The Plaza Hotel Will Shut for Four Years to Fix a Single Facade

The Plaza Hotel Will Shut for Four Years to Fix a Single Facade

A Fifth Avenue landmark goes dark in 2027

The Plaza Hotel, the 18-story château-style building at Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, opened on Oct. 1, 1907, and has been a shorthand for New York opulence ever since. On Oct. 14, its operator, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, announced that the hotel will cease operations in January 2027 for at least four years to restore its landmark-protected exterior. If that schedule holds, the doors reopen around 2031.

A restoration announced, no figures attached

Fairmont framed the project as a restoration of the protected facade of the 18-story building, saying the "scope and complexity of the façade works require detailed planning and coordination with relevant stakeholders, alongside adherence to applicable historic preservation requirements." The New York Daily News and Singapore's Business Times both reported that the operators disclosed neither the content of the work nor its cost.

The whole hotel closes because of the noise

Fairmont cited the "significant intrusion to operations" the work will create — the reason the building shuts entirely rather than screening off a corner. Andrew Dolkart, a historic preservation professor at Columbia University, told reporters he was surprised the facade needed another extensive round so soon after its earlier redo, but still found a full closure logical: "It's going to be noisy, and they must figure they can't charge luxury prices for a hotel when there's construction work going on outside your window."

No price tag, and a hotel valued near $600 million

No money figures appear in the announcement. The Daily Mail puts the hotel's value at roughly $600 million; the Daily News noted plainly that the operators did not reveal the restoration's cost and details, nor how construction would affect the 181 condominiums inside the building. For scale, the last overhaul, from 2005 to 2008, cost $450 million and ran from the grand lobby to the roof.

One building, hotel guests and condo owners

The Plaza now holds 282 hotel guestrooms, including 102 suites, alongside 181 condo units carved out when part of the property was converted in the early 2000s. Fairmont has not said whether condo residents must move out during construction.

Residents stay — and lose the hotel around them

Michael Passoro, a Douglas Elliman broker, told the New York Post that owners he works with went straight to building staff once word got out: "They had confirmed with the doorman and management that residents will continue to live there." But the Post notes what they lose — the Palm Court, the event spaces and the white-glove perks of living above a famous hotel, with scaffolding likely wrapping the marble and brick facade for years. Many units date to the mid-2000s conversion and now need serious updating, a bill that lands on individual owners rather than the hotel.

378 union workers keep a claim on their jobs

The Hotel & Gaming Trades Council, which represents hotel workers, said its 378 members at the Plaza will have the right to resume their jobs at the same pay when the hotel reopens; in the meantime, the union will try to place them elsewhere. Staff at the event rooms and the Palm Court confirmed to reporters that those venues close in January as well.

Qatari ownership, Fairmont management

The asset is owned by Qatar's Katara Hospitality, which bought out Sahara India Pariwar and other shareholders in 2018; Fairmont has managed the hotel since 2005. The building has passed through at least half a dozen owners: Donald Trump bought it in 1988 for $390 million, took it into bankruptcy in the 1990s and exited in 1995; El Ad Properties took over in 2005 and began the condo conversion; Sahara India Pariwar bought in 2012.

Afternoon tea ends with 2026

For New Yorkers and visitors there is still a window: the Champagne Bar and the Palm Court keep serving until the end of 2026, after which the building goes dark for most of a decade — what local outlet Secret NYC called a pause button on an era.

Three open questions: cost, residents, permits

The restoration plan is still in planning, with details under review. Three things follow: when the work's content and cost are made public, what is finally decided for condo residents, and how construction aligns with New York's historic preservation approvals. Until then, the only firm numbers are these: doors shut in January 2027, for at least four years.