Construction Maison

Hillary Clinton slept here. The year was 2000. Clinton was in the middle of her first political campaign, running to be New York’s junior senator. Steven Spielberg, an enthusiastic donor to Mrs Clinton who had the use of a pied-à-terre in Trump Tower purchased for him by Universal Pictures, barely stayed at the place, despite its views of Central Park, and offered it to the candidate as a crash pad on gruelling campaign days . Trump Tower in New York. Photo: Bloomberg Donald Trump and Clinton were on good terms back then. He donated money to her candidacy and called her “tough and smart”. Moreover, Trump was skilled in the art of spinning his associations with celebrities into publicity. This was particularly true at Trump Tower. Michael Jackson lived in Donald J. Trump’s gleaming Midtown edifice . So have gamblers, a disgraced dictator, a Ponzi schemer and a stock huckster. Credit Photo Illustration by Peter Horvath; photographs by Chad Batka for The New York Times (Trump); Hiroko...

It is known that Sutton ran a clipper ship line to the California coast in the 1850's that served Gold Rush hopefuls , and that he lived on West 29th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues (a block that was also called Lamartine Place and was set apart from the rest of the city's street grid because of separate numbering). In 1875 a consortium of developers that included James Stokes , William Dodge and D. Willis James began to acquire property on Avenue A in the East 50's, on what is now called Sutton Place . Deed patterns suggest that they were working with a builder, Andrew Kerwin, who in 1879 put up the original Sutton Place enclave , 24 single-family brownstones on the block bounded by 58th and 59th Streets and Avenue A and the East River. Half of them faced the avenue and half faced a new street along the river briefly named Riverview Terrace . A few of those houses survive in recognizable form, three stories high with a stoop. Someone renamed the Avenue A side ...

Last May, I attended the reopening of the former Campbell Apartment, the secreted watering hole tucked inside Grand Central Terminal . To toast the newly refurbished rococo interior , I ordered a Manhattan. My drink came in a rocks glass. On the rocks. “First night,” I thought. “The staff is still green. They mixed up my order.” But, no. That’s how they do the Manhattan at The Campbell. “It’s a personal preference of mine,” said Vincent Mauriello, the managing partner of Gerber Group, which runs The Campbell. “We thought it was important to create our signature Manhattan. A lot of guests, when they ordered a Manhattan, they requested it on the rocks. It was enough that we thought we should serve it on the rocks.” In cosmopolitan New York City, Campbell’s iced Manhattan is an anomaly. Most craft cocktail bars would sooner serve Zima than a Manhattan on the rocks. But outside the most urbane metropolitan areas , the order is fairly common—as is an item considered even more sacrilegiou...

Editor's Note — CNN Travel's series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However, CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy. (CNN) — In a city where the housing price per square foot is more than $1,400, space is the ultimate Hong Kong luxury . The only place you can really stretch out? A hotel suite, of course. Sure, you'll pay for the privilege. But, rest assured, hotels know how to spoil guests who are visiting Hong Kong . The best suites in town not only include an enormous floor plan , but also must-have harbor views and the odd cinema, personal chef and rooftop Jacuzzi or two. If you're looking to splurge, these are a few of the most amazing suites in Hong Kong: InterContinental Hong Kong The Presidential Suite terrace at InterContinental Hong Kong . InterContinental Hong Kong sits on the edge of Victoria Harbour, on the Kowloon peninsula . On the top floor of the hotel, the Presiden...