rooms measuring . The doors within each room were "noiseless" and had silent locks; according to The Construction News, "no person will be able to disturb another hotel guest by carelessly slamming his door". W. & J. Sloane furnished the rooms. A sample room generally had light-colored walls with white-enameled woodwork; a neutral-colored carpet; cream-colored electric chandeliers; and mahogany bureaus, chairs, dressers, and writing tables. In addition, the curtains contained Chinese-inspired designs in blue, black, mulberry, and soft red. The bathrooms had white tiles, while the rooms had "unusually large closets" with coatracks, umbrella holders, and space for hanging clothes. The Biltmore's rooms were generally smaller than those of older hostelries, such as the Hotel Manhattan, which contained 600 rooms and had about the same floor area as did the Biltmore. The fourth floor included the Presidential Suite, a private suite for entertaining guests. The Presidential Suite contained a parlor, reception room, dining room, foyer, and dressing room, as well as a small ballroom with a capacity of 300 guests. The Presidential Suite had its own elevator leading directly to Grand Central Terminal. During the construction of the Biltmore Hotel, Warren and Wetmore had included space for 12 to 14 private apartments on the 18th through 20th floors. Each of these apartments faced 43rd Street or Vanderbilt Avenue, as well as a light court, and contained between eight and twelve rooms. In contrast to the remainder of the hotel, these private apartments were to be sold to tenants, who would then hire their own architects to design each apartment. The private apartments did not have their own kitchens; instead, they received meals from the hotel's catering service. Otherwise, these suites functioned separately from the rest of the hotel and were rented out for yearlong terms. The hotel also had staff bedrooms and several staff lounges. Mechanical features There were eight passenger and five service elevators, as well as several dumbwaiters leading from the kitchen to the upper stories. The elevators were enclosed within glass vestibules on each floor, preventing noise from the elevators from reaching the bedrooms. The elevators led directly from the basement to the ground-floor lobby and upper stories. According to The Sun, guests could have their baggage delivered from the train directly to their rooms without going outdoors. When the Biltmore was constructed, it contained telautograph, dictograph, telephone, and pneumatic tube systems, which The New York Times