The Plaza Hotel has not only been an iconic luxury hotel in New York since it opened in 1907, it also plays a central role in the Hollywood comedy Home Alone 2. The hotel recently launched an experience that puts you in the shoes of Kevin McCallister, the highly inventive burglar trap setter of the 1990s.
Kevvvviiiiinnnn!!!!
In Home Alone 2 (1992), directed by Chris Columbus (Gremlins, The Goonies, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets…), the sequel to the hit Christmas comedy released two years earlier, Mrs. McCallister faints once again upon discovering the disappearance of her beloved son. This discovery is all the more surprising given that Kevin followed the whole family to the airport.
Played by the child star of the 90s, Macaulay Culkin, the young boy gets on the wrong boarding platform and ends up in New York… instead of Miami, where his whole family has chosen to spend the holidays. One advantage, and not the least, is that he finds himself in possession of his father’s credit card, which leads him almost naturally to take up residence at the Plaza Hotel and live the high life… for a little less than a week.
Given the cult status of the film saga released 35 years ago and the jet-setting phenomenon that encourages fans to travel the world in search of the locations where their favorite films were shot, the Plaza Hotel could not remain indifferent.
The New York establishment, owned by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts since 2005, has therefore developed an immersive experience whose price even reflects the inflation of the last thirty years, as some internet users have humorously pointed out on social media.
A millennial dream
In November, the Plaza Hotel unveiled this delightfully retro and nostalgic 1990s experience, inspired by the hit comedy produced by 20th Century Fox: the Home Alone: Fun in New York package.
This exclusive package, priced at $3,000, begins with a four-hour limousine tour of the film’s iconic locations, including the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Carnegie Hall, and Radio City Music Hall.
Back at the hotel, guests head to their suite with its king-size bed and dedicated room service. They are treated to a giant cheese pizza and, the fantasy of every child who has seen the film, a “decadent” sundae with no less than 16 scoops of ice cream, accompanied by a variety of sauces.
Available all year round, this extraordinary and immersive package sees a peak in demand during the holiday season and when the two parts of the film saga are re-released. So much so that you have to book the experience at least three days in advance, if not more. A saga that could perhaps include a third installment. At least, that’s what the star actor would like to see.
The price of the experience, like that of a room at the Plaza in 2025, also reflects the inflation that New York prices have experienced over the past three decades. This comparison has been widely shared by internet users on social media.
In 1992, staying in a suite at the Plaza cost $1,100 per night. Today, it costs $6,244, an increase of 468%! As for the room service bill, which was already described as “epic” at the time of the film, it was only $967. Today, it would be $2,233.
Hollywood hot spot
Considered by the press to be “the best hotel in the world” since it opened in 1907, New York’s Plaza Hotel, also known as “the Plaza,” is a magical place, if only for its architecture.
Its 19-story facade evokes a French Renaissance castle. This massive establishment, located on Fifth Avenue at the foot of Central Park, is the work of architect Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, who also designed the Dakota Apartments, the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., and the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston.
Over the years, the Plaza quickly became the go-to destination for royalty, presidents, and other celebrities. In the movie Home Alone, young Kevin crosses paths with a certain Donald Trump in the lobby.
But the hotel has not only immortalized the visit of child star Macaulay Culkin: other Hollywood blockbusters have also focused their cameras on this luxury hotel.
The first coup was that of Alfred Hitchcock in 1952 with his film North by Northwest. It is in the hotel’s Oak Bar that Cary Grant disappears. In 1973, Sydney Pollack filmed The Way We Were there with Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand. Twenty years later, the Plaza also featured in the film Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Finally, in 2013, Baz Luhrmann shot a scene there for his adaptation of The Great Gatsby. It is there, on a humid summer’s day, that Jay Gatsby, in a fit of rage, confronts Tom Buchanan, the unfaithful husband of his beloved.
Read also > Park Hyatt Tokyo, the hotel featured in the film Lost in Translation, reopens its doors in March 2026
Featured photo: Unsplash
