[1] A westward extension along Gramercy Park North – a continuation of East 21st Street – was designed by the firm of Thompson & Churchill and built in 1929–1930.

[2][3] The hotel occupies the site of the former homes of the flamboyant architect Stanford White, political leader and defender of agnosticism Robert Ingersoll and lawyer-diarist George Templeton Strong.

His sons fought for control and, after a series of family tragedies, the hotel was subleased in 2002 to Steven Greenberg, the founder of the Roxy nightclub.

[14] The hotel exhibited paintings by noted artists, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, Julian Schnabel, Cy Twombly and Andy Warhol.

[15][16] It was announced in December 2020 that Rosen's hotel business faced eviction from the structure, because RFR was $900,000 behind on ground lease payments to Solil Management (the estate of developer Sol Goldman), which owns the land underneath.

[22][24] After a dispute arose within the Goldman family in 2024, Rosen attempted to take back control of the hotel, claiming that a stay of execution should be placed, reversing the termination of his lease.

[26] Renowned Argentine rock musicians and singer-songwriters Charly García and Pedro Aznar, two of the most important artists in their country's history, jointly created the song Gramercy Park Hotel, as a track in their 1986 maxi single album Tango.

[28] The song Oh God by Stephen Duffy and The Lilac Time, found on their August 2003 album Keep Going, mentions the Gramercy Park Hotel.

The song was written by Stephen Duffy as a personal response to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center complex in 2001, during which he was a guest at the hotel.