Pen-Top Bar (Peninsula Hotel)

UrbanDaddy remembered the old Pen-Top as "the heady combination of Astroturf and million-dollar views"¹. The building under it is older: 700 Fifth Avenue is a Beaux-Arts building from 1905 that opened as the Gotham Hotel and changed hands several times².

In May 2008 the remodeled roof reopened as Salon de Ning, pitched for post-work drinks or a date with a view¹. Its terraces and glass-enclosed bar were built to resemble the salon of Madame Ning, a jet-setting, eccentric 1930s Shanghai socialite¹. Our listing kept the old name.

A refurbishment of the whole hotel began in January 2024, and in September the roof reopened as Pen Top, a return to its original name³. It's meant to evoke an artist's loft now, with greenery, plush sofas and a louvered roof that opens, so it works indoors and out all year³. Pen Top Bar and Terrace, much more contemporary than the clubby old Salon de Ning, is open on the roof in 2026, with its own dedicated lift, which makes our listing right again^{2, 4}.