Carlyle Hotel

The Carlyle Hotel is on the east side of Madison Avenue, between 76th and 77th streets, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.{{cite aia5|pages=447 }}{{Cite web |title=981 Madison Avenue, 10021 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1391/21 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning |postscript=none |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127083810/https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1391/21 |url-status=live}}; {{Cite web |title=987 Madison Avenue, 10021 |url=https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/l/lot/1/1391/54 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |publisher=New York City Department of City Planning}} The building covers two rectangular land lots. The southern land lot measures {{convert|101|by|185|ft}}, with an area of {{convert|18800|ft2}}, while the northern land lot covers {{convert|13,702|ft2}}, with dimensions of about {{convert|103|by|133|ft}}. The site originally had a frontage of {{convert|120|ft}} on 76th Street, {{convert|204|ft}} on Madison Avenue, and {{convert|133|ft}} on 77th Street.{{cite news |date=February 2, 1930 |title=40-Story Apartment Hotel Is Being Built On Madison Avenue: New East Side Building Will Always Top Neighbors Because of Dwellings Law |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=E1 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113117937}}}} The intersection of 76th Street and Madison Avenue is co-named Bobby Short Way in honor of the pianist who frequently performed at the hotel.{{cite news |last=Friedland |first=Will |date=October 9, 2024 |title=Bobby Short at 100: The American Songbook's Swinging Steward; Known for his decades-long residency at New York's Café Carlyle, the pianist blended showmanship and sophistication with a deep understanding of the blues |url=https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/bobby-short-at-100-a-swinging-steward-of-the-american-songbook-eb696769 |access-date=November 1, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|3114536539}}}} Across Madison Avenue to the west are the Clarence Whitman Mansion and 980 Madison Avenue, while to the northwest is the Mark Hotel.

Prior to the construction of the hotel, the site had included two apartment buildings: the ten-story Carrollton and another eight-story apartment building. The Carrollton had been built in 1888 and was one of the city's first apartment buildings with a steel superstructure. In the early 20th century, the real estate developer John Larkin owned the site.{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=January 28, 2010 |title=Unbuilt Skyscrapers of the Race for Tallest |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/realestate/31scapes.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719005450/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/realestate/31scapes.html |url-status=live}} When construction of the Carlyle began in mid-1929, the site had included seven houses;{{cite news |date=July 2, 1929 |title=36-Story Apartment Hotel Is Planned For Madison Ave: Moses Ginsberg Will Raze Nine Buildings to Make Way for $7,000,000 Site |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=45 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111730595}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=July 2, 1929 |title=Tall Apartments for Madison Avenue; Plans for 14 and 36 Story Structures on Block Front Between 76th and 77th Sts. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/07/02/archives/tall-apartments-for-madison-avenue-plans-for-14-and-36-story.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} three additional houses on 77th Street were acquired later that year.{{cite news |date=November 8, 1929 |title=Ginsberg Adds To Madison Ave. Block Front: Now Controls 25,000 Square Feet for $8,000,000 Apartment Hotel Project |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=45 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111742771}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=November 8, 1929 |title=Review of the Day in Realty Market; Builder Completes Purchase of Madison Avenue Site for $8,000,000 Operation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/11/08/archives/review-of-the-day-in-realty-market-builder-completes-purchase-of.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180331035613/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/11/08/archives/review-of-the-day-in-realty-market-builder-completes-purchase-of.html |url-status=live}}

During the early 19th century, apartment developments in the city were generally associated with the working class. By the late 19th century, apartment hotels were becoming desirable among the middle and upper classes.{{cite New York 1930|pages=206–207 }} Apartment hotels in New York City became more popular after World War I, particularly among wealthy people.{{sfn|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|page=25}} As the economy boomed and skyscrapers rose, owning a townhouse in New York City began to fall out of fashion.{{sfn|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|page=25}}

The Carlyle was built by Moses Ginsberg, a banker and real-estate developer who was the maternal grandfather of the novelist Rona Jaffe.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=31}} In April 1928, Ginsberg bought a {{convert|102|by|120|ft2|adj=on}} site on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 76th Street from the Mayer family, with plans to erect a skyscraper there.{{cite news |date=April 20, 1928 |title=Madison Avenue Corner Bought By Ginsberg: Realty at 76th St. Acquired Will Be Improved by New Owner With Big Building |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=37 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113364507}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 20, 1928 |title=Madison Av. Corner is Sold to Builder; Moses Ginsberg Buys 76th St. Site From Jerome and Mortimer Mayer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/04/20/archives/madison-av-corner-is-sold-to-builder-moses-ginsberg-buys-76th-st.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Ginsberg acquired further land in February 1929, giving him control of the entire eastern side of Madison Avenue between 76th and 77th streets.{{cite news |date=February 8, 1929 |title=Real Estate Activities: Plans 36-Story Apartment for Madison Ave. Moses Ginsberg Acquires Block Between 76th and 77th Sts. for Tall Project |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=38 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111699115}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=February 8, 1929 |title=Assembles Madison Av. Block For New 36-Story Apartment |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/08/archives/assembles-madison-av-block-for-new-36story-apartment.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127233224/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/08/archives/assembles-madison-av-block-for-new-36story-apartment.html |url-status=live}} The same month, the architect Sylvan Bien filed plans for a 36-story apartment hotel on the site, to be built by the Calvin Morris Corporation.{{cite news |date=February 14, 1929 |title=Five Buildings Planned Here to Cost $14,425,000: Will Provide 122 Floors of Premises; One, a Hotel, Will Be Thirty-six Stories |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=45 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111720774}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=February 14, 1929 |title=Three New Buildings to Cost $10,000,000; Factory, Office Skyscraper and Apartment Hotel to Be Erected in Manhattan. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/14/archives/three-new-buildings-to-cost-10000000-factory-office-skyscraper-and.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127103122/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/02/14/archives/three-new-buildings-to-cost-10000000-factory-office-skyscraper-and.html |url-status=live}} By then, multiple apartment hotels were being built along Madison Avenue on the Upper East Side.{{cite news |date=May 19, 1929 |title=Builders Turn To Madison Ave. For House Sites: Price Level There Not So High as on Fifth or Park Avenue, Broker Says Next Few Years Will Tell Records of Last Few Months Indicate Strong Trend |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=D2 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111978569}}}} Ginsberg acquired two additional houses at 56 and 58 East 77th Street that March, with plans to construct a service entrance for the hotel on these sites.{{cite news |date=March 27, 1929 |title=Ginsberg Adds To Holdings on Madison Ave: Purchases Two Houses on East 77th Street; Builder Buys in East 35th Street |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=45 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111958014}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=March 27, 1929 |title=Operators Extend East Side Holdings; Samuel Silver Rounds Out Plot at Second Avenue and Forty-second Street |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/03/27/archives/operators-extend-east-side-holdings-samuel-silver-rounds-out-plot.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

In July 1929, Ginsberg began clearing the site. At the time, the southern half of the site on 76th Street was to contain the 36-story hotel, while the northern half on 77th Street was to include a 14-story apartment building. Ginsberg rounded out his holdings on 77th Street that November, buying the houses at 54, 60, and 62 East 77th Street. At that time, Sylvan Bien and Joseph Prince announced that a 14-story apartment house with stores would be constructed at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 77th Street, on a site measuring {{Convert|102|by|132|ft}}. A new law limited the heights of apartment buildings in the area, although Ginsberg's structure was exempt, ensuring it would be taller than all of the other apartment houses in the neighborhood.

Work on the building's steel frame began in January 1930. At the time, several other luxury apartment hotels were simultaneously being developed on the Upper East Side{{cite web |date=February 2, 1930 |title=Towering Apartments Give East River Loftier Skyline; Gracie Square Development Tall Madison Avenue Building. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/02/02/archives/towering-apartments-give-east-river-loftier-skyline-gracie-square.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=356}} including 740 Park Avenue, 960 Fifth Avenue, and The Pierre hotel.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=31}}{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=356}} Moses's son Calmon Ginsberg, who supervised the hotel's construction, visited 740 Park Avenue and 960 Fifth Avenue to determine what changes needed to be made to the Carlyle. After observing these two buildings, Calmon ultimately only modified the Carlyle's bathroom pipes.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=31}}

File:Madison Av Oct 2024 30.jpg

The hotel opened on November 3, 1930,{{cite web |date=November 9, 1930 |title=Carlyle Hotel Opened. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/11/09/archives/carlyle-hotel-opened.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |date=November 4, 1930 |title=Mrs. Gardiner Rents 26 Rooms In the Carlyle: Suite Is Located on Roof of Hotel Formally Opened Yesterday; Other Rentals |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=34 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113678308}}}} with apartments that originally cost up to $1 million a year.{{harvnb|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|page=50}}. Originally, occupants could rent apartments on a monthly or annual basis, or they could pay for rooms by the night.{{Cite magazine |date=September 1, 1937 |title=In the Gotham Manner |magazine=The Spur |page=18 |volume=60 |issue=3 |id={{ProQuest|910509277}}}} At the suggestion of Ginsberg's daughter Diana, the hotel was named after the Scottish author Thomas Carlyle.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=31}}{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=October 28, 2001 |title=Streetscapes/The Carlyle Hotel, 76th Street and Madison Avenue; Art Deco Tower Where President Kennedy Stayed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/realestate/streetscapes-carlyle-hotel-76th-street-madison-avenue-art-deco-tower-where.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241110043057/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/28/realestate/streetscapes-carlyle-hotel-76th-street-madison-avenue-art-deco-tower-where.html |url-status=live}}{{sfn|Broder|2013|page=26}} Initially, the hotel was far removed from both the Midtown Manhattan shopping district and the Theater District, and the surrounding neighborhood was rundown.{{cite news |last=Birmingham |first=Stephen |date=March 1, 1992 |title=New York is Full of Luxury Hotels, but There's Nothing Else Quite Like the Fabled Carlyle-remarkably Comfortable, Distinctively Stylish and Very Discreet |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=26 |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|281644217}}}} Contrary to other major buildings that had spurred waves of development in their respective areas, the opening of the Carlyle did not spur any large-scale development on Madison Avenue. It was not until later that structures such as the Parke-Bernet galleries at 980 Madison Avenue, as well as the Whitney Museum at 945 Madison Avenue, were developed.{{cite web |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=January 15, 1978 |title=The Shops On Madison: A Triumph Of the Small And Smart |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/15/archives/the-shops-on-madison-a-triumph-of-the-small-and-smart-madison-a.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411045638/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/15/archives/the-shops-on-madison-a-triumph-of-the-small-and-smart-madison-a.html |url-status=live}}

The Carlyle Hotel was one of several large structures in New York City to be completed just after the onset of the Great Depression, along with London Terrace, The Majestic, Hampshire House, and 330 West 42nd Street.{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=May 20, 1990 |title=Streetscapes: Hampshire House; A Case of 'Frenzied Financing' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/20/realestate/streetscapes-hampshire-house-a-case-of-frenzied-financing.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203014032/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/20/realestate/streetscapes-hampshire-house-a-case-of-frenzied-financing.html |url-status=live}} The Calvin Morris Corporation filed $444,870 worth of mechanics' liens against Ginsberg in January 1931, shortly after the Carlyle had opened.{{cite web |date=January 11, 1931 |title=File Mechanics' Liens on 2 New Apartments; Claims Indicate the San Remo and Carlyle Will Be Reorganized and Refinanced. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/11/archives/file-mechanics-liens-on-2-new-apartments-claims-indicate-the-san.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522231536/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/11/archives/file-mechanics-liens-on-2-new-apartments-claims-indicate-the-san.html |url-status=live}} A floral shop opened on the hotel's ground floor that year.{{cite news |date=May 8, 1931 |title=Real Estate Transactions in City and Suburban Fields: Holmes Service Rents a Floor In Maiden Lane Insurance Firm Takes Space in Plaza Zone; Restaurant Will Pay $150,000 Rental |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=41 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114113450}}}} The Carlyle also had a barbershop operated by Joe Miceli on the ground floor, which opened shortly after the hotel's completion and operated nearly continuously for half a century.{{cite web |last=Quindlen |first=Anna |date=March 26, 1983 |title=About New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/26/nyregion/about-new-york.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524142546/http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/26/nyregion/about-new-york.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Moritz |first=Owen |date=April 10, 1983 |title=Snipping away at a barber shop and history |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-snipping-away-at-a-barber-sho/158305934/ |access-date=November 2, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=112 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}} The hotel quickly gained tenants in spite of the Depression.{{cite news |last=Wolfe |first=Alexandra |date=September 12, 2013 |title=The Never-Ending Glamour of the Carlyle Hotel; Manhattan's famously discreet hotel has maintained the same sophisticated charm since it was a favorite haunt of Frank Sinatra and the Kennedys, which is why it's now enticing a vibrant new crowd to its legendary bar and historic suites |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|1432113339}}}} The Carlyle was placed for sale at a foreclosure auction in December 1931,{{cite web |date=December 29, 1931 |title=Auction Offerings Go to Plaintiffs; Nine Parcels in Manhattan and the Bronx Disposed Of as Result of Foreclosure Actions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/12/29/archives/auction-offerings-go-to-plaintiffs-nine-parcels-in-manhattan-and.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127090754/https://www.nytimes.com/1931/12/29/archives/auction-offerings-go-to-plaintiffs-nine-parcels-in-manhattan-and.html |url-status=live}} and it was again listed for sale in February 1932.{{cite news |date=February 24, 1932 |title=Hotel Carlyle, on Madison Ave., Goes on Auction Block Today |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=34 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1125427928}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=February 24, 1932 |title=Auction Offerings Bid in by Plaintiffs; Eleven Parcels in Manhattan and the Bronx Go to Mortgagees in Foreclosure Actions. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/02/24/archives/auction-offerings-bid-in-by-plaintiffs-eleven-parcels-in-manhattan.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Subsequently, the Carlyle went into receivership.{{cite web |date=May 10, 1932 |title=$2,655,000 is Bid for Hotel Carlyle; 40-Story Madison Av. Building Sold as Result of Foreclosure Proceedings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/05/10/archives/2655000-is-bid-for-hotel-carlyle-40story-madison-av-building-sold.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

The hotel was sold in May 1932 to Samuel A. Telsey, who had bid $2.655 million on the structure. The Lyleson Corporation, a subsidiary of the Consolidated-Dearborn Corporation,{{cite web |date=June 2, 1944 |title=Dowling Firm Is Buyer Of the Hotel Carlyle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/06/02/archives/dowling-firm-is-buyer-of-the-hotel-carlyle.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} took control the same year. The new owners kept the original management, which was able to dramatically improve the property's financial situation through maintaining high occupancy and rates favorable to the hotel's costs. The hotel's reputation at the time was "staid rather than ritzy",{{sfn|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|page=57}} and its clientele were largely upper-class and low-profile, including business executives and elderly women.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=356}}{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=31}} For the most part, the hotel did not attract celebrity residents. The storefront, basement, and mezzanine of the apartment-house section on 77th Street was leased to a drugstore in 1935.{{cite news |date=April 13, 1935 |title=Drug Chain Takes Store On Madison Ave. Corner: Cantor Organization to Pay Percentage Rent for New Unit |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=26 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1242859099}}}} During the late 1930s, the Carlyle's restaurant and bar area were expanded, and air-conditioning was installed on the first floor. At the time, the hotel's bar served drinks and light snacks accompanied by Muzak music.{{Cite magazine |date=Oct 1941 |title=Where Shall We Go? |magazine=Harper's Bazaar |pages=152–154 |volume=74 |issue=2757 |id={{ProQuest|1860666122}}}}

The post–World War II development boom allowed the hotel to take on new high-society prominence.{{sfn|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|pages=69–71}} The City Investing Company, led by the businessman Robert Whittle Dowling, purchased the Carlyle in June 1944.{{cite news |date=June 1, 1944 |title=Hotel Carlyle, In East 76th St., Reported Sold: Forty-Story Structure on Madison Avenue Corner Involved in Big Deal |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=31 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1284500971}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=June 1, 1944 |title=Midtown Offices in New Ownership; Building on West 46th Street Purchase – Deal Pending for Hotel Carlyle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/06/01/archives/midtown-offices-in-new-ownership-building-on-west-46th-street.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Dowling took out a $1.3 million loan to finance his purchase,{{cite news |date=July 12, 1944 |title=Hotel Carlyle Mortgaged |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=25A |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1283120097}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=July 12, 1944 |title=$1,300,000 Loan Made On the Hotel Carlyle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/07/12/archives/1300000-loan-made-on-the-hotel-carlyle.html |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and he also bought three nearby buildings to protect the views from the Carlyle.{{cite web |date=November 29, 1944 |title=3 Properties Taken As Light Protectors |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/29/archives/3-properties-taken-as-light-protectors.html |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 21, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221233852/https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/29/archives/3-properties-taken-as-light-protectors.html |url-status=live}} Dowling began to transform the Carlyle from a "respectable" address to a "downright fashionable" one, frequented by elegant Europeans.{{sfn|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|pages=69–71}} He operated it similarly to a social club in that prospective guests were required to provide social references;{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=31}} at one point, the hotel's staff checked whether potential guests were on the Social Register before allowing them to book rooms there.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=356}} To preserve the hotel's exposure to sunlight, Dowling built a low-rise building immediately to the west at 980 Madison Avenue.{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=December 10, 2006 |title=Parke-Bernet Galleries: A Blocky Base for Proposed Towers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/realestate/10scap.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107075741/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/realestate/10scap.html |url-status=live}} Robert Huyot was appointed as the hotel's president and general manager later the same year.{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Ed |date=December 30, 1944 |title=Little Old New York |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-little-old-new-york/158012702/ |access-date=October 28, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=127 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}} When a federal rent regulation restriction expired in 1947, Huyot decided to raise rents for the hotel's guests by as much as 15%.{{cite news |last=Glasgow |first=Robert W. |date=July 2, 1947 |title=Mayor's Board Calls for 8c Subway Fare; To Net 49 Millions, Meet Operating Loss; O'Dwyer in Favor of Fall Referendum: Many Hotels Here Raising Rents 10–30 Non-Transients Affected Tenants Call on U. S. to Let State Law Operate |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=1 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1318090156}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=July 1, 1947 |title=Many Hotels Here Plan 15% Increase; Some to Raise Rents at Once for Their Permanent Guests – Transients Not Affected |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1947/07/01/archives/many-hotels-here-plan-15-increase-some-to-raise-rents-at-once-for.html |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The same year, the hotel's bar became the Bemelmans Bar.{{cite web |last=Reddicliffe |first=Steve |date=July 25, 2013 |title=Music, Cocktails and 'Madeline' at Bemelmans Bar |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/booming/music-cocktails-and-madeline-at-bemelmans-bar.html |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109202127/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/booming/music-cocktails-and-madeline-at-bemelmans-bar.html |url-status=live}}

In the years after the war, various luxury stores and restaurants had opened around the Carlyle,{{cite web |date=March 11, 1951 |title=Sales Will Bring Further Changes for Madison Ave.; Old Blockfront Holdings of Gulden Estate Purchased by Maurice Epstein |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/03/11/archives/sales-will-bring-further-changes-for-madison-ave-old-blockfront.html |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and there were also several art galleries nearby.{{cite news |date=May 3, 1953 |title=Rockefeller Family Buys Forty-Story Hotel Carlyle |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=1C |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1313694078}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=May 3, 1953 |title=Rockefellers Buy the Carlyle Hotel: Deal Also Takes !n Adjoining 16-story Apartment Building. At 50 East 77th Street |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |page=R1 |id={{ProQuest|112569408}}}} A real-estate brokerage also opened on the hotel's ground floor in 1952.{{cite news |date=May 11, 1952 |title=Hotel Carlyle Branch Unit Opened by Ashforth Firm |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=1C |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1291373946}}}} The Rockefeller family's Hills Realty Company bought the Carlyle Hotel and Carlyle Apartments in May 1953, leasing the hotel's operation back to Dowling for 21 years. At the time, the hotel and apartment building had a combined 800 rooms, and workers were adding stainless-steel storefronts at ground level. The hotel's operators also spent $125,000 to convert part of the space into a supper club named the Cafe Carlyle, with murals by Marcel Vertès.{{cite magazine |date=November 8, 1955 |title=New Cafe Carlyle |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=48 |volume=91 |issue=91 |id={{ProQuest|1540325444}}}} The Cafe Carlyle opened in November 1955.{{sfn|Broder|2013|page=26}} An art gallery, the World House Galleries, opened within the Carlyle Hotel in early 1957.{{cite news |last=Adlow |first=Dorothy |date=February 16, 1957 |title=New Galleries, New Ways: Practices Challenged |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=10 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|509479991}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=January 27, 1957 |title=New Gallery Makes News |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=E13 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327608634}}}}{{cite web |last=Knox |first=Sanka |date=January 22, 1957 |title=Stairs 'Float' and Walls 'Flow' At the City's Latest Art Gallery; New art Gallery' Is an Attempt to Create 'Designs in Continuity' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1957/01/22/archives/stairs-float-and-walls-flow-at-the-citys-latest-art-gallery-new-art.html |access-date=October 29, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The gallery space, designed by Frederick Kiesler, occupied two stories of the hotel and included various niches, cantilevered stairs, and curving walls.

By the early 1960s, the Carlyle had become a luxury hotel, and its staff provided personalized service for visitors.{{cite web |last=Bracker |first=Milton |date=October 1, 1961 |title=Hotels and Motels in City Enter New Era of Luxury; Burgeoning Hotels and Motels Enter New Era of Luxury Here |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/10/01/archives/hotels-and-motels-in-city-enter-new-era-of-luxury-burgeoning-hotels.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216231937/https://www.nytimes.com/1961/10/01/archives/hotels-and-motels-in-city-enter-new-era-of-luxury-burgeoning-hotels.html |url-status=live}} Janusz Ilinski was appointed as the hotel's chairman and CEO in 1961{{cite web |date=March 17, 1961 |title=Top Executive Named For the Carlyle Hotel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/03/17/archives/top-executive-named-for-the-carlyle-hotel.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} but died three months after his appointment.{{cite news |date=June 17, 1961 |title=Col. Janusz Ilinski Dies; Carlyle Hotel Board Head |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=8 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1327242569}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=June 17, 1961 |title=Janusz Ilinski, 62, Hotel Man, Dead: Board Chairman of Carlyle – Ex-polish Military Aide |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=21 |id={{ProQuest|115427349}}}} The City Investing Company acquired a one-third ownership stake in the hotel building in 1965 from the Hills Realty Company. In exchange, City Investing transferred ownership of 980 Madison Avenue, as well as an industrial park in Edison, New Jersey, to the Rockefeller family.{{cite news |date=April 30, 1965 |title=City Investing Swaps 2 Properties for Share In a New York Hotel: Industrial Park, Art Gallery Go To Rockefeller Firm for 33 1/3% Of Carlyle; Lease-Back Arranged |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=11 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133031955}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Fowler |first=Glenn |date=April 30, 1965 |title=News of Realty: Building Awards; March Contracts Are Little Changed From Year Ago |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/04/30/archives/news-of-realty-building-awards-march-contracts-are-little-changed.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In addition, a flower shop opened on the hotel's ground floor the same year{{cite web |last=Reif |first=Rita |date=April 10, 1965 |title=Spring Is in Bloom on Madison Ave.; Florists Draw Shopper With TV and Giant Rose |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/04/10/archives/spring-is-in-bloom-on-madison-ave-florists-draw-shopper-with-tv-and.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and the hotel's managers replaced the existing windows with movable windows.{{cite web |date=December 26, 1965 |title=Glass Makes Room of Terrace; Use of New Panels Is Spurred Here by Air Pollution |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/12/26/archives/glass-makes-room-of-terrace-use-of-new-panels-is-spurred-here-by.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127082005/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/12/26/archives/glass-makes-room-of-terrace-use-of-new-panels-is-spurred-here-by.html |url-status=live}} The Cafe Carlyle also underwent a minor refurbishment; the club was repainted, and its furniture was re-upholstered.{{cite news |last1=Adams |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Washburne |first2=Virginia W. |date=Aug 1965 |title=Travel Service Department |work=Town & Country |page=96-98 |volume=119 |issue=4513 |id={{ProQuest|2126836094}}}} By the late 1960s, musicians frequented the hotel.

In 1967, the hotel was purchased by a partnership of Jerome L. Greene, Norman L. Peck, and Peter Jay Sharp{{cite web |last=Collins |first=Glenn |date=January 4, 2001 |title=Owner of 17 Luxury Hotels Buys Carlyle for $130 Million |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/04/nyregion/owner-of-17-luxury-hotels-buys-carlyle-for-130-million.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241129232706/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/04/nyregion/owner-of-17-luxury-hotels-buys-carlyle-for-130-million.html |url-status=live}} at an estimated cost of $16 million.{{cite news |date=March 29, 1967 |title=Carlyle Hotel Being Sold for 16 Million |work=Chicago Tribune |page=C7 |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|179164013}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=March 29, 1967 |title=Carlyle Hotel Is Sold In a $16-Million Deal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/03/29/archives/carlyle-hotel-is-sold-in-a-16million-deal.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|pages=356, 358}}{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=32}} At the time, the apartments were being rented out for between $10,000 and $65,000 a year.{{cite web |date=March 28, 1967 |title=Carlyle to Get New Ownership; Negotiations Expected to Be Completed Today—Real Estate Man Is Buyer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/03/28/archives/carlyle-to-get-new-ownership-negotiations-expected-to-be-completed.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 28, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228200433/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/03/28/archives/carlyle-to-get-new-ownership-negotiations-expected-to-be-completed.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=March 30, 1967 |title=Carlyle Hotel To Be Sold |work=The Washington Post, Times Herald |page=C10 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|143160536}}}} Sharp subsequently appointed Harold P. Bock as the Carlyle Hotel's general manager.{{cite web |date=September 18, 1967 |title=Carlyle Hotel Appoints New General Manager |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/09/18/archives/carlyle-hotel-appoints-new-general-manager.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} During the late 1960s, parts of the ground and second stories were leased the same year to a stockbroker, who renovated the space into an office,{{cite web |date=September 19, 1967 |title=News of Realty: Park Ave. Lease; Peat, Marwick to Move Into Four Floors at No. 345 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/09/19/archives/news-of-realty-park-ave-lease-peat-marwick-to-move-into-four-floors.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and the Albrizzi furniture showroom{{cite news |last=Fowler |first=Glenn |date=September 8, 1968 |title=Influx of Foreign Shops Is Noted on East Side |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=R1 |id={{ProQuest|118149766}}}} and the Cordoba leather boutique opened on the ground floor.{{cite magazine |last=Hall |first=Douglas E. |date=October 30, 1968 |title=Curtain Going Up Today On New Leather Boutique |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=34 |volume=117 |issue=86 |id={{ProQuest|1565071869}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=December 2, 1968 |title=News of Realty: A Law Firm To Move Uptown From Battery |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/12/02/archives/news-of-realty-a-law-firm-to-move-uptown-from-battery.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In addition, the Van der Straeten Gallery of Contemporary Artists opened an art gallery at the hotel.{{cite web |date=January 29, 1968 |title=News of Realty: L. I. Branch Bank; Dollar Savings Plans First Office Outside City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/01/29/archives/news-of-realty-li-branch-bank-dollar-savings-plans-first-office.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In general, many of the Carlyle's visitors came from the art industry due to the presence of art galleries in the neighborhood.{{cite web |last=Russell |first=John |date=June 27, 1982 |title=Art View; What Sotheby's Meant to a Neighborhood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/27/arts/art-view-what-sotheby-s-meant-to-a-neighborhood.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524113906/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/27/arts/art-view-what-sotheby-s-meant-to-a-neighborhood.html |url-status=live}} The hotel became known as "Peter's place" because of how much attention Sharp paid to the hotel's management.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=358}}

Sharp initially denied that he wanted to convert the Carlyle into a housing cooperative. However, in May 1968, he submitted a prospectus to the Attorney General of New York, informing the state government of his plans to convert the building into a cooperative. The sponsors of the co-op conversion plan also established a corporation to take over the Carlyle's operation.{{cite web |last=Whitehouse |first=Franklin |date=October 11, 1970 |title=News of the Realty Trade |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/11/archives/news-of-the-realty-trade-hotel-carlyle-converted-to-a-cooperative.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The Carlyle's cooperative conversion took effect in 1969. About 85 apartments were retained for short-term guests. Co-op shareholders, who paid monthly service and maintenance fees, received service from hotel staff and were allowed to lease out their own apartments.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=32}} The hotel's upper stories mostly were occupied by permanent residents, though some of the upper-story rooms were retained for transient visitors.{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=August 5, 1984 |title=Rooms With a View |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/05/travel/rooms-with-a-view.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524151639/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/05/travel/rooms-with-a-view.html |url-status=live}} The Carlyle continued to attract short-term guests after its conversion.{{cite news |date=May 27, 1971 |title=Carlyle Hotel |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=34 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133613245}}}}

Bock retired as the hotel's manager in 1971,{{cite news |date=December 6, 1972 |title=Harold P. Bock Dies: Managed Large Hotels |work=The Hartford Courant |page=8 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|551385522}}}} and George Markham became the hotel's manager and president in 1975, operating it for 14 years.{{cite web |date=March 26, 1989 |title=George Markham, Hotelier, 63 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/26/obituaries/george-markham-hotelier-63.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127073520/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/26/obituaries/george-markham-hotelier-63.html |url-status=live}} The lobby was damaged in the 1970s when a water pipe burst; to prevent visitors from seeing the damage to the lobby, the hotel's managers covered up the damaged lobby with an Arabian tent.{{cite magazine |last=Agovino |first=Theresa |date=November 21, 1988 |title=Secrets of Carlyle's Success |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=3 |volume=4 |issue=47 |id={{ProQuest|219115237}}}} In addition, Bernard and S. Dean Levy opened an art gallery on the Carlyle Hotel's second floor in 1976,{{Cite web |last=Solis-Cohen |first=Lita |date=December 3, 1976 |title=2d Doyle sale proves some points |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-2d-doyle-sale/158248894/ |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=24 |language=en-US |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127081655/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-2d-doyle-sale/158248894/ |url-status=live}} operating the gallery there for ten years.{{cite web |last=Reif |first=Rita |date=December 19, 1986 |title=Antiques Browsers Find Intimate Shops in Uptown Places |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/19/arts/antiques-browsers-find-intimate-shops-in-uptown-places.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 3, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203051054/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/19/arts/antiques-browsers-find-intimate-shops-in-uptown-places.html |url-status=live}} The hotel's operators also expanded the six maids' bedrooms.{{cite news |last=Bendheim |first=Susan |date=April 29, 1979 |title=When the Maids' Rooms Begin to Look Like Penthouses |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=R1 |id={{ProQuest|120906572}}}} By the late 1970s, visitors frequented the Carlyle for the musical performances at the Bemelmans Bar and the Cafe Carlyle.{{Cite news |date=March 22, 1979 |title=A bite of the cherry in the Big Apple |work=The Stage and Television Today |page=8 |issue=5110 |id={{ProQuest|1040505347}}}} A Victorian-style cafe between the hotel's restaurant and the Bemelmans Bar operated in the late 20th century, serving afternoon tea.{{cite web |last=Barry |first=Ann |date=January 20, 1978 |title=Where to Savor Tea for Two on a Winter Afternoon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/20/archives/article-5-no-title.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission proposed designating the hotel as part of the Upper East Side Historic District in 1979.{{cite web |last=Horsley |first=Carter B. |date=May 27, 1979 |title=Battle Lines Drawn Over Plan For East Side Historic District |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/27/archives/battle-lines-drawn-over-plan-for-east-side-historic-district-east.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 13, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313154431/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/27/archives/battle-lines-drawn-over-plan-for-east-side-historic-district-east.html |url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Block |first=John R. |date=November 20, 1979 |title=East Side residents battle developers in fight over historical designation |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/staten-island-advance-east-side-resident/158251016/ |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=Staten Island Advance |page=8 |language=en-US}} Despite Sharp's opposition to the district's designation, the district was established in 1981.{{cite web |last=Sulzberger |first=A. O. Jr. |date=September 25, 1981 |title=City Gives Final Approval to Upper East Side Historic District |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/09/25/nyregion/city-gives-final-approval-to-upper-east-side-historic-district.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last1=Toscano |first1=John |last2=Chadwick |first2=Bruce |date=September 25, 1981 |title='Landmark' effort is launched to save the upper East Side |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-landmark-effort-is-launched/158251090/ |access-date=November 1, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=108 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251 |archive-date=December 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203154642/https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-landmark-effort-is-launched/158251090/ |url-status=live}}

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By the 1980s, about 80% of the Carlyle's clientele consisted of repeat guests. It had become increasingly difficult for other guests to reserve a room there, as the hotel was frequently fully occupied.{{Cite magazine |last=Gwinn |first=Linda |date=Sep 1980 |title=New York Hotels: the New, the Old, the Bold |magazine=Town & Country |pages=218, 220, 222–223 |volume=134 |issue=5005 |id={{ProQuest|2137415211}}}}{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=32}} The Carlyle did not offer any discounts and did not have a sales or marketing development; it still employed elevator operators even though the elevators were automatic. Many of the hotel's staff had worked there for several decades and had gotten to know frequent guests; one of the hotel's bellhops had been hired in 1949 and ultimately worked there for 57 years.{{cite web |last=Gill |first=John Freeman |date=July 16, 2006 |title=Bellman to the Stars |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/nyregion/thecity/16carl.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The Carlyle's staff members outnumbered guests nearly two to one.{{cite web |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=February 6, 2006 |title=Ronald Hector, Face of the Carlyle Hotel, Is Dead at 66 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/06/nyregion/ronald-hector-face-of-the-carlyle-hotel-is-dead-at-66.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The staff frequently fulfilled special requests from guests,{{Cite magazine |date=Jul 1996 |title=A guide to the world's great hotels |magazine=Institutional Investor |page=S1 |volume=30 |issue=7 |id={{ProQuest|221493830}}}} leading Markham to say that "everybody is a favored guest".{{cite web |last1=Johnston |first1=Laurie |last2=Thomas |first2=Robert McG. |date=May 1, 1981 |title=Notes On People; Nothing Like a Grand Gesture for a Pair of Celebrities |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/01/nyregion/notes-on-people-nothing-like-a-grand-gesture-for-a-pair-of-celebrities.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In one case, a staff member brought a grand piano into Imelda Marcos's suite a few hours before pianist Van Cliburn was to perform for her, while another staff member lent Laurence Olivier his own bowtie for a dinner. Neighborhood residents sometimes stayed at the Carlyle if they were displaced from their homes.{{cite web |last=Spano |first=Susan |date=December 10, 1995 |title=How the Other Half Lives: At the Carlyle |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/travel/frugal/ft951210.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203154847/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/travel/frugal/ft951210.html |url-status=live}} Sharp was exacting when it came to the hotel's cleanliness, to the extent that he had housekeepers dust the tops of the doors before each guest arrived.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=38}}

The Carlyle's management began remodeling the hotel in 1983, forcing the hotel's barbershop to close temporarily.{{cite web |last1=Anderson |first1=Susan Heller |last2=Carroll |first2=Maurice |date=March 14, 1984 |title=New York Day by Day; A Pause Grows Longer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/14/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-a-pause-grows-longer.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524153622/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/14/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-a-pause-grows-longer.html |url-status=live}} Workers re-gilded the hotel's roof the next year,{{Cite news |last=Goncharoff |first=Katya |date=August 12, 1984 |title=The Glitter of Gold Gains in Facade and Lobby Decor: Some Say Owners Feel Gilding May Enhance Values |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/12/realestate/the-glitter-of-gold-gains-in-facade-and-lobby-door-some-owners.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331172644/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/12/realestate/the-glitter-of-gold-gains-in-facade-and-lobby-door-some-owners.html |archive-date=March 31, 2021 |access-date=June 17, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US}} and the art dealer Michael B. Weisbrod opened a store at the Carlyle in 1986.{{cite web |date=December 7, 1986 |title=Antiques; A Booming Market For Asian Art |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/07/arts/antiques-a-booming-market-for-asian-art.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524184546/http://www.nytimes.com/1986/12/07/arts/antiques-a-booming-market-for-asian-art.html |url-status=live}} By the late 1980s, the hotel recorded a net operating profit of $4.4 million per year, and the retail space earned about $1.6 million annually. Despite increasing competition in New York City's luxury hotel market, Markham expressed optimism that the hotel's most loyal customers would continue to patronize the Carlyle.{{cite magazine |last=Agovino |first=Theresa |date=October 3, 1988 |title=Why Prices for Hotels Are Hitting the Roof |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=21 |volume=4 |issue=40 |id={{ProQuest|219124101}}}} At the time, there were 180 rooms for short-term visitors.{{Cite news |last=Davis |first=William A.  |date=January 29, 1989 |title=The Treasures and Pleasures of Upper Manhattan |work=Boston Globe |page=B1 |id={{ProQuest|294507689}}}} To attract guests, the hotel's operators added tape decks and videocassette recorders in each of the rooms.{{cite news |last=Berkowitz |first=Harry |date=July 4, 1988 |title=Manhattan's Poshest Hotels Are Competing in Extravagant Style.Sidebar-Striving to Be the Ritziest of the Ritzy |work=Newsday |page=4 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278022881}}}} Lorenzo Mongiardino redesigned the hotel's gallery in 1989, hiring Gaser Tabakoglu to convert it into a tea gallery inspired by Istanbul's Topkapı Palace.{{cite web |last=Owens |first=Mitchell |date=April 8, 1999 |title=Design Notebook; If These Walls Could Speak (and They Will) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/08/garden/design-notebook-if-these-walls-could-speak-and-they-will.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230232551/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/08/garden/design-notebook-if-these-walls-could-speak-and-they-will.html |url-status=live}} Dan Camp succeeded Markham as the hotel's manager that year.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=358}}

The Carlyle had a rare book store by the early 1990s,{{cite web |last=Hedges |first=Chris |date=December 31, 1990 |title=Selling Books to be Cherished, Not Just Read |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/31/books/selling-books-to-be-cherished-not-just-read.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525203024/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/31/books/selling-books-to-be-cherished-not-just-read.html |url-status=live}} and Vera Wang opened a bridal shop at the hotel in 1990.{{cite magazine |last=Bulseco |first=Donna |date=August 30, 1990 |title=Ready-To-Wear: Vera Wang's Wedding Belles |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=7 |volume=160 |issue=43 |id={{ProQuest|1445706878}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |last=Larkin |first=Kathy |date=January 20, 2002 |title=Bridal Planner Spring '02 / A Love Affair With Weddings / Designer Vera Wang puts her fashion savvy to work with tips on a stylish (and fun) march down the aisle |work=Newsday |page=J02 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279591494}}}} The hotel's operators also renovated the Bemelmans Bar,{{cite news |date=September 9, 1991 |title=New York Agenda |work=Newsday |page=42 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278450596}}}} converted some executive offices into a {{Convert|2200|ft2|adj=on}} fitness center,{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Betsy |date=October 13, 1991 |title=To your good health Increasingly, hotel guests are demanding workout facilities—and getting them |work=Chicago Tribune |page=22 |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|283062928}}}} and hired Mark Hampton and Nelson Ferlita to redesign the rooms at a cost of about $100,000 per room. At the time, the Carlyle had 74 co-op apartments and 183 hotel rooms. The Carlyle's co-owner Peter Jay Sharp died in 1992{{cite web |last=Lambert |first=Bruce |date=April 18, 1992 |title=Peter Jay Sharp, Hotel Developer and Owner of Carlyle, Dies at 61 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/18/nyregion/peter-jay-sharp-hotel-developer-and-owner-of-carlyle-dies-at-61.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204033950/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/18/nyregion/peter-jay-sharp-hotel-developer-and-owner-of-carlyle-dies-at-61.html |url-status=live}} and his partner Jerome Greene acquired majority ownership of the Carlyle. To attract guests, the Carlyle's operators offered room upgrades to selected guests with American Express credit cards.{{Cite magazine |last=Reamy |first=Lois Madison |date=Apr 1993 |title=Practice austerity, enjoy luxury |magazine=Institutional Investor |page=89 |volume=27 |issue=4 |id={{ProQuest|221484271}}}} Some apartment owners at the Carlyle also rented out their apartments to hotel guests.{{cite web |last=Hevesi |first=Dennis |date=August 22, 1997 |title=Hotel Apartment Owners Renting Units To People Who Like the Homey Feel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/22/nyregion/hotel-apartment-owners-renting-units-to-people-who-like-the-homey-feel.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In addition, Judith Leiber opened a handbag boutique at the hotel in 1995.{{cite magazine |date=November 14, 1995 |title=Judith Leiber Plans To Open Madison Ave. Store In Spring |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=16 |volume=170 |issue=91 |id={{ProQuest|1445638695}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Rothstein |first=Mervyn |date=November 15, 1995 |title=Real Estate; A retail battle comes to the Bryant Park area as Computer City plans a superstore near a rival. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/15/business/real-estate-retail-battle-comes-bryant-park-area-computer-city-plans-superstore.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 23, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240423173449/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/15/business/real-estate-retail-battle-comes-bryant-park-area-computer-city-plans-superstore.html |url-status=live}}

In early 1999, Jerome Greene and Mary Sharp Cronson placed the hotel for sale,{{cite news |last=Burgess |first=Robert |date=January 5, 2001 |title=Storied N.Y. hotel sells for US$130M: Ten U.S. presidents slept at the Carlyle |work=National Post |page=C8 |id={{ProQuest|329670637}}}}{{cite web |last=Collins |first=Glenn |date=June 23, 2000 |title=Palace of Secrets Receives Suitors, Quite Discreetly; Carlyle Hotel Regulars Hope Sale Will Not Bring Changes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/23/nyregion/palace-secrets-receives-suitors-quite-discreetly-carlyle-hotel-regulars-hope.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=June 6, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240606180821/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/23/nyregion/palace-secrets-receives-suitors-quite-discreetly-carlyle-hotel-regulars-hope.html |url-status=live}} hiring Eastdil Realty to market the hotel rooms.{{Cite magazine |last=Slatin |first=Peter |date=April 26, 1999 |title=The ground floor: A man for four seasons: Beanie Baby King's Patience pays off in his quest for a posh Manhattan Hotel |magazine=Barron's |page=54:1 |volume=79 |issue=17 |id={{ProQuest|201070620}}}} After Greene died that May,{{cite web |last=McQuiston |first=John T. |date=May 30, 1999 |title=Jerome L. Greene Dies at 93; Wide-Ranging Philanthropist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/30/nyregion/jerome-l-greene-dies-at-93-wide-ranging-philanthropist.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=February 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203165829/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/30/nyregion/jerome-l-greene-dies-at-93-wide-ranging-philanthropist.html |url-status=live}} Norman Peck took over his partner's stake in the hotel and sought to sell it, privately contacting several potential buyers. Despite Peck's attempts to avoid publicizing the hotel's potential sale, more than 50 potential buyers ultimately submitted bids for the hotel. Peck encountered difficulties in selling the hotel, in part because the building was structured as a housing cooperative; as such, any buyer had to acquire shares in the cooperative rather than purchasing the building outright.{{cite web |last=Collins |first=Glenn |date=October 31, 2000 |title=3 Bidders but No Buyer for Carlyle Hotel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/31/nyregion/3-bidders-but-no-buyer-for-carlyle-hotel.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527142817/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/10/31/nyregion/3-bidders-but-no-buyer-for-carlyle-hotel.html |url-status=live}} By October 2000, Peck was negotiating with three potential buyers, including the Indian conglomerate Tata Group.

Maritz, Wolff & Company, which owned a 50% stake in Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, agreed in January 2001 to buy the Carlyle for $130 million. Maritz Wolff paid about $720,000 per room, making it one of the highest-priced hotel sales in world history.{{cite news |date=January 5, 2001 |title=Buys Carlyle Hotel |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-buys-carlyle-hotel/158391313/ |access-date=November 3, 2024 |work=Newsday |page=A53 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279384307}}}} The buyers paid only about $50 million up front, and they received a loan for the remaining amount from co-op owners at the Carlyle. As part of the sale, the new owners were required to retain the hotel's name and character.{{Cite news |last=Meagher |first=David |date=March 4, 2016 |title=So Many Storeys to Tell |work=Wish |page=76 |id={{ProQuest|1770205764}}}} Maritz Wolff owned 52% of the shares in the co-op, while residents owned the remaining shares. The hotel's president Dan Camp resigned shortly after the sale. Thierry Despont was hired to redesign the hotel's corridors{{cite web |last=Barron |first=James |date=June 8, 2001 |title=Boldface name |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/08/nyregion/boldface-name.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527155525/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/08/nyregion/boldface-name.html |url-status=live}} and the lobby.{{Cite magazine |last1=Bundi |first1=Kori |last2=Freund |first2=Anthony Barzilay |last3=McCollum |first3=Monica |date=Jan 2003 |title=Unforgettable |magazine=Town and Country |pages=85–91 |volume=157 |issue=5272 |id={{ProQuest|220686499}}}} Maritz Wolff also began renovating the hotel tower's facade and renovated the Bemelmans Bar again.{{cite news |last=MacLean |first=Natalie |date=February 15, 2003 |title=Lady Sings The Booze |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/466792765/?terms=%22bemelman%27s%20bar%22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119155129/https://www.newspapers.com/image/466792765/?terms=%22bemelman%27s%20bar%22 |archive-date=January 19, 2023 |access-date=January 10, 2023 |work=Ottawa Citizen |page=E4}}{{Cite news |date=Sep 2002 |title=Madeline and Martinis |work=Town & Country |page=78 |volume=156 |issue=5268 |id={{ProQuest|2161734635}}}} After the September 11 attacks later in 2001, the hotel's business declined due to a downturn in New York City's tourism industry.{{cite web |last=Collins |first=Glenn |date=October 8, 2001 |title=Elegant Hotel Tightens Its Classy Belt; Carlyle's Business Hit Hard by Disaster, but Loyal Staff Rallies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/08/nyregion/elegant-hotel-tightens-its-classy-belt-carlyle-s-business-hit-hard-disaster-but.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527155702/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/08/nyregion/elegant-hotel-tightens-its-classy-belt-carlyle-s-business-hit-hard-disaster-but.html |url-status=live}} The Bemelmans Bar reopened in 2002,{{cite web |last=St. John |first=Warren |date=February 24, 2002 |title=With Bar Chefs, Happy Hour Goes Haute |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/24/style/with-bar-chefs-happy-hour-goes-haute.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109195148/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/24/style/with-bar-chefs-happy-hour-goes-haute.html |url-status=live}} and the hotel's Carlyle Restaurant was also renovated that year.{{cite web |last=Grimes |first=William |date=May 29, 2002 |title=Restaurants; A Frump Does Something About It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/29/dining/restaurants-a-frump-does-something-about-it.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012112225/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/29/dining/restaurants-a-frump-does-something-about-it.html |url-status=live}} Rosewood spent $2 million advertising the Carlyle and its other luxury hotels to attract guests after the September 11 attacks.{{Cite magazine |last=Thomaselli |first=Rich |date=April 7, 2003 |title=Luxury hotel chains target niche visitors |magazine=Advertising Age |page=6 |volume=74 |issue=14 |id={{ProQuest|208334497}}}}

The hotel continued to have many long-term residents, many of whom were old and wealthy.{{cite news |last=Bubbeo |first=Daniel |date=December 17, 2004 |title=Puttin on the Ritz, With everything from maid service to milk baths, many New Yorkers have no reservations about living in a hotel |work=Newsday |page=D06 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279872876}}}} Rosewood gradually bought out some of the Carlyle's co-op apartments as their owners moved out. To attract younger guests, Rosewood added a business center to the hotel in 2004.{{cite magazine |last=Fickenscher |first=Lisa |date=June 6, 2005 |title=Grande dame hotels feel age, retouch gray |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=A88 |volume=21 |issue=23 |id={{ProQuest|219153594}}}} A jewelry store operated by K. C. Thompson opened at the Carlyle in 2005,{{cite web |last=Rosenbloom |first=Stephanie |date=May 5, 2005 |title=New York and Atlanta |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/fashion/thursdaystyles/new-york-and-atlanta.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 29, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150529172616/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/05/fashion/thursdaystyles/new-york-and-atlanta.html |url-status=live}} and the hotel began lending digital cameras to its guests the next year as part of a pilot program.{{cite web |last=Higgins |first=Michelle |date=July 9, 2006 |title=Hotel Guests Can Try Latest Digital Gadgets |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/travel/09transgadget.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230530074313/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/travel/09transgadget.html |url-status=live}} The hotel's manager James McBride also contemplated moving the Cafe Carlyle to the basement but ultimately decided to renovate it.{{cite magazine |last=Gopnik |first=Adam |date=September 17, 2007 |title=Paris on Madison |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/24/paris-on-madison |access-date=November 4, 2024 |magazine=The New Yorker |page=84 |volume=83 |issue=28 |id={{ProQuest|233133524}} |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608041940/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/24/paris-on-madison |url-status=live}} The Cafe Carlyle was closed during July 2007 for renovations, reopening that September.{{cite web |last=Kalafatas |first=Greg |date=September 22, 2007 |title=PHOTO CALL: The Café Carlyle Reopening and Eartha Kitt's Return |url=https://playbill.com/article/photo-call-the-cafe-carlyle-reopening-and-eartha-kitts-return-com-143945 |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Playbill |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127074151/https://playbill.com/article/photo-call-the-cafe-carlyle-reopening-and-eartha-kitts-return-com-143945 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |last=Ryzik |first=Melena |date=September 18, 2007 |title=Wiping the Stains Off a Bit of Old New York Glamour |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/arts/music/18carl.html |access-date=February 7, 2014 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120104645/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/arts/music/18carl.html? |url-status=live}} Workers restored the club's murals and added new furniture, and the interior designer Scott Salvator removed the dropped ceiling and installed a modern sound and a lighting system.{{cite web |last=Drake |first=David |date=September 14, 2007 |title=Remaking the Carlyle |url=https://playbill.com/article/remaking-the-carlyle-com-143704 |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Playbill |archive-date=October 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018054432/https://www.playbill.com/article/remaking-the-carlyle-com-143704 |url-status=live}} The Sense spa opened on the hotel's third story in October 2008.{{cite magazine |last=Mistry |first=Meenal |date=January 1, 2009 |title=Global Spa Roundup: Sense, a Rosewood Spa |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/01/sense-spa-carlyle |access-date=October 24, 2024 |magazine=Vanity Fair |archive-date=February 7, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230207041534/https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/01/sense-spa-carlyle |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Singer |first=Natasha |date=October 22, 2008 |title=Keeping Up Appearances, No Matter the Dow |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/fashion/23skin.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126020021/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/fashion/23skin.html |url-status=live}} The spa, occupying two levels above an adjacent parking garage, was decorated by Mark Zeff.{{cite news |date=January 2, 2009 |title=Test Drive: The Sense Spa at the Carlyle Hotel |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|2220760231}}}} The number of guests again declined following the late 2000s financial crisis.{{cite web |last=Bagli |first=Charles V. |date=April 10, 2009 |title=With More Rooms Open, Hotels in New York Want to Pay Workers Less |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/nyregion/10hotels.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 14, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914045638/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/nyregion/10hotels.html |url-status=live}}

The Hong Kong businessman Cheng Yu-tung bought the Carlyle's hotel rooms and four other Rosewood hotels in 2011 for a combined $570 million.{{cite web |date=July 29, 2011 |title=Carlyle part of $570M hotel package sale |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2011/07/29/carlyle-at-35-east-76th-street-sold-to-cheng-yu-tung/ |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The Real Deal |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=July 29, 2011 |title=New York's Carlyle Hotel Sold to Hong Kong Billionaire Cheng |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-07-29/hong-kong-billionaire-cheng-yu-tung-purchases-new-york-s-carlyle-hotel |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=Bloomberg.com |archive-date=May 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506193208/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-07-29/hong-kong-billionaire-cheng-yu-tung-purchases-new-york-s-carlyle-hotel |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |date=April 20, 2012 |title=Scouting the Carlyle's High-End Competition |work=The Hollywood Reporter |page=66 |volume=418 |issue=14 |id={{ProQuest|2298602351}}}} At the time, the hotel had 68 private residences,{{cite web |last=Santora |first=Marc |date=February 10, 2012 |title=Sold for $15.5 Million |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/big-ticket-sold-for-15-5-million/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=City Room |archive-date=June 24, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240624133545/https://archive.nytimes.com/cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/big-ticket-sold-for-15-5-million/ |url-status=live}} and some long-term tenants rented rooms for long periods. In the 2010s, the Carlyle Hotel continued to attract high-society figures and well-off youth, and there were still frequent music performances at the hotel. By then, one-fifth of the Carlyle's revenue came from selling the apartments to long-term residents;{{cite magazine |last=Fickenscher |first=Lisa |date=April 21, 2014 |title=Suite profits for swank hotels |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=4 |volume=30 |issue=16 |id={{ProQuest|1520188943}}}} the apartments' service charges amounted to thousands of dollars per month, while the hotel rooms rented for between $700 and $15,000 a night. The hotel's 420 employees continued to clean and furnish the guestrooms daily, including one employee who was responsible for maintaining the hotel's decorations and artwork.{{cite web |last=Ellin |first=Abby |date=December 30, 2016 |title=They Maintain a Hotel's Patina of Opulence |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/nyregion/they-maintain-a-hotels-patina-of-opulence.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203190802/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/30/nyregion/they-maintain-a-hotels-patina-of-opulence.html |url-status=live}}

The fashion brand Perrin Paris opened a boutique at the hotel in 2012,{{cite web |last=Karimzadeh |first=Marc |date=May 7, 2012 |title=Perrin Paris 1893 Opens Store in Carlyle Hotel |url=https://wwd.com/feature/perrins-carlyle-shop-reflects-expansion-5894842-636329/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Women's Wear Daily |postscript=none |archive-date=September 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903231155/https://wwd.com/feature/perrins-carlyle-shop-reflects-expansion-5894842-636329/ |url-status=live}}; {{cite web |last=Zalopany |first=Chelsea |date=June 12, 2012 |title=Perrin's Attelage Minaudière |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/the-get-perrins-attelage-minaudiere/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=T Magazine |archive-date=July 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240729061544/https://archive.nytimes.com/tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/the-get-perrins-attelage-minaudiere/ |url-status=live}} and the hotel temporarily sheltered displaced residents after Hurricane Sandy later that year.{{cite web |last1=Stoeffel |first1=Kat |last2=Yuan |first2=Jada |date=November 2, 2012 |title=Downtown Occupies the Carlyle |url=https://www.thecut.com/2012/11/downtown-occupies-the-carlyle.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The Cut}} Cheng Yu-tung's daughter Sonia Cheng also planned to renovate the Carlyle, hiring Alexandra Champalimaud to redesign some of the spaces. A pop-up bookstore temporarily operated at the hotel in 2015,{{cite web |last=Chappo |first=Ashley |date=May 15, 2015 |title=The Anti-Frieze: A Pop-Up Book Fair Charms at the Carlyle |url=https://observer.com/2015/05/the-anti-frieze-a-pop-up-book-fair-charms-at-the-carlyle/ |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=Observer |postscript=none |archive-date=December 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203142404/https://observer.com/2015/05/the-anti-frieze-a-pop-up-book-fair-charms-at-the-carlyle/ |url-status=live}}; {{cite web |last=Miller |first=M. H. |date=December 9, 2015 |title=East Hampton's Harper's Books Is Opening a Space on the Upper East Side |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/east-hamptons-harpers-books-is-opening-a-space-on-the-upper-east-side-5498/ |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=ARTnews |archive-date=February 19, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240219033510/https://www.artnews.com/art-news/market/east-hamptons-harpers-books-is-opening-a-space-on-the-upper-east-side-5498/ |url-status=live}} and the same year, Rosewood began formally renting out some of the Carlyle's suites.{{cite web |date=June 5, 2015 |title=The Carlyle putting luxury suites up for rent |url=https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2015/06/05/the-carlyle-putting-luxury-suites-up-for-rent/ |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The Real Deal |archive-date=March 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331004949/https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2015/06/05/the-carlyle-putting-luxury-suites-up-for-rent/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Clarke |first=Katherine |date=June 4, 2015 |title=Exclusive: Now you can live like Will and Kate and George and Amal in the brand new long-stay residences at the Carlyle Hotel |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2015/06/04/exclusive-now-you-can-live-like-will-and-kate-and-george-and-amal-in-the-brand-new-long-stay-residences-at-the-carlyle-hotel/ |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251}} In addition, a Gabriela Hearst fashion boutique opened within the Carlyle Hotel in 2018.{{cite magazine |last=Pieri |first=Kerry |date=November 5, 2018 |title=Gabriela Hearst's New York Boutique |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/g24673669/gabriela-hearst-new-york-boutique/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |magazine=Harper's Bazaar |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Bernard |first=Katherine |date=November 20, 2018 |title=At Gabriela Hearst, Cashmere and the Carlyle Are Close at Hand |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/style/gabriela-hearst-store-new-york.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216120122/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/style/gabriela-hearst-store-new-york.html |url-status=live}} Rosewood began renovating the Carlyle's guestrooms in 2019. Tony Chi redesigned 155 of the hotel rooms and suites, while multiple designers renovated the other units.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, the Cafe Carlyle was temporarily closed in March 2020, and all performances there were canceled.{{cite web |last=Meyer |first=Dan |date=March 26, 2020 |title=Café Carlyle Cancels Spring Performances Due to COVID-19 Pandemic |url=https://playbill.com/article/cafe-carlyle-cancels-spring-performances-due-to-covid-19-pandemic |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Playbill |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731075340/https://www.playbill.com/article/cafe-carlyle-cancels-spring-performances-due-to-covid-19-pandemic |url-status=live}} The Bemelmans Bar and Carlyle Restaurant were also shuttered,{{cite web |last=Kamer |first=Foster |date=November 2, 2020 |title=Bemelmans in Repose |url=https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/11/bemelmans-in-repose.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=Grub Street |archive-date=January 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110005440/https://www.grubstreet.com/2020/11/bemelmans-in-repose.html |url-status=live}} and the Carlyle stopped renting out hotel rooms and dismissed 250 of its staff members.{{cite web |last=Deffenbaugh |first=Ryan |date=March 30, 2020 |title=Plaza, Carlyle on growing list of hotels laying off staff |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/coronavirus/plaza-carlyle-growing-list-hotels-laying-staff |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Crain's New York Business}} The hotel partially reopened that November after some COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted.{{cite web |last=Biesiada |first=Jamie |date=October 9, 2020 |title=New York's Carlyle plans Nov. reopening |url=https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/New-Yorks-Carlyle-plans-Nov-reopening |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Travel Weekly |archive-date=September 18, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918083800/https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/New-Yorks-Carlyle-plans-Nov-reopening |url-status=live}} The bar reopened in May 2021,{{cite web |last=Nordstrom |first=Leigh |date=May 13, 2021 |title=Bemelmans Is Back: Reopening Night at the New York Institution |url=https://wwd.com/feature/bemelmans-bar-carlyle-hotel-reopening-new-york-city-1234822403/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Women's Wear Daily}}{{cite web |last=Landman |first=Beth |date=October 12, 2021 |title=The Carlyle Reignites Its Restaurant With Burning Nostalgia and Flaming Sundaes |url=https://ny.eater.com/2021/10/12/22723379/dowlings-at-the-carlyle-restaurant-hotel-upper-east-side |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Eater NY |archive-date=September 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240928002123/https://ny.eater.com/2021/10/12/22723379/dowlings-at-the-carlyle-restaurant-hotel-upper-east-side |url-status=live}} while the Carlyle Restaurant was replaced that October with a restaurant named Dowling's.{{cite web |last=Taylor |first=Elise |date=October 12, 2021 |title=The Carlyle's New Restaurant Is a Reminder of Its Enduring Appeal |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/the-carlyle-hotel-enduring-appeal |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Vogue}}{{cite web |last=Fabricant |first=Florence |date=October 12, 2021 |title=New York City Restaurant Openings and News |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/dining/new-york-restaurant-openings.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111171124/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/dining/new-york-restaurant-openings.html |url-status=live}} The same year, the renovation of the hotel's guestrooms was completed.{{cite web |last=Brettell |first=Pauline |date=November 2, 2021 |title=Legendary New York hotel, The Carlyle, reveals long-awaited new look • Hotel Designs |url=https://hoteldesigns.net/industry-news/legendary-new-york-hotel-the-carlyle-reveals-long-awaited-new-look/ |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Hotel Designs |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127083053/https://hoteldesigns.net/industry-news/legendary-new-york-hotel-the-carlyle-reveals-long-awaited-new-look/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Forshaw |first=Irenie |date=November 11, 2021 |title=The Carlyle in New York Unveils Remarkable Renovation |url=https://elitetraveler.com/travel/hotel-news/the-carlyle-new-york-unveils-remarkable-renovation |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Elite Traveler |archive-date=May 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518034750/https://elitetraveler.com/travel/hotel-news/the-carlyle-new-york-unveils-remarkable-renovation |url-status=live}} A store and spa operated by the Valmont skincare company opened in December 2021,{{cite web |last=Munce |first=Garrett |date=November 8, 2021 |title=Valmont Opens New Spa at the Carlyle Hotel |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/style/beauty-products/a38188838/valmont-spa-carlyle-hotel-opening-news/ |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=Town & Country}}{{cite web |last=Wahl |first=Phebe |date=January 20, 2022 |title=Valmont Spa And Flagship Store Debut At The Carlyle |url=https://gothammag.com/valmont-spa-store-debuts-at-carlyle |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=Gotham Magazine}} and the Cafe Carlyle reopened in March 2022, having been closed for two years.{{cite web |date=March 5, 2022 |title=Isaac Mizrahi reopens the iconic Cafe Carlyle |url=https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/central-ny/on-stage-episodes/2022/03/05/-isaac-mizrahi-reopens-the-iconic-cafe-carlyle |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=spectrumlocalnews.com}}

File:Madison Av Oct 2024 01.jpg

The Carlyle was designed in the Art Deco style by architects Sylvan Bien and Harry M. Prince. The hotel "was to be a masterpiece in the modern idiom, in which shops and restaurants on the lower floors would give residents the convenience and comforts of a community skyscraper".{{sfn|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|page=30}} The design of the hotel inspired that of the Chatham condominium building on 65th Street and Third Avenue, which was designed by Robert A. M. Stern.{{cite web |date=April 16, 1999 |title=Residential Real Estate; Luxury Condominiums Seeing Strong Demand |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/16/nyregion/residential-real-estate-luxury-condominiums-seeing-strong-demand.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231011919/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/16/nyregion/residential-real-estate-luxury-condominiums-seeing-strong-demand.html |url-status=live}} The hotel has a floor area of about {{Convert|800,000|ft2}}.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=32}}

The building is {{Convert|426|ft}} tall, and there are setbacks on the upper stories.{{cite web |last=Ouroussoff |first=Nicolai |date=October 10, 2006 |title=Norman Foster |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/arts/design/10fost.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109041814/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/10/arts/design/10fost.html |url-status=live}} As built, the Carlyle consists of a 40-story tower along 76th Street to the south and a 14-story apartment building along 77th Street to the north, the latter of which is known as the Carlyle House.{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=32}} There were separate entrances for each section,{{cite web |date=October 26, 1930 |title=Hotel Carlyle Finished; Will Occupy New Building Just Completed on Madison Avenue. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/10/26/archives/hotel-carlyle-finished-will-occupy-new-building-just-completed-on.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and a public arcade connected the two structures. By the 21st century, permanent residents and short-term guests shared the entrances. The first three stories of both sections were clad with limestone and granite, while the stories above were clad in terracotta and gray brick. All of the ground-floor storefronts share a facade design.{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=November 7, 1980 |title=Browsing Along The Madison Mile; Browsing Along a Special Mile on Madison—the 60's and 70's Where Retail Activity Starts Matrons' Art Deco The Drive to Look New The Climb Up Lenox Hill Windows of Wit and Grace Lively Auction Scene Big Crowds at the Whitney A Building of Good Manners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/11/07/archives/browsing-along-the-madison-mile-browsing-along-a-special-mile-on.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328231604/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/11/07/archives/browsing-along-the-madison-mile-browsing-along-a-special-mile-on.html |url-status=live}} The architectural details of the Carlyle's tower stories were influenced by those of the Westminster Cathedral's tower. The tower also functions as a chimney for the fireplaces in the hotel rooms and apartments.

The original main lobby was designed by Dorothy Draper.{{cite web |last=Scutts |first=Joanna |date=July 1, 2015 |title=Inside 1930s Designer Dorothy Draper's Riotously Colorful World |url=https://archive.curbed.com/2015/7/1/9944754/dorothy-draper |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Curbed |archive-date=November 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241111113410/https://archive.curbed.com/2015/7/1/9944754/dorothy-draper |url-status=live}}{{cite web |date=December 7, 1930 |title=New East Side Apartment Hotel; Work of Style Consultant Apparent in 40-Story Structure at Madison Av. and 76th St. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/12/07/archives/new-east-side-apartment-hotel-work-of-style-consultant-apparent-in.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The entrance hall initially had white marble columns, in addition to mirrors on the walls. The main lobby was decorated in green and had a grayscale marble floor, yellow-leather furniture and a green frieze near the tops of its walls.{{cite news |date=December 7, 1930 |title=Style Expert Leading Factor In Building: No Builder of Apartments will Proceed These Days Without a Consultant |work=New York Herald Tribune |page=E3 |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113773654}}}} When the hotel opened, the New York Herald Tribune described the original interiors as not having any defined style, though the newspaper cited the original design as being most stylistically similar to the Empire style. In the late 20th century, one source characterized the lobby as a small space with minimal decorations and furniture,{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=30}} while another source described it as akin to an apartment-building lobby.{{cite news |last=Kaptainis |first=Arthur |date=June 19, 1993 |title=The art of loitering; Lobby-dawdling in New York's grand hotels is a game with rules |work=The London Gazette |page=J1 |id={{ProQuest|432445462}}}} The Globe and Mail said the small size of the reception area "affords no opportunity for milling crowds".{{cite news |last=Jacobson |first=Harold |date=July 3, 1999 |title=East side deluxe, for a price Named for a Scottish essayist known for his taste, elegance and conservatism, the Carlyle was also one of Princess Diana's favourite New York escapes. |work=  The Globe and Mail |page=F.5 |id={{ProQuest|384529864}}}} Following a renovation by Despont in the 2000s, walnut-and-ochre furniture was added to the lobby, and the marble floors were restored.

Next to the lobby was an elevator lobby with a black-and-white marble fireplace mantel, as well as white walls with pilasters. The elevator lobby was illuminated by urns on pedestals. Past the elevator lobby are a series of small lounges. The hotel's main offices were on the same level, past the hotel's tea gallery.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=358}}

The first floor contains a store operated by the Valmont Group. On the third floor is the Sense spa, which is designed in the Art Deco style. A staircase with a barrel-vaulted ceiling leads down from the main spa to a cluster of five private treatment rooms. The third floor also includes the Valmont spa, which has decorations by artists such as Mark Tobey and Sol LeWitt. On the same level is the Yves Durif salon.{{cite web |last=Krentcil |first=Faran Alexis |title=Yves Durif |url=https://nymag.com/listings/beauty/yves-durif/ |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=New York}} The hotel has a fitness center as well. Originally, there was a playground and a gymnasium within the building, as well as a roof garden between the Carlyle and the neighboring structure at 50 East 77th Street.{{cite web |date=April 27, 1930 |title=Gymnasium for Tenants; Will Be Installed in Carlyle Hotel on Madison Avenue. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/04/27/archives/gymnasium-for-tenants-will-be-installed-in-carlyle-hotel-on-madison.html |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

{{See also|Carlyle Restaurant|Bemelmans Bar}}

The hotel's main dining area was originally known as the Carlyle Restaurant and was decorated in the style of an English manor house.{{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Holly |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3aQPF3wRPoC&dq=%22carlyle+restaurant%22&pg=PA69 |title=Frommer's New York City with Kids |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-470-12569-4 |postscript=none |access-date=January 28, 2013}}; {{cite book |last=Hempel Davis |first=Gerry |url=https://archive.org/details/romancingroadsvo0001davi |title=Romancing the Roads: A Driving Diva's Firsthand Guide, East of the Mississippi |publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing |year=2011 |page=[https://archive.org/details/romancingroadsvo0001davi/page/29 29] |quote=carlyle restaurant. |postscript=none |access-date=January 28, 2013 |url-access=registration}}; {{cite book |last=Lipsitz Flippin |first=Alexis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VQJlF8U_vp8C&dq=%22carlyle+restaurant%22&pg=PT71 |title=Frommer's New York City with Kids |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-118-01949-8 |access-date=January 28, 2013}} The main dining area originally had yellow wallpaper and a marble fireplace mantel. There was also a room with a fountain next to the main dining area. By the late 20th century, the dining area was divided into three rooms,{{cite magazine |last=Winebaum Perschetz |first=Lois |date=December 14, 1972 |title=The Ceiling Is Peeling |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=4–5 |volume=125 |issue=112 |id={{ProQuest|1862407517}}}}{{cite news |last=Lerman |first=Leo |date=June 1, 1980 |title=People Are Talking About: Where to Eat Now: The Carlyle Restaurant |work=Vogue |page=42 |volume=170 |issue=6 |id={{ProQuest|879270263}}}} and a Globe and Mail article described the restaurant as having decorations such as sconces and tapestries. At the time, it had both a relatively cheap breakfast buffet and a pricier à la carte menu;{{cite news |last=Fabricant |first=Florence |date=November 12, 1980 |title=Eating Out in Style |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=C1 |id={{ProQuest|424011927}}}} The New York Times characterized the cuisine as continental,{{cite web |last=Grimes |first=William |date=May 27, 1998 |title=Retro in New York; An Era Of Romance Shimmers In Revival |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/27/dining/retro-in-new-york-an-era-of-romance-shimmers-in-revival.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=October 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024224829/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/05/27/dining/retro-in-new-york-an-era-of-romance-shimmers-in-revival.html |url-status=live}} while The Wall Street Journal said the restaurant's menu changed every season.{{cite news |last=O'Connell |first=Vanessa |date=May 11, 2010 |title=City News – Lunchbox: Where Ladies Lunch |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=A.24 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|275678888}}}} The restaurant was called the Dumonet at the Carlyle, after its chef Jean-Louis Dumonet, during the 2000s.{{Cite magazine |last=Frumkin |first=Paul |date=September 22, 2003 |title=Jean-Louis Dumonet: Restaurants a labor of love almost since birth |magazine=Nation's Restaurant News |page=40 |volume=37 |issue=38 |id={{ProQuest|229339948}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Grimes |first=William |date=July 23, 2003 |title=Restaurants; Haute Meets Bistro With Bobby Short Nearby |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/23/dining/restaurants-haute-meets-bistro-with-bobby-short-nearby.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In 2021, the space was renovated and converted to a fine dining restaurant named Dowling's. The restaurant space is decorated in a grayscale color palette with 1940s–era motifs, artwork, and photos, in addition to private dining booths with geometric decorations. Dowling's cuisine consists of mid-20th-century dishes such as salt-crusted branzino, foie gras terrine, lobster bisque, and steak Diane.{{cite web |last=Ong |first=Bao |date=June 24, 2013 |title=13 Hotel Restaurants in NYC Not Just For Tourists |url=https://ny.eater.com/maps/best-hotel-restaurants-nyc |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=Eater NY |archive-date=March 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304224415/https://ny.eater.com/maps/best-hotel-restaurants-nyc |url-status=live}}{{cite web |date=November 13, 2015 |title=The Carlyle |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/north-america/united-states/new-york/hotels/the-carlyle-hotel/ |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The Telegraph |archive-date=April 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418200305/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/north-america/united-states/new-york/hotels/the-carlyle-hotel/ |url-status=live}}

Above the dining room was a Victorian–style suite on a mezzanine level, with sitting, drawing, and dining rooms. Originally, the Victorian suite's dining room had a blue painted ceiling and was furnished with round glass lamps, gold-framed portraits, red window curtains, and rose-wood chairs. The other two rooms had flowered wallpaper, and all three rooms displayed 19th-century objets d'art.{{cite web |date=April 5, 1931 |title=Victorian Touches for Modern Homes; A Revival of Interest in the Last Century Makes an Impress on Decorations |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/04/05/archives/victorian-touches-for-modern-homes-a-revival-of-interest-in-the.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The suite later became known as the Trianon Suite,{{Sfn|Brenner|1983|page=38}} which consists of a foyer and three suites.{{cite web |title=Spacious Trianon Suite |url=https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/the-carlyle-new-york/meetings-and-events/capacity-chart/trianon-suite |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel |archive-date=July 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240722210204/https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/the-carlyle-new-york/meetings-and-events/capacity-chart/trianon-suite |url-status=live}} In the mid-20th century, the hotel also had a restaurant called the Regency Room, which served Continental American cuisine.{{Cite magazine |last=Callvert |first=R S |date=Sep 1969 |title=Dining in New York Hotel Restaurants |magazine=Town & Country |pages=40–41 |volume=123 |issue=4562 |id={{ProQuest|2126818498}}}}

The Cafe Carlyle, a supper club on the ground level, occupies a windowless space with soft lighting.{{cite news |last=Reich |first=Howard |date=October 17, 1993 |title=City Swing New York, New York Twinkles With the Resurgence of Its Cabaret Rooms |work=Chicago Tribune |page=6 |issn=1085-6706 |id={{ProQuest|283575313}}}} The space can fit 90 people.{{cite web |last=Rahmanan |first=Anna |date=June 7, 2024 |title=I went to the Café Carlyle and was reminded of the New York that once was—and still could be |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/i-went-to-the-cafe-carlyle-and-was-reminded-of-the-new-york-that-once-wasand-still-could-be-060724 |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=Time Out New York |archive-date=June 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240609214719/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/i-went-to-the-cafe-carlyle-and-was-reminded-of-the-new-york-that-once-wasand-still-could-be-060724 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=Nadelson |first=Reggie |date=March 6, 2024 |title=Supper Clubs in New York Are a Vanishing Breed. Café Carlyle Is Keeping the Tradition Alive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/t-magazine/cafe-carlyle-cabaret-supper-club-new-york.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525215316/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/06/t-magazine/cafe-carlyle-cabaret-supper-club-new-york.html |url-status=live}} It is decorated with murals by Marcel Vertès,{{cite web |last1=Hague |first1=Lesley |last2=Ballen |first2=Sian |date=December 14, 2007 |title=Scott Salvator |url=http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/3519 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222063826/http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/node/3519 |archive-date=February 22, 2014 |access-date=February 7, 2014 |publisher=Newyorksocialdiary.com}} which depict semi-nude women doing various activities, accompanied by motifs of musicians in whimsical outfits.{{cite magazine |last=Gopnik |first=Adam |date=September 17, 2007 |title=Paris on Madison |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/24/paris-on-madison |access-date=November 4, 2024 |magazine=The New Yorker |page=84 |volume=83 |issue=28 |id={{ProQuest|233133524}} |archive-date=June 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608041940/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/09/24/paris-on-madison |url-status=live}} In its early years, the club hosted two to three shows each night, although this had been reduced to one nightly show by the 2020s. A New York Times article from the 1970s described the cafe as serving "simple fare" (ranging from sandwiches to sirloin steak) during the daytime, with performances at night,{{cite web |last=Sokolov |first=Raymond A. |date=September 17, 1971 |title=Their Waiters May Be Inept—but the Chef Certainly Isn't |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/17/archives/their-waiters-may-be-inept-but-the-chef-certainly-isnt.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127082010/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/09/17/archives/their-waiters-may-be-inept-but-the-chef-certainly-isnt.html |url-status=live}} while a 1993 Washington Post article characterized the club as serving French continental fare.{{cite news |last=Greco |first=JoAnn |date=April 18, 1993 |title=What Good Is Sitting Alone in Your Room?: The Cabarets of New York |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=E4 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|140732288}}}} The club serves prix fixe dinners prior to performances, which typically last 90 minutes.

Bemelmans Bar, located next to Cafe Carlyle,{{Cite news |last=Gourse |first=Leslie |date=August 10, 1986 |title=Madison Avenue: the pride of New York |work=Boston Globe |page=B17 |id={{ProQuest|1955239349}}}}{{cite web |date=July 2, 2019 |title=High Society |url=https://viemagazine.com/article/the-carlyle-new-york-rosewood-hotel/ |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=VIE Magazine |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127163304/https://viemagazine.com/article/the-carlyle-new-york-rosewood-hotel/ |url-status=live}} is designed in an Art Deco style with a gold-leaf ceiling.{{cite web |title=Bemelmans Bar |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/city-guides/new-york/venue/bemelmans-bar-nyc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204080436/https://www.bonappetit.com/city-guides/new-york/venue/bemelmans-bar-nyc |archive-date=December 4, 2022 |access-date=January 7, 2023 |website=Bon Appetit}}{{cite news |last=Kessler |first=Kevin |date=February 4, 2016 |title=Bemelmans Bar: Where the Genteel Meet for Cocktails and a Side of Billy Joel |url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/02/04/bemelmans-bar-where-the-genteel-meet-for-cocktails-and-a-side-of-billy-joel/ |access-date=May 23, 2023 |newspaper=The Village Voice}} It is decorated with murals depicting Madeline in Central Park, which were painted by the bar's namesake Ludwig Bemelmans.{{cite news |last=Orgill |first=Roxane |date=May 13, 1990 |title=For Barbara Carroll, Improvisation is Key |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-for-barbara-carroll-improvis/125181247/ |access-date=May 23, 2023 |newspaper=The Record |page=E-2}}{{cite web |last=Schneider |first=Daniel B. |date=November 12, 2000 |title=F.Y.I. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/12/nyregion/fyi-131881.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109201617/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/12/nyregion/fyi-131881.html |url-status=live}} It took Bemelmans 18 months to paint the murals, which are his only artworks on public display. The bar has a less formal ambiance compared with the Cafe Carlyle, and it is also typically less expensive.{{cite news |last=Colford |first=Paul D. |date=August 19, 1988 |title=Tonight, at the Keyboard... Piano bars: Where patrons lift their drinks and their voices |work=Newsday |page=1 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|278003725}}}}{{cite news |last=Morago |first=Greg |date=October 6, 1996 |title=Uptown Whirl Pursuing a Perfect Martini in the Ultimate Hotel Bar |work=The Hartford Courant |page=F.1 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|255792833}}}} Grub Street described the Bemelmans Bar as attracting a diverse crowd. In the 21st century, the bar sometimes hosts activities for children,{{cite news |last=Wharton |first=Rachel |date=September 15, 2007 |title=In the Carlyle, Bemelmans Bar Suited to a Tea |work=New York Daily News |page=22 |issn=2692-1251 |id={{ProQuest|306147254}} |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |last=Fabricant |first=Florence |date=November 2, 2005 |title=Tea at the Carlyle, for the Very Small |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/dining/tea-at-the-carlyle-for-the-very-small.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and it has nightly piano performances as well.{{cite web |last=Hesser |first=Amanda |date=February 24, 1999 |title=A Grand Oasis: New York's Hotel Bars |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/24/dining/a-grand-oasis-new-york-s-hotel-bars.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127084524/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/24/dining/a-grand-oasis-new-york-s-hotel-bars.html |url-status=live}} Next to the bar is a tea gallery called the Gallery,{{cite web |date=January 1, 1970 |title=Private Dining & Afternoon Tea NYC |url=https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/the-carlyle-new-york/dining/the-gallery |access-date=November 4, 2024 |publisher=Rosewood Hotels |archive-date=September 28, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240928003114/https://www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/the-carlyle-new-york/dining/the-gallery |url-status=live}} which occupies a pair of rooms that are designed to resemble Istanbul's 17th-century Topkapı Palace.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=358}} The Gallery is decorated with paneling and dark wallpaper.{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Sarah Harrison |date=May 12, 2012 |title=At the Gallery at the Carlyle, Afternoon Tea in Old New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/13/nyregion/at-the-gallery-at-the-carlyle-afternoon-tea-in-old-new-york.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}

File:Carlyle Hotel, 76th St. and Madison Ave., New York City. LOC gsc.5a08887.jpg

The Carlyle Hotel is variously cited as having 189, 190, or 192 hotel rooms.{{cite web |last=Iwegbue |first=Annabel |date=May 6, 2024 |title=Let's Take a Look Inside the Carlyle Hotel, Celebs' Go-To Stay for the Met Gala |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a43725371/carlyle-hotel-celeb-worthy-stays/ |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=Cosmopolitan |archive-date=May 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240512171037/https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a43725371/carlyle-hotel-celeb-worthy-stays/ |url-status=live}}{{cite web |last=King |first=Steve |date=October 1, 2024 |title=The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel – Hotel Review |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/hotels/new-york-city/the-carlyle-a-rosewood-hotel |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=Condé Nast Traveler |archive-date=November 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113020105/https://www.cntraveler.com/hotels/new-york-city/the-carlyle-a-rosewood-hotel |url-status=live}} There are about 100 standard rooms, and the remaining units are suites. Originally, Draper decorated the rooms in the Art Deco and Empire styles,{{cite web |last=Ramani |first=Sandra |title=The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel |url=https://nymag.com/listings/hotel/the-carlyle-a-rosewood-hotel/index.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=New York |archive-date=September 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240908081036/https://nymag.com/listings/hotel/the-carlyle-a-rosewood-hotel/index.html |url-status=live}} which was decorated in a different style. The rooms were subsequently redesigned by Mark Hampton. By the 2000s, the rooms were variously decorated in shades of red, yellow, cream, or blue, with prints on the walls. The units had large TVs and monogrammed bathrobes,{{cite web |date=December 8, 2014 |title=What It's Like at The Carlyle Hotel, NYC Home of Prince William and Kate |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/carlyle-hotel-nyc-home-prince-william-kate/story?id=27449274 |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=ABC News |archive-date=September 21, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921115135/http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/carlyle-hotel-nyc-home-prince-william-kate/story?id=27449274 |url-status=live}} in addition to custom-made items such as ashtrays and beauty products. {{As of|2024}}, the rooms are arranged in various layouts, including suites with one, two, or three bedrooms.{{cite web |date=July 4, 2024 |title=The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel Review |url=https://www.oyster.com/new-york-city/hotels/the-carlyle-a-rosewood-hotel/ |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=Oyster |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127074103/https://www.oyster.com/new-york-city/hotels/the-carlyle-a-rosewood-hotel/ |url-status=live}} The units are decorated in the Art Deco style and have abstract art, armchairs, and ottomans. Each room also has minibars, newspapers, coffee machines, and various coffee table books. The bathrooms of each unit have underfloor heating systems. There are baby grand pianos in more than 20 suites.

The hotel has 34 themed suites. Among the hotel's largest units is the presidential suite, which occupies the entire 26th floor and has a bronze mail chute and an Art Deco–style private elevator.{{cite magazine |last=Elstein |first=Aaron |date=April 1, 2019 |title=Oh, Chutes: Whether Anachronism or Amenity, the City's Mail Shafts Are Chock-full of Good Stories |magazine=Crain's New York Business |page=3 |volume=35 |issue=13 |id={{ProQuest|2202847673}}}} The presidential suite has three bedrooms, a gallery entrance with Art Deco-styled murals, a media room, a dining area, and a living room. Another suite, the two-bedroom Royal Suite on the 22nd floor, has {{Convert|1800|ft2}} and includes a black marble fireplace and {{Convert|14|ft|4=-high|adj=mid}} ceilings.{{cite web |last=Itzkowitz |first=Laura |date=March 1, 2016 |title=The Most Requested Room at the Carlyle |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/most-requested-room-carlyle |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Architectural Digest}} The Empire Suite occupies two stories and has {{Convert|2600|ft2}}, with three bedrooms and a private art collection.{{cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Jarrard |last2=Holmes |first2=Elizabeth |date=July 23, 2015 |title=The Most Expensive Hotel Rooms in New York City |url=https://graphics.wsj.com/most-expensive-hotel-rooms/ |access-date=October 26, 2024 |work=The Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660}}{{cite web |last=Shankman |first=Samantha |date=September 21, 2013 |title=The 10 Most Expensive Hotel Suites in New York City |url=https://skift.com/2013/09/21/the-10-most-expensive-hotel-suites-in-new-york-city/ |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=Skift |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522060013/https://skift.com/2013/09/21/the-10-most-expensive-hotel-suites-in-new-york-city/ |url-status=live}} In the 21st century, the Empire Suite has ranked as one of New York City's most expensive hotel suites, charging $15,000 a night.{{cite web |last=Ong |first=Bao |date=March 21, 2016 |title=15 of the Most Expensive Hotel Suites in New York City |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-expensive-hotel-suites-in-new-york-city |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=Architectural Digest |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315190135/https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/most-expensive-hotel-suites-in-new-york-city |url-status=live}} The suites in the highest stories have living rooms that overlook Central Park to the west.{{Cite news |last=Hammond |first=Margo |date=February 17, 1990 |title=A great hotel bathroom often includes a spectacular view |work=Vancouver Sun |page=B5 |id={{ProQuest|243516141}}}} The Tower Premier rooms, designed by Alexandra Champalimaud, each include one bedroom and are decorated with antiques.{{cite web |last=Ponchione |first=Alissa |date=February 10, 2010 |title=Alexandra Champalimaud Takes on the Carlyle |url=https://hospitalitydesign.com/news/main/alexandra-champalimaud-takes-on-the-carlyle/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Hospitality Design}}

The modern-day Carlyle Hotel also includes 60 apartments. Long-term residents either sign three-year leases or buy their apartments outright; because the Carlyle is structured as a co-op, apartment owners have to pay a monthly fee.{{cite web |last=Pedersen |first=Laura |date=August 6, 2000 |title=Home Sweet Hotel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/06/nyregion/home-sweet-hotel.html |access-date=October 26, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221214165035/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/06/nyregion/home-sweet-hotel.html |url-status=live}} Originally, the apartments in the northern portion of the hotel had between 7 and 23 rooms, which were elaborately decorated even though they were completed during the Depression. Some of the apartments had double-level living rooms, and there were also duplex apartments with 8 or 9 rooms. In addition, there were terraces next to each apartment on the 14th through 19th stories, and some of the apartments had sun rooms. One of the penthouses had 26 rooms across three floors, while another penthouse had sixteen rooms and eight baths across two floors.{{cite web |date=May 1, 1930 |title=Take Duplex in New House. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/05/01/archives/take-duplex-in-new-house.html |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In contrast to other apartment hotels in New York City, the Carlyle's apartments have kitchens. The third and fourth floors had 12 small rooms for maids.

In 1963, Benno de Terey and George Hickey III redesigned one of the suites on the 24th and 25th floors as a French-style pied-à-terre.{{cite web |date=June 12, 1963 |title=Regency Style Is Used in Hotel Suite |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/12/archives/regency-style-is-used-in-hotel-suite.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127193543/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/06/12/archives/regency-style-is-used-in-hotel-suite.html |url-status=live}} By the late 1960s, the building's apartments mostly had between one and three bedrooms, and some of the units also had sun rooms, terraces, galleries, and maids' bedrooms. On the Carlyle's northern facade is an oriel window where the Kennedy family built a breakfast niche in their apartment, which was located on the 34th and 35th floors. By the 1980s, the 34th floor had been split into two penthouse suites.{{cite news |last=Morgan |first=Judith |date=April 9, 1989 |title=The Carlyle Mystique |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=16 |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|280769362}}}} Over the years, designers such as Mark Hampton, Thierry Despont, and Alexandra Champalimaud have redesigned some of the apartments.

The hotel's Cafe Carlyle has featured jazz performers throughout the years. George Feyer was the club's first resident performer from 1955 to 1968,{{sfn|Broder|2013|page=26}}{{cite book |last1=Weil |first1=Susanne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KgpEAQAAIAAJ |title=Steppin' Out: A Guide to Live Music in Manhattan |last2=Singer |first2=Barry |publisher=East Woods Press |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-914788-24-9 |page=18 |access-date=October 26, 2024}} interspersing his piano performances with commentary on current events.{{cite web |last=Powledge |first=Fred |date=October 3, 1964 |title=Pianist at Staid Carlyle Spoofs Politics; George Feyer Mixes Barbs and Chopin |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/10/03/archives/pianist-at-staid-carlyle-spoofs-politics-george-feyer-mixes-barbs.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Feyer was succeeded by Bobby Short, who performed there five days a week{{cite news |last=Stein |first=Benjamin |date=June 4, 1975 |title=Music's Hardy Cast Of Aging Smoothies |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=10 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|133992082}}}} and eight months a year;{{Cite web |last=Parker |first=Jerry |date=May 29, 1974 |title=Night Clubs |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-night-clubs/158220029/ |access-date=November 1, 2024 |work=Newsday |pages=108, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/newsday-nassau-edition-night-clubs/158220099/ 109] |language=en-US |issn=2574-5298}} Short gave regular performances until 2004,{{sfn|Broder|2013|page=26}}{{cite web |last=Gans |first=Andrew |date=April 20, 2004 |title=Bobby Short to End Carlyle Run New Year's Eve |url=https://playbill.com/article/bobby-short-to-end-carlyle-run-new-years-eve-com-119194 |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=Playbill |postscript=none |archive-date=March 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230329030529/https://playbill.com/article/bobby-short-to-end-carlyle-run-new-years-eve-com-119194 |url-status=live}}; {{cite web |date=November 4, 2004 |title=Bobby Short, Still Holding Court at the Carlyle |url=https://www.npr.org/2004/11/04/4142795/bobby-short-still-holding-court-at-the-carlyle |access-date=November 3, 2024 |publisher=NPR |archive-date=October 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231001135017/https://www.npr.org/2004/11/04/4142795/bobby-short-still-holding-court-at-the-carlyle |url-status=live}} the year before his death.{{cite news |last=Green |first=Blake |date=March 22, 2005 |title=Bobby Short, 1924 – 2005 |work=Newsday |page=A08 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279896700}}}} During Short's time at the Cafe Carlyle, the club became increasingly known as a jazz club, differentiating itself from the city's many other supper clubs. Although there had been a less formal atmosphere at the Cafe Carlyle when Short began performing there, by the 1970s it had gained a reputation as the "classiest saloon in town" where reservations were required.{{cite news |last=Parker |first=Jerry |date=April 13, 1975 |title=Cabaret Returns to New York a Room for Song |work=Newsday |pages=A1 |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|922643037}}}}

There have been other performers at the Cafe Carlyle over the years. Some of these performers filled in for Short whenever he was on vacation; for example, Teddi King performed at the club in the 1970s,{{cite magazine |date=January 26, 1977 |title=Night Club Reviews: Hotel Carlyle, N.Y. |magazine=Variety |pages=87 |volume=285 |issue=12 |id={{ProQuest|1401301650}}}} and George Shearing had brief performances at the hotel in 1979 and 1984.See, for example: {{cite web |last=Wilson |first=John S. |date=January 19, 1979 |title=A 'New' Shearing Plays the Carlyle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/19/archives/a-new-shearing-plays-the-carlyle-tips-on-tickets.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=March 10, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180310093737/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/01/19/archives/a-new-shearing-plays-the-carlyle-tips-on-tickets.html |url-status=live}}; {{cite web |last=Page |first=Tim |date=January 27, 1984 |title=The Post-midnight Options |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/27/arts/the-post-midnight-options.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524155823/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/27/arts/the-post-midnight-options.html |url-status=live}} Alan Cumming gave a series of concerts at the Cafe Carlyle in June 2015;{{cite web |last=Dziemianowicz |first=Joe |title=Alan Cumming gets personal and 'sappy' in his debut show at Cafe Carlyle |website=New York Daily News |issn=2692-1251 |date=June 3, 2015 |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2015/06/03/alan-cumming-gets-personal-and-sappy-in-his-debut-show-at-cafe-carlyle/ |access-date=December 1, 2024}} the album of the performance, Alan Cumming Sings Sappy Songs, features a photograph of Cumming shot in the doorway of the cafe.{{cite web |last=Wong |first=Curtis M. |title=Alan Cumming Bares All For His New Album Cover |website=HuffPost |date=January 15, 2016 |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alan-cumming-sappy-songs_n_5696df94e4b0b4eb759d2f83 |access-date=December 1, 2024 |archive-date=December 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202082040/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/alan-cumming-sappy-songs_n_5696df94e4b0b4eb759d2f83 |url-status=live}} Other performers at the Cafe Carlyle have included Dixie Carter,{{cite magazine |last=Neuhauser |first=Elyce |date=April 5, 1990 |title=Dixie At The Cafe Carlyle |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=10 |volume=159 |issue=67 |id={{ProQuest|1445695672}}}} the Modern Jazz Quartet,{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=John S. |date=January 6, 1990 |title=Review/Jazz; Swan Songs From 1974 Still Strong |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/06/arts/review-jazz-swan-songs-from-1974-still-strong.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525191412/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/06/arts/review-jazz-swan-songs-from-1974-still-strong.html |url-status=live}} Woody Allen,{{cite news |last=Weinstein |first=Norman |date=February 20, 1998 |title=Woody Allen Takes Manhattan |work=The Christian Science Monitor |page=B7 |issn=0882-7729 |id={{ProQuest|405632072}}}} Eartha Kitt, Isaac Mizrahi, and Rita Wilson.{{cite web |last=Brennan |first=Casey |date=March 21, 2025 |title=The Carlyle Hotel: A Glittering Legacy on Manhattan’s Upper East Side |url=https://graziamagazine.com/us/articles/the-carlyle-hotel-grazia-usa-spring-2025/ |access-date=March 22, 2025 |website=Grazia USA}} To celebrate the hotel's 75th anniversary, the Cafe Carlyle held numerous cabaret performances in 2004–2005,{{cite web |last=Gelder |first=Lawrence Van |date=December 10, 2004 |title=Arts, Briefly |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/10/arts/movies/arts-briefly.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} and in honor of Bobby Short's 100th birthday, the Cafe Carlyle hosted jazz performances from various artists in late 2024 and early 2025.

The performers at the Bemelmans Bar over the years have included Dick Wellstood,{{cite web |last=Saxon |first=Wolfgang |date=July 27, 1987 |title=Dick Wellstood, a Jazz Pianist, is Dead at 59 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/27/obituaries/dick-wellstood-a-jazz-pianist-is-dead-at-59.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240427142906/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/27/obituaries/dick-wellstood-a-jazz-pianist-is-dead-at-59.html |url-status=live}} Marian McPartland,{{cite web |last=Wilson |first=John S. |date=September 28, 1975 |title=Miss McPartland, Bobby Short Are Both Stompin' at the Carlyle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/28/archives/miss-mcpartland-bobby-short-are-both-stompin-at-the-carlyle.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Peter Mintun, Loston Harris,{{cite magazine |last=Hoglund |first=John |date=July 4, 2002 |title=Thinking it through |magazine=Back Stage |pages=13 |volume=43 |issue=26 |id={{ProQuest|221138886}}}} Tony Bennett, Billy Joel, John Mayer, and Mariah Carey. Jazz pianist and vocalist Barbara Carroll performed at the bar for 14 years,{{cite news |last=Orgill |first=Roxane |date=May 13, 1990 |title=For Barbara Carroll, Improvisation is Key |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-record-for-barbara-carroll-improvis/125181247/ |access-date=May 23, 2023 |newspaper=The Record |page=E-2}} and composer and pianist Earl Rose played there for 25 years.{{cite news |last1=Nadelson |first1=Reggie |date=December 20, 2019 |title=A Bar Revered for Its Old-Fashioned Charm and Witty Murals |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/t-magazine/bemelmans-bar.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103092227/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/t-magazine/bemelmans-bar.html |archive-date=January 3, 2020 |access-date=January 4, 2020 |newspaper=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Paul McCartney, Cyndi Lauper, and Bono have also performed at the Carlyle Hotel.

In the mid-20th century, the hotel hosted events such as an annual exhibition of items made by Mount Sinai Hospital patients{{cite web |date=October 27, 1954 |title=Hospital to Exhibit Crafts of Patients |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/10/27/archives/hospital-to-exhibit-crafts-of-patients.html |access-date=October 29, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127074219/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/10/27/archives/hospital-to-exhibit-crafts-of-patients.html |url-status=live}} and fashion shows.{{cite web |last=Nemy |first=Enid |date=December 14, 1976 |title=Housewarming, Too Big for the 'House,' Overflows at the Carlyle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/14/archives/housewarming-too-big-for-the-house-overflows-at-the-carlyle.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} The Council for United Civil Rights Leadership (CUCRL) was organized in a meeting held at the Carlyle. Malcolm X expressed his concerns with having a white man in charge of this new fundraising organization during a November 10, 1963, speech, "Message to the Grass Roots".{{cite web |author=Malcolm X |author-link=Malcolm X |date=November 10, 1963 |title=Message to the Grassroots |url=http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/message-to-grassroots/ |access-date=February 7, 2014 |publisher=TeachingAmericanHistory.com}} In addition, the hotel often hosts events relating to the annual Met Gala, and celebrities appearing at the Met Gala often stay there. Women's Wear Daily wrote in 2023 that celebrities visiting the hotel during the Met Gala "create a media moment almost equal to the red carpet of the fashion fundraiser itself".{{cite web |last=Zhang |first=Tianwei |date=May 30, 2023 |title=Sonia Cheng on Rosewood Expansion, Food Curation and Members' Club Carlyle & Co. |url=https://wwd.com/eye/people/sonia-cheng-rosewood-expansion-food-curation-carlyle-and-co-1235652753/ |access-date=October 25, 2024 |website=Women's Wear Daily |archive-date=April 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409082219/https://wwd.com/eye/people/sonia-cheng-rosewood-expansion-food-curation-carlyle-and-co-1235652753/ |url-status=live}}

The hotel has also been used for business negotiations. It is the namesake of the financial conglomerate The Carlyle Group, whose founders had first met at the hotel.{{Cite news |last=Vise |first=David A. |author-link=David A. Vise |date=October 5, 1987 |title=Area Merchant Banking Firm Formed |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/306950781 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221183450/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/doc/306950781.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Oct+5%2C+1987&author=Vise%2C+David+A&pub=The+Washington+Post+%28pre-1997+Fulltext%29&edition=&startpage=&desc=Area+Merchant+Banking+Firm+Formed%3B+The+Carlyle+Group+to+Serve+Corporations+and+Wealthy+Families |archive-date=February 21, 2014 |access-date=February 7, 2014 |newspaper=The Washington Post |id={{ProQuest|306950781}}}} Additionally, in 1993, Sumner Redstone and Martin S. Davis met at the hotel to discuss Viacom's acquisition of Paramount Global. Other figures, such as the financiers Lionel Pincus and Robert Rubin and the diplomat Henry Kissinger, have also hosted breakfast meetings at the hotel.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=354}}

Over the years, the Carlyle Hotel has been frequented by celebrities, ranging from Hollywood actors to the nouveau riche to politicians and royalty. Despite its famous clientele, the hotel retained a reputation for discretion, leading to the nickname "Palace of Secrets". Ronald Hector, who worked in the hotel's lobby for four decades, refused to tell anecdotes about the hotel's guests until their deaths. One of the hotel's general managers said in 2000 that the Carlyle "attracts people who lead very high-profile lives but who are desperate to lead low ones".{{Cite news |last=Sutton |first=Henry |date=October 29, 2000 |title=Travel: Design hotels – Is it time to check out of Hotel Cool? The game may be up for those temples of chic. Now, says Henry Sutton, guests prefer value and service to image |work=The Independent |page=5 |id={{ProQuest|311726898}}}} A Crain's New York reporter said in 1988 that the hotel's management had been reluctant to talk to reporters because a New York magazine article from 1983 had been indiscreet about the hotel's clientele. Despite the staff's reluctance to divulge famous guests' identities, paparazzi have sometimes received information about celebrity guests anyway.

File:JFK and Frondizi at the Carlyle Hotel, New York City 01.jpg and Argentine president Arturo Frondizi at the hotel]]

U.S. presidents from Harry S. Truman to Bill Clinton have stayed at the Carlyle, leading news media to refer to the hotel as the "White House of Manhattan".{{cite web |last=Talese |first=Gay |date=February 7, 1964 |title=Madison Avenue: A Street of Presidents and Poise |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/07/archives/madison-avenue-a-street-of-presidents-and-poise.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241110043047/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/07/archives/madison-avenue-a-street-of-presidents-and-poise.html |url-status=live}}{{cite news |date=July 8, 1964 |title=Guides in New York City Are Asked To Respect Mrs. Kennedy's Privacy |work=The Hartford Courant |page=21 |issn=1047-4153 |id={{ProQuest|548453326}}}} Truman was the first U.S. president to stay there, taking walks around the neighborhood every morning after he moved to the hotel in 1948. The Carlyle did not gain a reputation as a presidential hotel until John F. Kennedy lived there. Kennedy owned a seven-room apartment on the 34th and 35th stories, where he stayed just prior to his inauguration in January 1961.{{cite news |last=Herman |first=Pat |date=January 22, 1961 |title=New York Presidential Home Is Swank Hotel: Duplex Apartment in Exclusive Carlyle to Be Gotham White House for Kennedy |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=F6 |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|167840587}} |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=January 7, 1961 |title=Bearden Painting In Presidential Suite |work=New York Amsterdam News |page=7 |id={{proQuest|225458506}}}} The Kennedy family stayed at the hotel sporadically during his presidency;{{cite web |last=Apple |first=R. W. Jr. |date=November 15, 1963 |title=The Carlyle Greets Old Friend; Kennedy Suite Is Always Ready, but Last Day Is Busy Unobtrusive Guest View of the Park |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/15/archives/the-carlyle-greets-old-friend-kennedy-suite-is-always-ready-but.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203212253/https://www.nytimes.com/1963/11/15/archives/the-carlyle-greets-old-friend-kennedy-suite-is-always-ready-but.html |url-status=live}} after Kennedy was assassinated, his widow Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis stayed there with their children. The hotel also had secret tunnels, which Marilyn Monroe reportedly used when she visited Kennedy.{{cite book |last=Summers |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Summers |title=Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe |publisher=Hachette UK |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78022-707-8 |page=131}}{{sfn|Foulkes|Wyatt|Levy|2007|page=83}} In addition, first lady Nancy Reagan stayed at the hotel frequently during her husband's presidency. When Clinton visited the hotel, he had to use the hotel's tunnels to avoid paparazzi. The Carlyle's staff kept a collection of wine specifically for whenever the U.S. president visited.{{Cite web |last1=Rush |first1=George |last2=Molloy |first2=Joanna |date=April 5, 2000 |title=A li'l leading lady for Travolta |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-a-lil-leading-lady-for-travo/158382382/ |access-date=November 3, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |page=490 |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}}

The Carlyle was the last place John F. Kennedy Jr. ate breakfast before he, his wife, and his wife's sister were killed in the 1999 Martha's Vineyard plane crash. Diana, Princess of Wales, frequently stayed at the Carlyle before her death. Several British prime ministers have stayed at the hotel, including Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher,{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=354}} and Tony Blair.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=354}} The Carlyle has also hosted other heads of state, including Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi,{{cite web |date=September 22, 1968 |title=Mrs. Gandhi Stops Here On Way to Latin America |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/09/22/archives/mrs-gandhi-stops-here-on-way-to-latin-america.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, and Canadian prime minister Lester Pearson. According to Carlyle Hotel managing director Marlene Poynder, members of the royal families of Denmark, Greece, Spain, and Sweden have stayed at the hotel. Other politicians who stayed at the Carlyle have included UN secretary-general Kurt Waldheim,{{cite web |date=July 30, 1972 |title=A House on Sutton Place Transferred to U.N. Chief |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/30/archives/a-house-on-sutton-place-transferred-to-un-chief.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241127081947/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/07/30/archives/a-house-on-sutton-place-transferred-to-un-chief.html |url-status=live}} New York City mayor Robert F. Wagner,{{cite web |last=Pace |first=Eric |date=November 4, 1965 |title=Wagners Show Lindsays New Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/11/04/archives/wagners-show-lindsays-new-home.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=354}} and former U.S. postmaster general Frank C. Walker.{{cite news |date=September 14, 1989 |title=Frank Walker, Ex-Postal Chief |newspaper=The Washington Post |page=B2 |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|140997305}}}}

In the Carlyle's early years, figures such as Truman Capote, Frank Sinatra, and George Harrison frequently gathered at the hotel, and the actress Ingrid Bergman was among the relative few celebrity tenants.{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=356}}{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=31}} During World War II, the banker André Meyer, who had been exiled from his native France, lived at the hotel so that he could escape within 24 hours if needed.{{Cite magazine |last=Cox |first=Rob |date=Apr 2005 |title=No regrets |magazine=Institutional Investor |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|220796311}}}} A 1992 Los Angeles Times article described the Carlyle as attracting "members of the capricious aristocracy of Hollywood". Among the celebrity guests mentioned by the Los Angeles Times were the musicians David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Elton John, and Leontyne Price, in addition to the actors Julie Andrews, Anjelica Huston, Jack Lemmon, Jack Nicholson, and Burt Reynolds. Other celebrity guests that have frequented the hotel have included Isabella Rossellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Madonna, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, Annette Bening, Warren Beatty, and Robin Williams. The designer Tom Ford regularly stayed on the Carlyle's 31st floor, while the tennis player Roger Federer often stayed on the 16th floor. Stephanie Savage, the screenwriter for the TV series Gossip Girl, stayed at the hotel and interviewed local girls while writing episodes for the series.{{Cite news |last=Savage |first=Stephanie |date=April 24, 2010 |title='Gossip Girl' as American Woman: an executive producer writes |work=Financial Times |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|250271258}}}}

In the late 20th century, the businessman Henry Ford II owned a co-op apartment on the 34th and 35th floors.{{cite news |last=Penn |first=Stanley |date=April 24, 1978 |title=Ford Motor Covered Upkeep for Elegant Co-Op of Chairman: Questions Arise on Personal Vs. Business Use of Suite In Posh New York Hotel |work=The Wall Street Journal |page=20 |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|134220141}}}} The hotel's other co-op owners have included the television and film producer Brad Grey,{{cite web |date=April 9, 2015 |title=Paramount CEO Brad Grey Selling NYC Apartment |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-ceo-brad-grey-selling-787530/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206174541/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/paramount-ceo-brad-grey-selling-787530/ |url-status=live}} the art dealer Heinz Berggruen,{{cite web |last=Russell |first=John |date=June 3, 1990 |title=Art View; Gifts That Can Change the Climate of a Museum |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/03/arts/art-view-gifts-that-can-change-the-climate-of-a-museum.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=September 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927063318/https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/03/arts/art-view-gifts-that-can-change-the-climate-of-a-museum.html |url-status=live}} the developer Sol Goldman,{{cite web |last=Peterson |first=Iver |date=September 25, 1988 |title=Heirs of Sol Goldman Battle Over Estate |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/25/realestate/heirs-of-sol-goldman-battle-over-estate.html |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 28, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128233823/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/25/realestate/heirs-of-sol-goldman-battle-over-estate.html |url-status=live}} the journalist Gloria Steinem, the financier Michael Milken, and the director Mike Nichols. The businessman Mickey Drexler formerly lived in the Empire Suite, hiring Despont to design the suite.{{cite news |last=Wadler |first=Joyce |date=December 20, 2007 |title=Currents: Hotels New York for Just $15,000 a Night (You Had to Ask) |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=F3 |id={{ProQuest|848095082}}}} Several of the hotel's performers owned apartments in the building, including Marian McPartland and Elaine Stritch.{{cite web |last=Bolick |first=Kate |date=September 1, 2005 |title=Elaine Stritch: Heart, Soul and Plenty of Leg |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/garden/elaine-stritch-heart-soul-and-plenty-of-leg.html |access-date=October 28, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126125244/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/01/garden/elaine-stritch-heart-soul-and-plenty-of-leg.html |url-status=live}} Mick Jagger maintained a pied-à-terre at the Carlyle,{{cite web |last=Heller |first=Zoe |date=December 4, 2010 |title=Mick Without Moss |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/t-magazine/5well-mick-dek.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529160350/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/t-magazine/5well-mick-dek.html |url-status=live}} as did the fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg.{{cite web |last=Friedman |first=Roger D. |date=May 4, 1997 |title=Honey, I'm Home. Call Room Service. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/04/archives/honey-im-home-call-room-service.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |date=October 10, 1987 |title=For some, a hotel can be next best thing to home |work=Vancouver Sun |page=C8 |id={{ProQuest|243722006}}}} In addition, the publisher Leonardo Mondadori rented out his apartment in the building to figures such as actor Randy Quaid and fashion designer Calvin Klein,{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=354}} and the fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy also rented out his apartment there. The filmmaker Ron Howard, who also lived at the Carlyle, gave one of his daughters the middle name Carlyle, after the hotel.

Several members of foreign royal families have also stayed at the Carlyle over the years. The royal guests have included members of British royalty, including Princess Diana,{{cite news |last=Brozan |first=Nadine |date=October 20, 1994 |title=Chronicle: The Princess of Wales gets away from it all, in New York Raul Julia in 'guarded condition' after a stroke A celebration for a Burstein. |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |pages=B28 |id={{ProQuest|109389960}}}} Princess Alexandra,{{cite web |last=Carmody |first=Deirdre |date=October 3, 1967 |title=2 Princesses Come to Town and Get Royal Welcomes |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/10/03/archives/2-princesses-come-to-town-and-get-royal-welcomes.html |access-date=October 31, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} William and Catherine of Wales, Prince Philip and Prince Edward of Edinburgh, and Princess Michael of Kent. Other foreign royals who have stayed at the Carlyle include Princess Grace of Monaco; King Hussein of Jordan; and the monarchs of Denmark, Sweden, Spain, and Greece.

File:Madison Av Oct 2024 19.jpg

In 1969, a writer for Town & Country magazine described the Carlyle Hotel as "a favorite with the famous and the fashionable" and that its Bemelmans Bar and Regency Room were of particular note. Another writer for the same magazine said the hotel catered to those who preferred to stay in a residential neighborhood and wanted easy access to art galleries and antique shops,{{cite magazine |last1=Adams |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Mackey |first2=Kitty |date=Sep 1971 |title=Travel Service Department: New York Hotels |magazine=Town & Country |pages=128, 131–132 |volume=125 |issue=4586 |id={{ProQuest|2137408957}}}} while a Boston Globe reporter wrote that the Carlyle "symbolizes the elan of the Upper East Side". The Sun Sentinel wrote in 1989 that the Carlyle was "an island of civility and sublime gentility", contrasting with the rest of the city.{{Cite news |last=Kilian |first=Michael |date=August 6, 1989 |title=Upscale Excursion |work=Sun Sentinel |page=1J |id={{ProQuest|389222465}}}} Not all commentary was positive; a writer for Women's Wear Daily characterized the clientele as "stuffy rich",{{cite magazine |last=Kissel |first=Howard |date=March 31, 1978 |title=Arts & People: 'Final Payments'—a first novel that may be a literary landmark |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |pages=58 |volume=136 |issue=65 |id={{ProQuest|1627296286}}}} and a Los Angeles Times article in 1986 described the Carlyle as being as elegant as the St. Regis New York but with a more somber undertone.{{cite news |last1=Beyer |first1=Beverly |last2=Rabey |first2=Ed |date=February 2, 1986 |title=Diversity Will Demand Many Bites of Big Apple |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=16 |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|292266809}}}}

The Los Angeles Times wrote in 1992 that "the last thing the Carlyle has ever wanted to be is ordinary", in part because of its personalized service, and Town & Country wrote that "just the name [Carlyle] evokes 1930s New York movie glamour".{{Cite magazine |last=Stanger |first=Ila |date=Dec 1994 |title=Apartment Hotels |magazine=Town & Country |pages=136, 138 |volume=148 |issue=5175 |id={{ProQuest|2162509521}}}} According to Institutional Investor, the Carlyle "feels, functions, and epitomizes the way a grand residence would be", both because of its service and the design of its apartments. When the hotel was being sold in 2000, Vogue described the Carlyle as "grand but not pretentious; wonderfully efficient without any officious coldness; associated with stately, older names but home to a young, chic clientele".{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=352}} The Independent described the hotel as "uptown in every sense" because of its service, style, and luxurious offerings,{{Cite news |last=Hunter |first=Jackie |date=November 30, 2002 |title=Room Service ; Carlyle Hotel, New York City |work=The Independent |page=4 |id={{ProQuest|312125333}}}} while CN Traveler praised the hotel as symbolizing the city's spirit. A Financial Times writer described the Carlyle as "a monument to the elite".{{cite news |last=Spence |first=Rachel |date=January 10, 2009 |title=A first-timer in New York |work=Financial Times |id={{ProQuest|229229580}}}} Conversely, a 2018 Observer article lamented that much of the hotel's upscale character had eroded away.{{cite web |last=Reed |first=Rex |date=May 16, 2018 |title=In 'Always at the Carlyle' Celebs Wax Ecstatic Over a Long-Lost NY Era |url=https://observer.com/2018/05/review-writer-director-matthew-mieles-always-at-the-carlyle/ |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=Observer}}

There has also been commentary on the Carlyle's restaurants and cafes. Vogue magazine described the Carlyle Restaurant as "stylishly homey" with a lively social scene and breakfast cuisine, while Town & Country likened it to a private club in London. One writer described the Cafe Carlyle as a club "where the performers sing as if they're in their living rooms, and as if you belong there with them".{{sfn|Broder|2013|page=25}} A Chicago Tribune writer similarly described the Cafe Carlyle as luxurious and intimate, and a writer for Time Out New York described the Cafe Carlyle as a "big night out without the fuss". Business Insider described the Bemelmans Bar as a "cultural touchstone";{{cite news |last=Gross |first=Michelle |date=June 12, 2021 |title=I visited one of the most iconic neighborhood bars in NYC after it reopened — here's what it was like |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/dining-indoors-nyc-carlyle-hotel-newly-reopened-bemelmans-bar-2021-6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105031807/https://www.businessinsider.com/dining-indoors-nyc-carlyle-hotel-newly-reopened-bemelmans-bar-2021-6 |archive-date=January 5, 2023 |access-date=January 5, 2023 |work=Business Insider}} the Hartford Courant characterized the bar as having an "inherent darkness"; and Punch characterized the bar as one of the city's "most well-known hidden treasures".{{Cite web |last=Hofmann |first=Regan |date=March 26, 2014 |title=The Muse Behind NYC's Most Iconic Hotel Bar |url=https://punchdrink.com/articles/the-muse-behind-nycs-most-iconic-hotel-bar/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230109203143/https://punchdrink.com/articles/the-muse-behind-nycs-most-iconic-hotel-bar/ |archive-date=January 9, 2023 |access-date=January 9, 2023 |website=Punch |language=en}} Another writer, for the Financial Times, referred to the Bemelmans Bar as having a "dusky" atmosphere that evoked the mid-20th century.{{Cite news |last=Finn |first=Holly |date=November 11, 2000 |title=Paint the town Of all the bars in all the towns in all the world, you have to walk into this one, says Holly Finn |work=Financial Times |page=13 |id={{ProQuest|249050861}}}}

The architectural critic Christopher Gray wrote that, when the Carlyle was built, it had pierced the neighborhood's skyline like a "movie cowboy thrown through a stage-glass saloon window".{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Christopher |date=December 10, 2006 |title=Parke-Bernet Galleries: A Blocky Base for Proposed Towers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/realestate/10scap.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=January 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107075741/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/realestate/10scap.html |url-status=live}} During the mid-1930s, one writer described the Carlyle as one of several "smart apartments" in Lenox Hill that had opened in the 1920s and 1930s.{{Cite magazine |last=Coyle |first=Vincent J. |date=April 1, 1935 |title=Residential Lenox Hill: Its Progress and Future |magazine=The Spur |page=4 |volume=55 |issue=4 |id={{ProQuest|847053729}}}} Another reporter wrote for Vogue magazine in 1940 that Dorothy Draper's interior decorations were "as suave as a shrewdly-painted face".{{Cite magazine |date=September 15, 1941 |title=Vogue Covers the Town: The Sixties and Up/In the Fifties... |magazine=Vogue |pages=45, 48 |volume=98 |issue=6 |id={{ProQuest|879231667}}}} A writer for Women's Wear Daily characterized the rooms in 1972 elaborately decorated and slightly dated. The architectural critic Paul Goldberger wrote that the hotel's pinnacle "brings a sense of life" to the neighborhood's skyline, where white-brick towers predominated, and he also described the Carlyle as one of several structures whose shapes "exemplify the peculiar blend of romance and energy that is Manhattan".{{cite web |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=September 16, 1984 |title=Architecture; Seeking the Ideal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/16/magazine/architecture-seeking-the-ideal.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529235719/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/16/magazine/architecture-seeking-the-ideal.html |url-status=live}} A writer for Vogue described the hotel building's turrets as "defining the skyline of Manhattan's Upper East Side".{{sfn|Stanfill|2000|page=352}}

A writer for the Los Angeles Times praised the residential ambiance of the rooms,{{cite news |last=Morgan |first=Judith |date=April 9, 1989 |title=The Carlyle Mystique |work=Los Angeles Times |pages=16 |issn=0458-3035 |id={{ProQuest|280769362}}}} and another writer for The Independent wrote that the rooms "are designed for normal-sized people".{{Cite news |last=Szuchman |first=Paula |date=February 6, 2000 |title=Hotel Guide: A free goldfish for every guest New York hotels will try any old gimmick to lure you in. But where will you find real value, asks Paula Szuchman |work=The Independent |page=9 |id={{ProQuest|311613933}}}} Writing about one of the hotel's suites in 1995, Susan Spano of The New York Times characterized the suite as well-decorated, with subtle details such as miniature closet lights and discreet envelopes, but that the room was "not the stuff of fantasy". Writing for Town & Country in 1994, Ila Stanger regarded the rooms as being elegant but not extravagant, saying that there was "no Eighties excess, no marble walls in the bathrooms". A 2022 review for The Telegraph gave the Carlyle a ranking of 9/10 and praised the hotel's location, ambiance, and cuisine. New York magazine praised the hotel for its history and large suites, though the magazine also found the atmosphere to be stuffy. In 2025, Grazia magazine wrote that the rooms were filled with "custom fabrics, rich wood paneling, and Art Deco flourishes that pay homage to the hotel’s early days".

There has also been commentary about the lobby and other public spaces. A writer for Women's Wear Daily characterized the lobby in 1972 as "small and elegant", saying that its ambiance "reeked" of permanent residents and short-term guests. New York magazine reporter Marie Brenner wrote that the Carlyle's small, relatively simple lobby belied the high social stature of its guests and residents,{{sfn|Brenner|1983|page=30}} while the Montreal Gazette characterized the lobby as evidence of "the hotel's cozy elegance". Another writer, for The New York Times, described the design of the Carlyle's lobby as "enough to inspire repeat visits". As for the dining room, a Women's Wear Daily article from 1978 described that space as "an unconscious parody of itself". The Independent wrote that the hotel was ideal for families because of the views from the upper stories and because of the Madeline-themed activities and events there.{{cite news |last1=Kinsman |first1=Juliet |last2=Stolworthy |first2=Jacob |date=November 28, 2018 |title=New York hotels: 10 best places to stay for location and style |work=The Independent |id={{ProQuest|2186840090}}}}

The Carlyle has frequently ranked as one of the best hotels in both New York City and the world. In 1988, Crain's New York wrote that the Carlyle was frequently praised for its design and service and that many hotel operators spoke of being as good as the Carlyle, if not better. A 1970s edition of Egon Ronay's Lucas Guide ranked the Carlyle as the third-best hotel in New York City (tied with the Mayfair Regent),{{cite web |last=Cuff |first=Daniel F. |date=December 30, 1979 |title=The Plaza Hotel: A Moneymaking Fairyland |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/the-plaza-hotel-a-moneymaking-fairyland-but-its-an-easy-target-for.html |access-date=November 1, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331172608/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/12/30/archives/the-plaza-hotel-a-moneymaking-fairyland-but-its-an-easy-target-for.html |url-status=live}} and the Institutional Investor also ranked the Carlyle among North America's best hotels in the 1980s.{{Cite news |date=November 7, 1987 |title=Magazine ranks hotels in all parts of the world |work=Toronto Star |page=H.33 |id={{ProQuest|435683960}}}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Murray J. |date=June 6, 1982 |title=Inn-side story on hotels around the world |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-inn-side-story-on-hotels-arou/158306112/ |access-date=November 2, 2024 |work=New York Daily News |pages=242, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-inn-side-story-on-hotels-arou/158306152/ 258] |language=en-US |issn=2692-1251}} The Carlyle first received five-star ratings from the Mobil Travel Guide in 1969,{{Cite news |date=April 6, 1969 |title=Travel Guide Rates Hotels |work=The Atlanta Constitution |page=13F |id={{ProQuest|1554828219}}}} a ranking it consistently held through the late 20th century;{{cite web |last=Piorko |first=Janet |date=January 15, 1995 |title=Practical Traveler; Hotel Ratings: Tale of 2 Series |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/15/travel/practical-traveler-hotel-ratings-tale-of-2-series.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} however, the hotel lost this ranking in 2000.{{cite news |last=Fletcher |first=Amy |date=January 12, 2000 |title=Broadmoor passes white-glove inspection |work=  The Gazette |page=BUS1 |id={{ProQuest|268180614}}}} Travel + Leisure magazine dubbed the Carlyle as "New York's Best Hotel" in 2010,{{cite web |date=February 10, 2010 |title=Travel + Leisure Names The Carlyle New York's Best Luxury Hotel |url=https://www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/news-articles/travel-leisure-names-the-carlyle-new-yorks-best-luxury-hotel |access-date=October 24, 2024 |website=Luxury Travel Magazine |archive-date=June 29, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629051051/https://www.luxurytravelmagazine.com/news-articles/travel-leisure-names-the-carlyle-new-yorks-best-luxury-hotel |url-status=live}} and in the 2024 edition of the World's 50 Best Hotels, the Carlyle was ranked as the 30th-best hotel in the world.{{cite web |date=September 18, 2024 |title=Two of the world's best hotels are in New York City |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/two-nyc-hotels-make-worlds-50-best-hotels-list |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=Crain's New York Business |postscript=none |archive-date=October 3, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241003131106/https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/two-nyc-hotels-make-worlds-50-best-hotels-list |url-status=live}}; {{cite web |last=McCarthy |first=Kelly |date=September 18, 2024 |title=World's 50 Best Hotels 2024: Top properties in 37 destinations land a spot on the prestigious map |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/worlds-50-best-hotels-2024-top-properties-37/story?id=113806152 |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=ABC News |archive-date=October 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009080945/https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Travel/worlds-50-best-hotels-2024-top-properties-37/story?id=113806152 |url-status=live}} The first edition of the Michelin Keys Guide, in 2024, ranked the Carlyle as a "two-key" hotel, the second-highest accolade granted by the Michelin Keys Guide.{{cite web |last=Elbaba |first=Julia |date=April 25, 2024 |title=Here are the four top NYC hotels, according to the Michelin Guide |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/four-nyc-hotels-receive-top-honor-michelin-key-hotels-2024/5353643/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240613162910/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/four-nyc-hotels-receive-top-honor-michelin-key-hotels-2024/5353643/ |archive-date=June 13, 2024 |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=NBC New York |postscript=none}}; {{Cite web |last=Weaver |first=Shaye |date=April 24, 2024 |title=These NYC hotels were just awarded Michelin 'Keys' |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/27-new-york-city-hotels-have-been-awarded-michelin-keys-042424 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615003706/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/27-new-york-city-hotels-have-been-awarded-michelin-keys-042424 |archive-date=June 15, 2024 |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=Time Out New York |postscript=none}}; {{cite web |date=April 24, 2024 |title=Michelin ranks 5 New York hotels among the world's best |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/michelin-hotel-keys-which-nyc-luxury-hotels-made-list |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615003645/https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estate/michelin-hotel-keys-which-nyc-luxury-hotels-made-list |archive-date=June 15, 2024 |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=Crain's New York Business}}

The Carlyle has also been depicted in several films and TV shows throughout the years, either as a filming location or as a setting.{{cite book |last=Alleman |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_0Z5SxTKLkC |title=New York: The Movie Lover's Guide: The Ultimate Insider Tour of Movie New York |publisher=Crown |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-8041-3778-2 |pages=190–191}} For example, the 2008 film Sex and the City was partly shot at the Carlyle,{{cite web |last=Ryzik |first=Melena |date=November 25, 2007 |title=Sex and the City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/movies/25mele.html |access-date=November 4, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240809131434/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/movies/25mele.html |url-status=live}} and the 2015 film A Very Murray Christmas was set in the Carlyle and in Bemelmans Bar.{{cite magazine |last=Crouch |first=Ian |date=December 4, 2015 |title=Bill Murray's Little Christmas Miracle |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/bill-murrays-little-christmas-miracle |access-date=November 4, 2024 |magazine=The New Yorker |archive-date=December 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231208163109/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/bill-murrays-little-christmas-miracle |url-status=live}} The hotel was also the subject of a 2018 documentary film by the writer-director Matthew Miele, Always at The Carlyle.{{cite web |last=Zinoman |first=Jason |date=May 9, 2018 |title=Review: 'Always at the Carlyle' Hints at Scandal, Chooses Discretion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/movies/always-at-the-carlyle-review.html |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |postscript=none |archive-date=December 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225152957/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/09/movies/always-at-the-carlyle-review.html |url-status=live}}; {{cite web |last=Reed |first=Rex |date=May 16, 2018 |title=In 'Always at the Carlyle' Celebs Wax Ecstatic Over a Long-Lost NY Era |url=https://observer.com/2018/05/review-writer-director-matthew-mieles-always-at-the-carlyle/ |access-date=November 3, 2024 |website=Observer |archive-date=March 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302014543/https://observer.com/2018/05/review-writer-director-matthew-mieles-always-at-the-carlyle/ |url-status=live}} In addition, decorations from the Carlyle Hotel's rooms were replicated in the 2022 film Tár.{{cite web |last=Hobbs |first=Charlie |date=October 31, 2022 |title=On Location: Berlin Takes Center Stage in 'TÁR' |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/where-was-tar-movie-filmed |access-date=November 2, 2024 |website=Condé Nast Traveler |archive-date=June 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230605122712/https://www.cntraveler.com/story/where-was-tar-movie-filmed |url-status=live}}

• List of hotels in New York City

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite magazine |last=Brenner |first=Marie |date=December 19, 1983 |title=The Inside Story of the Carlyle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=msoBAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28 |magazine=New York |publisher=New York Media, LLC |page=28 |language=en |issn=0028-7369}}
• {{cite book |last=Broder |first=Mitch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cW5BBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26 |title=Discovering Vintage New York: A Guide to the City's Timeless Shops, Bars, Delis & More |publisher=Globe Pequot |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-7627-9477-5}}
• {{cite book |last1=Foulkes |first1=Nick |first2=Lynn |last2=Wyatt |first3=Bernard-Henri |last3=Levy |title=The Carlyle |location=New York |publisher=Assouline Publishing |date=December 1, 2007 |isbn=978-2759401659}}
• {{Cite magazine |last=Stanfill |first=Francesca |date=November 1, 2000 |title=People Are Talking About: Society: The Long Good Buy |magazine=Vogue |pages=352, 354, 356, 358 |volume=190 |issue=11 |id={{ProQuest|904357006}}}}

{{Commons category|The Carlyle (Manhattan)}}

• {{Official website}}

{{Upper East Side|state=collapsed}}

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Category:1930 establishments in New York (state)

Category:Art Deco architecture in Manhattan

Category:Art Deco hotels

Category:Hotels established in 1930

Category:Hotels in Manhattan

Category:Upper East Side