The debate as to whether or not you feel President Barack Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize is so very last week’s debate. What The New York Helmsley is talking about today is how our 44th president and 2009 Nobel Prize winner should join the ranks of past prize winners who have enjoyed a night within the walls of 212 42nd Street. The New York Helmsley Hotel can claim three Nobel Prize winners as former guests.

Meet our prized guests:

+ Shirin Ebadi is the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Ebadi is a lawyer, human rights activist and founder of Centre for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work for democracy and human rights, with a focus on women’s, children’s, and refugee rights.

+ Professor Amartya Sen of India won for Economic Sciences and is known “for his contributions to welfare economics.”

+ Martti Ahtisaari of Finland is a Peace Prize laureate, a former president of Finland, and UN diplomat recognized for his international peace work involving Kosovo and Serbia. Ahtisaari is praised “for his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.”

So now it is your turn President Barack Obama! Come stay at The New York Helmsley where your fellow laureates have rested.

It’s always interesting to see how others view us. We found this review on Oyster.com really interesting.

“Michael” compared the fabulous 212 42nd Street to the city of New York: “Towering, densely populated, multinational, high-energy — yet still somehow organized, functional, even tranquil.”

The New York Helmsley Hotel is quite the grand old icon and we agree it is “the type of place Ernest Hemingway might have stayed in the ’50s.”
(Only, we’re not that old!!!)

Everyone wants the fairy tale wedding. But it’s easy to forget about “the little people” like bridesmaids, groomsmen and out of town guests. They deserve a little luxury and pampering too! Just in time for upcoming winter and spring weddings, The New York Helmsley Hotel is offering a “Suite Deal” for New York brides and grooms to book their wedding blocks in a hotel with such a key location.

Check out how sweet the suite deal is!

• From now through the end of 2010, the New York Helmsley is extending a preferred group rate, starting at $200/night (subject to availability) with blocking of a minimum of 10 rooms

• With the Helmsley wedding block no money or deposit is taken upfront, and there are no penalties

• Those who book the honeymoon suite receive a “wedding eve” on the house!

• On the big day guest receive complimentary coffee (decaf if your worried about jitters) and a bottle of champagne (also if your worried about jitters), along with strawberries and croissants.

The 1920 Art Deco clock stays, though its location will be found elsewhere.
Fact: That gem is from the Old Franklin Savings Bank on 47th Street.

The 1919 bronze mailbox in the lobby is also a keeper!

Here’s what you can expect when The New York Helmsley Hotel emerges all sexy, shiny and new:
+ An 18-foot tall back lit alabaster wall in the lobby (think slim, sleek new body.)
+ Eco chic Brentano fabrics (totally new wardrobe)

+ Murano glass chandeliers (new bling!)
+ Bisazza mosaic tiles (a little micro dermabrasion never hurts anyone, right?)

We’re most excited about the new welcome experience reception desks. No more Ft. Apache-styled front office desk, and gone is that guardian of the gate presentation! Mama’s getting a brand new bag!

See more of the renovation here.

“We give customer service like a boutique hotel but still with the backing of a bigger box hotel so it’s a perfect combination of both worlds,” says Briskin.

After all, the boutique definition has gone from a small hotel of 200 or less rooms to this loose definition that is really more about a lifestyle. Under Briskin’s management, The New York Helmsley has managed to take the 800 rooms and bring customers a boutique experience with mega-reliable service and infrastructure.

“The size and scale of our hotel has always afforded us the ability to deliver consistent customer service to business and leisure travelers. But the attention to detail and our literal focus on the customer experience with the renovation reinforces our position in a new ‘mega boutique’ category that fills a void in the marketplace,” Briskin said.

Even with all the famed firing and re-hiring, The Helmsley Hotels notoriously had a family feel. And of course the great detail about family is that you can love it and you can hate it at times. The staff at the Helmsley Hotels, says long-time staffers, were and are a big family thanks to their loyalty and continual work within the storied walls.

“The sense of family is stronger in the Helmsley Hotels than in other hotels I have worked in,” says Mark Briskin, GM of The New York Helmsley Hotel.

Competing big name and family name hotels typically adorned big portraits of the patriarchs of the hotel. Not The New York Helmsley.

“The Helmsley chain created more of a familial feel. And while everything may have revolved around the Park Lane Hotel, The New York Hemlsey hotel was bigger and made more money.” And as we know, the Helmsley’s loved money!