Matilda the Algonquin Cat

A fabulous location.  Superb service.  Elegant accommodations.  These are some of the hallmarks of the finest hotels in the world.   How many, however, can boast of having a famous resident feline and a legacy of providing a loving home for cats?

The Algonquin Hotel in New York City most certainly can.  This historic building on West 44th Street in Manhattan is home to Matilda, a beautiful, white and gray Ragdoll.  On a recent two night stay, we saw Matilda several times.  12-years young, she loves to hang out in the lobby, with a favorite perch being a luggage cart.  Since her arrival in 1997, patrons and visitors have marveled at her shiny coat, lovely blue eyes and miniature chaise lounge.

Matilda is more than just part of the scenery at the Algonquin.  She’s famous.  In 2006, the Westchester (NY) Cat Show named her “Cat of the Year.”  The New York Times, National Public Radio and others have told her story.  Admirers send her e-mail.  (Alice de Almeida, the general manager's executive assistant answers them).

Matilda is the latest in a line of resident felines at the hotel.  The first stray arrived one day in the late thirties.  Frank Case, the hotel’s legendary owner, took the cat in and named him Rusty.  

Case also extended a welcome hand to actors and playwrights from neighboring Broadway.  His hospitality nurtured the Algonquin Round Table, a famous group of literary wits who lunched at the hotel’s Oak Room during the 1920s.  One of the members, actor John Barrymore, gave Rusty the professional name of Hamlet.  Future “spiritual descendants” were called Hamlet.   When the cat is female, she's called Matilda.  One Hamlet from the 1970s inspired author Val Schaffner to write a book titled, The Algonquin Cat.  

Matilda is not only a source of joy, she’s a focus of inspiration.  Every summer, the hotel hosts a birthday party for her. The event has raised thousands of dollars for local animal shelters.  This past August, the North Shore Animal League, an adoption and rescue organization that does not euthanize, arranged a mobile adoption day in front of the hotel.  Seven cats were given a new home.  

If you stay or visit the Algonqiun Hotel, be sure and say hello to Matilda.  She’s purrfectly wonderful!!

Jay Roberts is a professional pet care provider for Karing by Kristina.  He has been taking care of furry friends in Old Town Alexandria since 2001.   Jay and his wife Roberta give love and care for Lydia, their beloved cat.