Above ground, there's a gym with changing rooms, his-and-hers offices, an arts-and-crafts room and a hairdressing area.

WSJ: Living

So we all know in this room the power of the arts to change young people's lives.

WHITEHOUSE: The White House Blog: The First Lady

The W is also centrally located next to the exquisite Beaux-Arts-style Opera Palais Garnier (ask for a room with a view of it) and easy access to several Metro lines.

BBC: Business trip: Paris

To counter the onslaught of contemporary hotel stylings, the old school Beaux Arts Ritz-Carlton recently modernized its famous lobby bar and dining room to mixed reviews.

BBC: Business trip: San Francisco

Last week she started out at a party for Matilda Cuomo's new book, The Person Who Changed My Life: Prominent Americans Recall Their Mentors, at Le Cirque 2000, where she posed for pictures in a small room with Tony Bennett, shoe mogul Kenneth Cole and arts maven Kitty Carlisle Hart, among other luminaries.

CNN: Uh-oh, the real first lady shows up

Speaking before a room filled to capacity by high level representatives of business, the arts, government and academia, the Director-General spoke of the importance of culture in a world changing quickly.

UNESCO: EDUCATION FIRST

They made brilliant use of a favorite Beaux Arts theme a processional path from the Fifth Avenue entrance to the climactic experience of the grand reading room at the top.

WSJ: New York Public Library | Undertaking Its Destruction | By Ada Louise Huxtable