It has been a century since F. Scott Fitzgerald dazzled the world with his literary brilliance typing out “This Side of Paradise,” “The Beautiful and the Damned” and his masterwork “The Great Gatsby” on his portable Remington. He coined the phrase the “Jazz Age” and along with wife Zelda, they embodied the youthful abandon, hopeless romanticism and anything goes joie de vivre of the 1920s.
Coming out of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic of 2020, the same celebratory, “let’s cut loose” vibes from the Roaring Twenties are back in vogue. After being locked down and masked off, everyone is looking to bring the frolic, frivolity and vibrancy back to life. That is why I was thrilled to do this blog about my favorite book as the inspiration for a luxurious hotel suite that takes experiential travel to a new level. And if a trip to New York is not part of your future travel itinerary, you can still immerse yourself in Art Deco luxe style at home. Read on…
“Can’t repeat the past?” he [Gatsby] cried incredulously. “Why of course you can!”
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Meet Me at The Plaza
As travel takes off again, we are looking both backwards and forwards. We want the certainty and security of the past bonded with the promise, hopefulness and adventure of the future. There is no better place to exemplify this desire than by channeling your inner Gatsby or Daisy at The Plaza Hotel. Located in the heart of midtown Manhattan and commanding the corner of One Central Park South and Fifth Avenue across from the Grand Army Plaza and the fountain where Scott (as his friends called him) and Zelda famously took a midnight dip, The Plaza is the grande dame of New York City’s luxury hotels.
A little over a decade ago, the hotel underwent a $450 million renovation and in 2013 the Fitzgerald Suite made its debut. Novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald was a frequent hotel visitor and he used the iconic location for one of his most memorable scenes in “The Great Gatsby.” To coincide with the Baz Luhrmann “Great Gatsby” movie – the 4th film version of the novel starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan – the film’s Oscar-winning production designer, Catherine Martin, applied her magic to the Fitzgerald Suite, also known as the Great Gatsby suite. A fan of Art Deco style of the ‘20s, Martin used much of her stunningly luxurious interior design expertise to capture a secret speakeasy space filled with extravagance and decadence to create a modern Jazz Age feel.
The Library boasts a leather desk and the full works of
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Sitting Room includes a bar where the specialty
Moet Imperial Gatsby champagne cocktail is served
The white-on-white bathroom is classic Art Deco style with nickel finishes and a “sanitary” pharmacy look 
Douglas Kirkland’s portrait of Leonardo DiCaprio as Gatsby, another rug from Catherine Martin Home 
The sumptuous bedroom uses Jay Gatsby monogrammed bed linens from Restoration Hardware
Fitzgerald wrote, “New York had all the iridescence of the beginning of the world.” If you are looking to kick-start your post-pandemic dreams with a glam weekend in the city book the 700-square-foot Fitzgerald suite on the hotel’s 18th floor here. While room rates in the early 1900s were $2.50 a night, the Fitzgerald Suite today will set you back $2,795 per night.
Hey Old Sport – Jay Gatsby Meets Universal Design
The Plaza Hotel has put some thought into accommodating the special needs of guests. In addition to the Fitzgerald Suite’s white glove butler service and ADA-compliant doorway, hallway and elevator widths, the hotel can help with:
- Accessibility assistance includes wheelchairs. While doorknobs in the suite are not twist and turn, they are also not levers but grip and pull. However, the good news is the pulls are not small knobs but longer and vertically shaped which assists those with arthritis.
- Bathroom includes: handheld showerhead. Can ask for: raised toilet seats, clamp-on tub bars.
- Smart lighting via a tablet app controls all lights, room temperatures and entertainment. Red light emission nightlights that help guests navigate the suite at night without disturbing circadian rhythms for restful sleep and non-slip mats can be requested.
- Many other special requests can be accommodated by contacting the concierge ahead of your trip. Some things to ask about:
- Shower chairs or special ramp to wheel over shower threshold
- Ensuring rugs are secured tightly to flooring to avoid falls hazard
- Small refrigerator in the suite’s cocktail bar can accommodate medications that need refrigeration.
- Since 1920, The Plaza Hotel has welcomed its furrier guests. Today, the Canine Companions Package allows any size dog to stay with its owner for an additional $250 per night that includes a pet bed and feeling bowls. Pets cannot be left unattended in the room, but the concierge can help find a doggie day care or walker if you wish to take in a show, shopping or supper.
Bring Gatsby Home
If a trip to The Plaza is not in your near future, you can create your own Gatsby look at home with Art Deco-inspired design and decor. The essence of this style is progress ushering in a modern yet fun sensibility. Use geometric golds and chrome patterns as well as shells and scallops, chevrons, feathers and sunbursts against champagne white, dark navy, greys and black backgrounds. Integrate with luxury materials such as velvets, silks and satins, faux fur and chenille throws that are coupled with beveled mirrors and faceted chandeliers to reflect a twinkling new life – night or day. And curved anything: furniture, bay window nooks, bathtubs, kitchen counters. While 1920 ushered in the “modern” Art Deco movement, it never really went away and is enjoying a rebirth in post-2020.
The Fitzgerald Suite can be transported to your home with many items from the Catherine Martin Home designs for Mokum textiles and wall coverings as well as inspirations from Restoration Hardware and other retailers such as Jonathon Adler Designs, Chairish, AllModern, West Elm, CB2 by Crate & Barrel, Anthropologie, Room Service 360, Wayfair, Overstock, certain stores on Etsy and Society6 for artwork.
The paint color used in the suite was Restoration Hardware Subtle Velvet Graphite which is no longer available. But both Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams (which has a special senior living collection) have colors close to the warm taupe/gray. Want some modern Art Deco New York-inspiration? Watch this Restoration Hardware Interior Design New York Story.
If an Art Deco décor refresh is not in the cards, you can still transport yourself to the Jazz Age by grabbing Fitzgerald’s “Tales of the Jazz Age” book, pouring a coupe glass of champagne (watch this video from WSJ After Hours featuring The Plaza bartender on how to make the Moet Imperial Gatsby cocktail) or a highball or fizz glass of Gin Rickey and create the scene with scents such as Diptyque’s New York or Replica’s Jazz Club candles.
My Personal Plaza Hotel Stories
The Plaza overlooking Central Park at dusk 
Palm Court at The Plaza
I have stayed at The Plaza several times since the ’90s including a romantic weekend in one of the Central Park South suites. I also had one of my most memorable girlfriend moments meeting up with several sorority sisters from college when we were all in the Big Apple on business (one friend lived in New York). We had afternoon tea at the Palm Court (which thankfully still exists and continues to wow with high tea culinary wonders and a opulent setting that transports you back to an experience out of early 1900s Knickerbocker society) and then strolled through Central Park right across the street from the hotel.
Douglas Kirkland, one of Canon’s Explorers of Light 
Douglas Kirkland on the set of “Titanic”
I also was thrilled to learn the Fitzgerald Suite has photographs from the movie set, “Great Gatsby” (2013) taken by Douglas Kirkland, one of the most pre-eminent photographers in film, fashion and entertainment since the 1960s. I was honored and lucky to meet Douglas when I worked at Canon and he was part of our elite photographers group, The Explorers of Light. We worked together on a special event for the film, Titanic, where he was the official film’s photographer and archivist. He gifted me with several images from the set of Leo and Kate Winslet (and one with me and Leo) that were never made publicly available – for me that was “this side of paradise!”
Young and Beautiful – My Music Mixology for Gatsby v.2021
I love to listen to music while I write to get inspired. While the I love the modern soundtrack to “Great Gatsby,” especially Fergie’s “All We Got” (to tap into the Roaring Twenties celebratory spirit) and Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” (for the dreamy and romantic spectre of Gatsby and the green light)– here are some of the other songs I used for this article:
George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue (1924) – to me (and many music historians) this is the sound of the Jazz Age. It is a jazz opera – the fusion of classical opera and pop culture jazz making its own meandering, energetic, way up to the heights of the keyboard just as New York watched the skyscrapers climb to the heavens in the ‘20s and ‘30s. It simply is New York at its best and this tune became culturally linked with F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s Jazz Age novels, especially “The Great Gatsby.” (fun note: I was an intern at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and got to go to the rehearsals of 84 pianists playing this song simultaneously in the Coliseum – truly amazing and unforgettable!)
Chant d’auvergnes from the documentary New York by Ric Burns (1999) – one of the most hauntingly beautiful pieces of music ever composed from the soundtrack by Brian Keane. This reminded me of Fitzgerald’s article, “My Lost City,” where he lamented the decline of Manhattan and the Jazz Age as the Depression took its toll on the youthful exuberance of the Roaring Twenties over which he reigned.
“Milla’s Dream” from the album “The Princess” by Parov Stelar (one of my favorite artists for modern Jazz Age vibes) taps into my feelings of New York walking the midtown streets at midnight (note this was in the 90s when you felt safe doing this with friends like I did so often – I don’t think I’d attempt it now – is that age or wisdom talking?) You can almost feel the steam coming up from the streets, hear the sounds of a city that never sleeps, embody the drama of living on two levels where you ascend the glamorous high rises and abandon the gritty street scene for a twinkling skyline full of the promise of tomorrow.
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