Hotel of the week: The Plaza

The Plaza is a "New York icon", much loved for its "splendid Beaux Arts facade", its location ("a pretzel's throw from Central Park"), and its "rich cultural and celebrity history", says Carola Long in the Independent. The 101-year-old hotel's recent £267m facelift has had a "mixed reception", however. The Palm Court restaurant, with its domed, stained-glass ceiling, has been "beautifully restored", but the overhaul elsewhere feels "a little ritzy". Rooms are "huge, by New York standards", with decor aiming for "Louis XV grandeur" and "rage-inducing, Nasa-like wireless control pads" for lights, heating and television.
Rooms start at $845 (£563) per night, room only. Contact: 001 212 759 3000; www.theplaza.com. ·