Central Grand Terminal

Located just 1.5 miles from the Hotel Wolcott is one of the world's most famous—and busiest—train stations. Most people refer to Grand Central as Grand Central Station New York, but it's actually a Terminal because this is where train lines originate and terminate, but both names are acceptable. Grand Central Terminal is not only the world's largest railway station and the nation's busiest, it's also one of the world's greatest public spaces. A massive 4-year renovation completed in October of 1998 restored the 1913 landmark to its original splendor—and then some.

The south side of East 42nd Street is the best vantage point from which to admire Grand Central Station's dramatic beaux arts facade featuring a fifty-foot pediment with statues of Hercules, Minerva and Mercury surrounding a thirteen-foot clock. The facade is particularly beautiful at night, when bathed in golden light.

Experience all Grand Central Terminal has to offer when you reserve your stay at the Hotel Wolcott.

Doors on Vanderbilt Avenue and on East 42nd Street lead past gleaming gold- and nickel-plated chandeliers to the cavernous main concourse. Overhead, a celestial map of the zodiac constellations covers the robin's egg-blue ceiling (the major stars actually glow with fiber-optic lights). A marble staircase modeled after the Garnier stair at the Paris Opera is on the concourse's east end. Climb it to reach the Metrazur restaurant. From this perch you can look across the concourse to the top of the opposite staircase, where diners treat themselves to either Cipriani or the mahogany-and-leather setting of Michael Jordan's The Steak House. Beyond those two restaurants to the left you'll find the Campbell Apartment, an extremely comfortable and stylish cocktail and cigar bar in what was once a rather secretive pied-à-terre.

Despite all its grandeur, Central Grand Terminal still functions primarily as a railroad station. Underground, more than 60 skillfully-integrated railroad tracks lead trains upstate and to Connecticut via Metro-North Commuter Rail. The subway connects here as well. The best (and worst) time to visit is at rush hour, when the concourse whirs with the frenzy of commuters dashing every which way. The most popular point for people to meet is at the central information kiosk, topped by a four-faced clock. The Municipal Arts Society leads architectural tours of the terminal from here. Free tours are available Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. at the Information Booth and Fridays at 12:30 p.m. in front of the Philip Morris/Whitney Museum across the street from Central Grand Station.