On the wall facing Sam Bhadha’s desk at New York’s Radisson Lexington Hotel hangs a large framed black-and-white photograph of Marilyn Monroe wistfully looking down on Lexington Avenue from the balcony of a hotel suite she once shared with Joe DiMaggio. In 1955, when filming “Seven-Year Itch”, she had been posing in front of the Metropolitan Hotel, then the famous Loews Theater, when a gust of air from the subway vents blew the skirt of her white halter dress skyward and made history.

History is very much a part of the Metropolitan Hotel, which opens today, after a complete remodeling over the past year to the tune of $40 million, in its new incarnation as the decidedly upscale Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel at Lexington Avenue and 51st Street.

The original Metropolitan was designed by Morris Lapidus, the modernist architect of Art Deco fame, who also created the Fontainebleau and Eden Roc in Miami’s South Beach. His iconoclastic style may have suited the laissez-faire approach of tropical climes, but New Yorkers were skeptical, at times deriding his flights of fancy.

The Doubletree Metropolitan’s Lexington Avenue facade is shaped like a perpendicular rolling wave, and it’s blue. The design has not been without its detractors. But today’s fascination with anything ‘retro’ means that the rolling wave is an asset-most of the time. “It was pretty unique,” says Mr. Bhadha, “but operationally it became a little difficult for us.” Remodeling oddly shaped rooms is anything but simple. “So, we’ve rejuvenated the entire interior, keeping the exterior facade in the same style as Lapidus would have wanted.”

The Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel has 755 guestrooms, each with flat screen television, high-speed Internet access and cordless telephone, as well as wireless Internet access in all public areas. Its modernist roots have been preserved and updated to spotlight the Sixties, even as they accommodate the 21st century. The hotel now reflects a contemporary version of the Lapidus design-a 1960’s look with eclectic touches, a retro-cool feel, and design accents that include the comforting cradle of the distinctive Egg chair in the lobby and bar. The aesthetics of the Egg chair – which is exactly what its name implies, an egg-shaped cradle for the weary – are debatable, but its visual impact remains undiminished. And its familiar shape has become an anchor of the hotel’s advertising campaign. An abstract painting by Californian Alex Couwenberg adorns guestrooms and serves as the design anchor for brochures, business cards, and advertising materials.

In the lobby, marble, stainless steel and wood combine with earthy colors and textures to create a design that is comfortable, yet dynamic.

The Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel is designed primarily with the frequent business traveler in mind. Guestrooms have the airy feel of sparse Scandinavian design, with blond wood, innovative lighting, ample beds and special signature linens commissioned by Doubletree. The bathrooms were redesigned in slate and limestone, and feature brushed stainless steel sinks and curved steel shower bars.

The penthouse terraces are offset by a glass-enclosed atrium and offer an ideal setting for wedding receptions or more sober gatherings like corporate events.

And for the brave, or the jet-lagged, the hotel offers a complimentary fitness room with treadmills, stationary bikes and cross-trainers.They may well be needed, because guests checking in at Doubletree hotels are invariably greeted with ‘the Doubletree cookie,’ a chocolate chip wheel that boasts an unparalleled chip density and is specially baked for the hotel chain.

Sam Bhadha’s office is buzzing with the excitement of last-minute preparations for the opening of the new hotel.

He had been working for the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay when, in 1980, he married and decided to come to New York for his honeymoon. The Taj Mahal had just bought its first hotel in America and asked Mr. Bhadha if he’d like to stay in New York to manage it. He did, and has been here ever since, except for a five-year hiatus between 1989 and 1994 when he managed another Taj Mahal acquisition, the St. James’ Court Hotel in London.

Mr. Bhadha was general manager of the Radisson Lexington Hotel from 1980 to 1999. When the hotel was sold to Highgate Holdings and Oxford Capital Group/Oxford Lodging Group, he was invited to stay on board as general manager. In 2003, he became Executive Vice President and, after the acquisition of the Metropolitan Hotel, he oversaw both hotels. Today, he is putting the finishing touches to the launching of the new hotel.

This afternoon, former NY City mayor Ed Koch and Alan Lapidus, Morris Lapidus’ son, will officially open the new and improved Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel

The weather has not been particularly cooperative for the opening. But Sam Bhadha has managed hotels in New York for 24 years. He is ready.

Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel
569 Lexington Ave. at 51st Street
(212) 752-7000