Obama made homeless

For more than 100 years, American Presidents visiting the Big Apple have stayed in the Astor Suite in the world famous Plaza Hotel on New York's Fifth Avenue - but from now on, Obama will have to find an alternative place in which to lay his hat as the Astor Suite is up for sale for £25 million...

The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan is one of New York's prime pieces of real estate. It has hosted countless celebrities and VIPs over the years, including US Presidents JFK, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

Described as an ‘iconic Beaux-Arts masterpiece,' the Plaza recently underwent a £268 million dollar restoration to its former glory and its 282-hotel rooms are so luxurious the hotel has earned a six-star rating.

It also boasts one hundred and eighty luxury condominiums, including multi-level penthouses, all with entry through the historic Central Park South entrance.

The hotel made a famous appearance in the children's classic Home Alone 2: Lost in New York film starring Macaulay Culkin.

As Obama comes to the end of his first 100 days in power, the 100 years of the Plaza playing the unofficial Manhattan White House is also over.

The three-bedroom Astor Suite, which is the largest suite in the hotel and has magnificent reception rooms, soaring ceilings and huge picture windows overlooking Central Park, will no longer be the Presidential base when Obama is in town.

Curtis Gathje, the Editor of the Zagat guide of New York, and the author of "At the Plaza: An Illustrated History of the World's Most Famous Hotel" (St. Martin's Press, 2000), said the Astor Suite was created under the supervision of Ivana Trump, Mr. Trump's former wife, in 1989. Trump bought the Plaza in 1988 and renovated it.

Sotheby's International Realty, who is selling the suite, hinted at its grandeur, "It's beyond luxurious and is the sort of place where the cupboards are the size of bedrooms."

It has been suggested that Obama is now likely to stay at the Art Deco Park Avenue landmark, the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which already has a Presidential Suite.

Picture by thanasim25