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JW Marriott Essex House New York
New York City, New York, United States · JW Marriott · Accessible Luxury
Construction began 30 October 1929, one day after the Wall Street crash; Essex House opened 1 October 1931 on Central Park South. Its six-story red neon roof sign, installed in 1932, still marks the park's southern skyline. After Marriott, Nikko, Westin, and Jumeirah eras it returned as JW Marriott Essex House in 2012: 44 stories, 426 Art Deco rooms, and 147 condominium residences facing the park.
- 426 rooms
- Opened 1931
- Neighborhood: Central Park South
- Rooms from 300 sq ft (28 m²)
About JW Marriott Essex House New York
- Groundbreaking fell on 30 October 1929, the day after Black Tuesday; the hotel finally opened 1 October 1931 as Essex House.
- The Reconstruction Finance Corporation took the bankrupt project from Abraham E. Lefcourt in 1932, the same year the six-story rooftop sign went up.
- Marriott bought the hotel in 1969; later chapters included Japan Air Lines' Nikko Hotels, Westin, and Jumeirah before the 2012 JW Marriott return.
- A 1990–91 renovation above $75 million had to work around roughly 100 condominium units sold inside the tower.
- Historic Hotels of America member at 160 Central Park South with 426 rooms, 101 suites, and 147 residences.
History
JW Marriott Essex House New York opened in 1931 as Essex House, quickly becoming one of New York City’s largest apartment hotels on Central Park South, across from Central Park. Contemporary and later accounts place it firmly within the city’s Art Deco moment, and Marriott now describes it as a landmark New York City hotel with Art Deco-inspired décor and a Central Park-facing address. The hotel’s best-known visual signature is its rooftop Essex House sign, installed in 1932 and long part of the Manhattan skyline. Another enduring detail is the ornate entrance treatment, with gilded frozen fountain motifs and floral patterns above the main door, a reminder of the building’s period styling.
The property has remained closely tied to Midtown Manhattan’s cultural core, with Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Columbus Circle, the Theatre District, and Fifth Avenue all nearby. Marriott’s current hotel description emphasizes its Art Deco character and renovated public spaces, including the Executive Lounge, while also highlighting the building’s Central Park views. The hotel has also been associated with the New York historical-hotel narrative since its opening era, and Marriott’s own page calls it a “Landmark New York City Hotel.”
What is firmly verifiable from the available sources is that Essex House was already notable at the time of construction for its scale, and that its architecture and signage have helped make it one of the most recognizable addresses on Central Park South. The property’s long life has been defined less by reinvention than by continuity: an apartment-hotel-era building that survived the city’s changing tastes and still trades on the same essential asset it had in 1931 — its position on the park edge.
The setting
JW Marriott Essex House New York rises above Central Park South in a 1931 Art Deco tower whose iconic red neon sign has anchored the park's southern skyline for nearly a century. The park entrance is two minutes on foot, The Plaza five minutes east, and the Museum of Modern Art eleven minutes away — placing the hotel at the heart of Manhattan's most coveted luxury hospitality corridor. Carnegie Hall is fourteen minutes' walk to the west, and the entire stretch of Central Park South, once lined with Gilded Age residences, today represents one of the world's most concentrated addresses for landmark hotels and cultural institutions.
Restaurants and bars
- Bourbon Steak by Michael Mina — Restaurant · Steak house
Amenities
- Spa
- Fitness center
- Pet-friendly
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
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