Julie Satow’s The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s Most Famous Hotel begins in a place you might not expect. Before the champagne towers and celebrity suites, The Plaza started with a butcher’s wagon on the streets of New York. Bernhard Beinecke, a German immigrant, pushed that wagon through crowded avenues and sold cuts of meat to ordinary families. He saved his earnings, opened a butcher shop, and built a thriving business that supplied restaurants and hotels.
That small meat business grew into something larger. Beinecke became a respected entrepreneur, the kind of man who saw opportunity where others saw only limits. His ambition eventually carried him into the hotel world, where he became a co-partner in The Plaza. From a meat wagon to one of the most famous addresses in Manhattan, Beinecke’s story is a reminder of what immigrant grit and persistence can accomplish in America.
For me, this was the most powerful part of the book, even if it was just a short few paragraphs. Satow covers the whole sweep of The Plaza’s history, but I kept returning to Beinecke. His rise may not have been Satow’s intended centerpiece, yet it struck me as the true American story at the heart of the hotel. And what hard work and determination used to look like to immigrants and all Americans.
Plaza Hotel 59th St & 5th Ave
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A Hotel that Reflects a Nation
Satow’s history makes clear that The Plaza is not just a hotel. It is a mirror of America. Every decade imprints its mark on the building. The Gilded Age demanded opulence, so The Plaza answered with ballrooms that dripped with grandeur. The Jazz Age brought roaring parties, and the Fitzgeralds turned The Plaza into their playground. Zelda and Scott drank champagne, argued loudly, and gave the hotel a role in literary myth.
The Second World War brought restraint, but the postwar boom filled its rooms with celebrities and power brokers. By the 1960s, when the Beatles arrived, The Plaza became a fortress of pop culture. Fans lined the sidewalks in a frenzy while the band hid upstairs, their stay forever linking Beatlemania to Fifth Avenue.
Each of these chapters shows how The Plaza absorbed the spirit of the times. America changed, and the hotel changed with it.
Eloise, Fitzgerald, and the Movies
Cultural icons shaped The Plaza as much as the builders did. Kay Thompson’s beloved children’s book Eloise at The Plaza gave generations of readers the fantasy of living on the “tippy-top floor” with mischief and imagination. Eloise turned The Plaza into a place of wonder for children and adults alike.
Hollywood also made The Plaza part of its scenery. Alfred Hitchcock filmed the opening of North by Northwest there. Paul Hogan strutted through its lobby in Crocodile Dundee. And perhaps most famously, Kevin McCallister outsmarted hotel staff in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Each movie added another layer to the hotel’s legend. For many Americans, The Plaza is not just a New York landmark. It is a familiar set piece from the silver screen.
Gold Trim and Red Ink
No review of The Plaza’s history can ignore the Trump years. In the 1980s, Donald Trump bought the hotel and declared it the crown jewel of his real estate empire. He married Marla Maples at The Plaza and staged events to showcase his ownership. Satow makes it clear that his tenure ended poorly. The Plaza fell into bankruptcy under his watch. Readers may sense her criticism of Trump, but she cannot avoid the facts. His chapter in the hotel’s story is as real as Beinecke’s butcher wagon.
Why the Book Works
Satow succeeds because she balances the spectacle with substance. She does not just parade celebrities through the pages. She roots the narrative in the immigrant who started with nothing. She follows the money, the labor disputes, the cultural explosions, and the political moments. She gives the hotel a personality that grows and stumbles along with the nation.
Reading The Plaza feels like walking through its grand lobby. You hear the echo of deals struck in hushed voices, the laughter of parties in the ballroom, the clicking of typewriters from journalists who lingered there, and the flash of paparazzi outside its doors.
Final Take
Julie Satow’s The Plaza is more than a history of a hotel. It is a story of ambition, glamour, collapse, and reinvention. It begins with Bernhard Beinecke pushing a meat wagon through New York City and ends with a building that still stands as a symbol of wealth and wonder. Along the way, you meet Eloise, Fitzgerald, the Beatles, Hollywood directors, and yes, Donald Trump.
The Plaza has always been larger than the people who owned it. That is why it continues to fascinate. Satow’s book captures the sweep of history while never forgetting the man who sold meat on the street and believed he could build something greater. That spirit, more than the crystal chandeliers or movie cameos, is what makes The Plaza a true American story.
Check out the An Americanist Bookshelf for more of my takes on the books that land on my nightstand.
Feature Image: Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons/edited in Canva Pro
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