Today, a room at the 27-story Radisson Lexington Hotel, at 48th Street, would probably run you three or four hundred bucks a night at least.
But back in the 1930s, soon after this colossal structure was built, room rates were more like three or four bucks a night. That’s when it was known simply as the Hotel Lexington.
And look at the possible accommodations: two people, two twin beds, no higher than $8 a night!
See the hotel as it looks today here.
Tags: Hotel Lexington, Hotels in New York City, New York City in the 1930s, Radisson Lexington Hotel, room rates for a hotel in the 1930s, Tudor buildings in New York City
Ephemeral New York 
December 12, 2009 at 5:18 pm |
At a time when most working stiffs made $7 – $14 a week that was pretty pricey. By comparison today’s rates are a bargain!
December 12, 2009 at 9:52 pm |
$8 adjusted for inflation is about $125 dollars in 2008 dollars (if you set the base year as 1932), so there’s still rate inflation going on. Actually a considerable amount.
December 15, 2009 at 1:10 am |
Too bad they had to put the Starbucks sign in the front entrance.
September 24, 2018 at 6:11 am |
[…] 27-story Lexington (check out these cheapo 1930s room prices) was previously known for its mid-century Hawaiian Room and illustrious residents Joe DiMaggio and […]
September 24, 2018 at 6:56 am |
[…] 27-story Lexington (check out these cheapo 1930s room prices) was previously known for its mid-century Hawaiian Room and illustrious residents Joe DiMaggio and […]
October 1, 2018 at 1:25 am |
[…] 27-story Lexington (check out these cheapo 1930s room prices) was previously known for its mid-century Hawaiian Room and illustrious residents Joe DiMaggio and […]
December 15, 2021 at 5:09 am |
It’s so weird to me how often people marvel at how “cheap” things were nearly a century ago without accounting in the slightest for inflation, as if $8 or even $3 were pocket change back then like they are now.
$3 was not cheap in the sense that $3 is cheap now. It was cheap in the sense that a $60 hotel room for one person is cheap now. In 1938, federal minimum wage (which not everyone was eligible for) was 25¢/hour. So if you earned minimum wage and you worked 8 hours a day, $3 was a day and a half worth of pay.
So sure, it was affordable for a middle class person, but it wasn’t pocket change. It was enough money that you’d be pretty upset if you lost it in the street.