Meet me at the Plaza ... by Cherie

Hello lovelies! Cherie here.
Before we start today's fun post on the Plaza ...
congratulations to the following Glamorous Girlfriend:
Ruby at Ruby's Musings!
You are the winner of last week's
Margarita Bloom giveaway,
All eligible girlfriends were given a number
in the order of their comment
and the winning number was chosen
by a random number generator.
Ooh La Frou Frou will be in contact with you.
Thanks very much to everyone that participated ...
there will be many more fun opportunities in the future
made available exclusively
to the Glamorous Girlfriends ...
stay tuned!
Now to today's post ...

Lately I've been in a ... Plaza kind of mood.

You know the kind, don't you?

The kind of mood when you crave

a little pampering.

A little luxury.

A little fantasy.

Perhaps a little mint on your pillow at night.

So, for this Ooh La Frou Frou post, I thought ...

why not a fantasy afternoon

with our glamorous girlfriends?

Even sophisticated girls like us

could have fun being grown-up versions of Eloise for a day,

with nothing more pressing to do

than "slomping" around the Plaza alllllllll afternoon, no?

And if you can't pretend to be Eloise with

Ooh La Frou Frou ...

who can you pretend to be Eloise with, that's what I ask!

So, I thought I'd meet you today just outside

the Plaza Hotel here in the city ...

and we could all virtually head into the hotel

and hang out luxuriously, being each other's

"Mostly Companions"
for this little glamorous spring escapism.

It was once said that

"nothing unimportant ever happens at the Plaza ..."

so, aren't you glad you came?

Even though I don't have a dog named Weenie,
I do have one named Luxe,
and as luck would have it,
small dogs are welcomed at the Plaza,
so let's go inside!

But before we skibble in ...
the Plaza underwent
an approximate $400 million
top-to-bottom restoration
from 2002 to 2007,
taking it from hotel only to
hotel and luxury pied-a-terres
on the upper floors ...
and it's fabulous, girls ...
I so loved it before and I so love it now!
One of the things I loved about the Plaza
before the restoration
was how grand the main lobby was ...
that original entrance and lobby off 59th Street
is now PRIVATE, available only to
the oh-so-lucky PIED-A-TERRE owners.
Do you not LOVE the original elevators?

The NEW main lobby for the HOTEL portion of the Plaza
is now off Fifth Avenue ... c'mon, let's go in!



Are you feeling more pampered already,
just being in this beautiful space?
I am! 
If you look up from where we're standing in the lobby,
you can see Assouline Books ...

And if we head up the marble stairs ...

we'll find ourselves at
The Rose Club
where we could order something
from The Rose Club Menu if we were feeling
tired tired tired
and found ourselves lying on the lobby floor
with our feet propped on the registration desk, moaning
"Oh my lord I am so busy busy busy,
I don't know how I can possibly get everything done!"
Just sayin' ... but, of course, that's not what we're doing!

Let's head back down to the lobby,
and stop by the Plaza Champagne Bar looking out over
Fifth Avenue and the Pulitzer Fountain,
where we can build up our strength for the rest of our tour
by ordering a cup of fine coffee and fresh-baked pastries ...
or ...
a glass of the finest champagne
alongside mother-of-pearl spoons holding caviar.
Oh .... and charge it please.  Thank you very much.

This is what I like:
To stop by fancy powder rooms
for a little spritz spritz spritz of perfume.
This is what I also like:
The famed Eloise portrait
hanging in the Plaza.

The new rooms, suites and pied-a-terres are
very elegant, indeed, at the Plaza ...
they all have 24-karat accessories in the bathrooms

for just a start ...







Some suites and pied-a-terres look over the
interior courtyard ... some even have Juliet balconies.
Eloise would get into a lot of trouble here.


Did you know that if you rent a suite you get a butler?
Yes, it's true.
He'll open your curtains in the morning and bring you coffee.
If you're rawther tired
and would like him to run a bawth for you,
he will. 
It's probably good because we run our feet off for lords sake.

The Plaza has made it easy to imagine
living in one of the Plaza pied-a-terres ...
notice the 59th Street lobby with the elevators now ...


Okay, time's up!
Let's skip down to the
gorgeous Palm Court for high tea ...
then we'll do a little shopping in The Plaza Shops.

We'll order one of everything!



Let's buy some of these and these for sure without fail ...

and take one quick peep into the Eloise At The Plaza Boutique ...

There's also an Eloise Suite so little darlings can stay at the Plaza
in true Eloise style .. designed by Betsey Johnson.

Whew!
Well, we've truly spent a fun imaginary afternoon at The Plaza, darlings.
And there's so much more than we could talk about in one post!
We haven't even practiced our dance moves in the
Grand Ballroom!


Thanks for joining us for another week of
Ooh La Frou Frou ... where life is always glamorously fun ...
remember, when you have imagination ...

To read a January 1957 McCalls article
on Kay Thompson and Hillary Knight
and how Eloise came to be, go here.

Image and artwork credits and (via) starting at the top of the post:
Plaza video at top of post brought to us by The Plaza via
1. and 2. Illustrations: "Meet Me at the Plaza" key ring
and Cherie in the picture frame
by Sandra Markwalder, artist and creator of
Ooh La Frou Frou.
(c)Ooh La Frou Frou - all rights reserved.
3. Eloise and Weenie in sunglasses from the book Eloise
Author: Kay Thompson, Illustrator: Hillary Knight
4. Plaza Hotel photograph from Central Park via
5. Plaza Hotel Doorman via
6. Illustration of Cherie and Little Luxe pug outside The Plaza,
by Sandra Markwalder (c) Ooh La Frou Frou ~ all rights reserved.
Background photo edited from files, origin unknown
7. The Plaza 59th Street Lobby Elevators via
8. - 12. Photos 8-12 of new Plaza Hotel lobby,
bookstore and Rose Club via
13. The Plaza Champagne Bar via
14. Illustration of Cherie pointing at Eloise portrait:
Illustration by Sandra Markwalder
(c) Ooh La Frou Frou ~ all rights reserved.
Background photo edited from files, origin unknown
15. The Plaza sink photo via
16. - 17. Photos from The Plaza suites via
18. The Plaza courtyard photo via
19. Plaza Private Residences Video via
20. The Plaza Palm Court photograph via
21. The Palm Court tea photograph via
22. Gifts from The Plaza Boutique photographs via
and edited by Ooh La Frou Frou
23. The Plaza Eloise Boutique photograph via
24. The Plaza Eloise Suite photograph via
25. The Plaza Grand Ballroom photograph via
26. Fountain at The Plaza photograph via