquired The Plaza hotel ownership interests in 2018 for approximately $600 million. The transaction gave the Qatari hospitality company full control of the hotel ownership structure that had previously been divided among Sahara and other investors.

Katara later described The Plaza as its first acquisition in the United States. In 2026, the company continues to list The Plaza among its international operating properties.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts continues to manage the hotel. The current hotel inventory consists of 282 guestrooms and suites, while the larger Plaza building remains divided among hotel, residential, and commercial condominium interests.

Eloise Makes The Plaza Her Home

Some of The Plaza’s most famous residents never actually existed.

In 1955, writer Kay Thompson and illustrator Hilary Knight introduced Eloise, the precocious six-year-old girl who lives at The Plaza in the children’s book Eloise. The character became so closely associated with the hotel that she remains part of its identity generations later.

The books helped turn The Plaza into something unusual: not merely a place wealthy adults dreamed of visiting, but a magical New York destination familiar to children around the world.

The Beatles Arrive at The Plaza in 1964

On February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived in New York for their first American visit and stayed at The Plaza as Beatlemania erupted around them.

Crowds gathered outside the hotel while John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr prepared for their historic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The group stayed at The Plaza for several days and held a press event inside the hotel during the visit.

The Beatles’ stay became another moment when a hotel associated with old New York society found itself at the center of a completely new kind of popular culture.

Truman Capote’s Black and White Ball

On November 28, 1966, Truman Capote held his legendary Black and White Ball in The Plaza’s Grand Ballroom. The masquerade was given in honor of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham.

Capote invited 540 guests drawn from politics, literature, fashion, Hollywood, international society, and New York’s social elite. Frank Sinatra, Mia Farrow, Norman Mailer, Andy Warhol, Gloria Vanderbilt, and many other famous figures attended.

The event became known as the “Party of the Century” and remains one of the most famous social gatherings ever held in New York City.

The Plaza Accord of 1985

The Plaza’s name became part of international economic history on September 22, 1985.

Finance ministers and central bank governors representing the United States, Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom met at the hotel to coordinate economic and exchange-rate policy. The joint statement issued after the meeting became known as the Plaza Accord.

The participating governments agreed that exchange rates should better reflect economic fundamentals and subsequently coordinated intervention that helped push the U.S. dollar lower against several major currencies.

Few hotels have ever given their name to an agreement with such lasting importance in international finance.

The Plaza Hotel in Movies

The Plaza’s location, architecture, and reputation made it one of Hollywood’s favorite New York settings.

Alfred Hitchcock prominently featured the hotel in North by Northwest in 1959. The Way We Were used the Fifth Avenue entrance in 1973. The hotel became central to the story of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York in 1992, when Kevin McCallister checks into The Plaza on his own. Sleepless in Seattle featured the hotel the following year.

The Plaza also has a deep connection to The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald placed an important scene from his 1925 novel inside the hotel, and the 2013 film adaptation again used The Plaza as part of the story.

The hotel also sits across Fifth Avenue from the former longtime home of FAO Schwarz, another New York institution closely associated with generations of visitors to this corner of Midtown.

What The Plaza Represents Today

The Plaza survived changes that could easily have erased its identity. It went from Gilded Age hotel to Hilton property, from Westin flagship to heavily leveraged trophy acquisition, through bankruptcy, international ownership, condominium conversion, and another $600 million sale.

Yet the hotel continues operating at the same corner where the present building opened in 1907. Katara Hospitality owns the hotel interest, Fairmont manages it, private owners occupy residences above and within the landmark, and the protected public rooms continue to carry more than a century of New York history.

The remarkable part of The Plaza story is not simply how many wealthy people have owned it. It is that every generation seems to have wanted possession of the same building, while New York has repeatedly insisted that some parts of The Plaza belong to the city’s history no matter whose name appears on the deed.

More New York Hotel and Landmark History

For more on the New York landmarks surrounding The Plaza, read our History of New York’s Central Park and our feature on The Dakota Building, another Henry Janeway Hardenbergh design. Readers interested in classic New York hotels can continue with Midtown Magic at the Lexington Hotel. For another complicated ownership story involving a New York landmark, see Who Owns the Empire State Building?

Plaza Hotel Ownership History at a Glance

Published August 10, 2026.

Who Owns the Plaza Hotel? History of New York’s Most Famous Hotel article published on ClassicNewYorkHistory.com © 2026