Ludwig Bemelmans's Secret History

Hotels are no longer what they used to be. Some, like the Carlyle in New York or Claridge’s, in London, hold on to the Old World with slippery fingers. The Plaza’s only charm is thanks to echoes of Eloise, and they’ve ruined even that with the dizzying food hall that ran the length and width of the hotel’s basement up until the pandemic. It’s hard to imagine what once was.