New York – September 12, 2026 -- The Algonquin Hotel, Autograph Collection, has completed a full renovation of all 181 guestrooms, elevators, and corridors at its Midtown Manhattan property, unveiling a redesigned interior anchored by exclusive artwork from legendary caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The multi-year, phased project was carried out while the hotel remained fully operational.
Brooklyn-based CRÈME led the design without altering the hotel's historic footprint
Interior design firm CRÈME / Jun Aizaki Architecture & Design worked with LUCID, the design arm of Highgate Hotels, to reshape the guestrooms around their original scale and proportions. Willis Loughhead, General Manager of The Algonquin for six years, said the team aimed to honor the hotel's past "without being beholden to it," building timeless rooms meant to spark creativity.
Every guestroom features a custom Hirschfeld triptych curated with the artist's foundation
Each room and suite includes exclusive artwork selected in partnership with The Al Hirschfeld Foundation and Director David Leopold, drawn from Hirschfeld's 80-year career in New York. One piece, a gold leaf-accented Central Park illustration, is exclusive to The Algonquin. Corridors on each floor display their own themed collection of archival Hirschfeld works covering theater, music, literature, and popular culture, with many pieces not publicly shown in decades.
Room signage carries 181 quotes from figures tied to the hotel's history
Oversized, luggage-tag-inspired signage in each guestroom displays one of 181 individually curated quotes from cultural figures connected to The Algonquin, including Kermit the Frog, Maya Angelou, John Leguizamo, The Notorious B.I.G., Dorothy Parker, and members of The Vicious Circle. Design details throughout include Art Deco references, jazz-inspired corridor carpeting, brass fixtures, marble-topped furnishings inspired by the hotel's original stairwells, walnut and ebonized oak woods, aged bronze finishes, and charcoal velvet headboards.
The Blue Bar's menus were redesigned alongside the Hirschfeld collaboration
New menu items and cocktails at The Blue Bar Restaurant & Lounge now feature archival Hirschfeld drawings as part of the same design partnership. The Algonquin has operated since 1902 and was previously home to the 1920s Algonquin Round Table, whose members included Dorothy Parker, Robert Benchley, and Harold Ross.