Viewed as the Golden Boy of the '80s, wanna-be real estate tycoon, Donald Trump bragged about his obsession with New York's famed Plaza Hotel. 'You know, I'm going to buy this hotel', he told the Plaza's manager. 'I was in love with it. I tore myself up to get the Plaza', Trump said, and it cost him $400 million – or a record shattering $495k per hotel room and satisfied his vanity – but not with a dime of his own money. 'In the 1980s, at the peak of his real estate prowess, Donald Trump bought the Plaza, gilding its rooms in gold leaf and putting his wife Ivana in charge. 'Then the Trump empire crumbled, and not even a desperate attempt to spy on his enemies could prevent the inevitable', writes Julie Satow in her new book The Plaza, The Secret Life of America's Most Famous Hotel. Donald Trump dreamed of owning New York's famed Plaza Hotel since he was a little boy, finally making it a reality when he paid $400M for it in 1988 'You know, I'm going to buy this hotel', he told the Plaza's manager. 'I was in love with it. I tore myself up to get the Plaza', Trump said, and it cost him $400 million – or a record shattering $495k per hotel room and satisfied his vanity – but not with a dime of his own money The Plaza filed for bankruptcy – its first and only time – before a Saudi Arabian prince and a billionaire from Singapore took the hotel off Trump's hand's. 'I haven't purchased a building, I have purchased a masterpiece – the Mona Lisa', he bragged in a full-page ad in New York magazine. 'For the first time in my life, I have knowingly made a deal that was not economic', he declared in print. He said he was in love from his first visit at age seven. Julie Satow writes about Trump's history with the Plaza Hotel in her book The Plaza, The Secret Life of America's Most Famous Hotel 'I just remember the feeling of opulence. There's something very haunting and magical about the Plaza', he said. So magical, he built his Trump Tower two blocks south of the hotel and took his office on the twenty-sixth floor that offered expansive cityscape views that included the Plaza – 'squarely within its frame'. All he had to do was swivel his desk chair around to stare at the object of his long-held desire. Trump had to shell out $407.5 million plus additional monies to cover closing costs and renovations but he needed a guarantor. Citibank decided to back him, a change from a decade ago when Trump couldn't find a guarantor due to financial struggles. Raised in Queens, New York under the tutelage of his father Fred, a developer who had made a fortune building middle-class housing in the outer boroughs, Donald grew tired of spending days in the housing projects and escaped across the East River to Manhattan's fast lane where he hung with models and Wall Street bankers at singles bars and even parties at the Plaza. It was at the power broker hangout of the time, Maxwell's Plum that he met Ivana Zelnickova, who was standing outside in a line wearing a red mini-dress and high heels hoping to get the nod to get in. Trump checked out the five-foot seven model with bleached blond hair and said he could get her a table. It was a whirlwind courtship and she became his first wife and quickly insinuated herself in his businesses – from checking out the construction site of the Grand Hyatt Hotel he was renovating to her husband's Atlantic City casinos. With his purchase of the Plaza, Trump made his wife Ivana president and announced, 'I will pay her one dollar a year and all the dresses she can buy!' Privately she was humiliated and it 'was just the beginning of their marital tensions', writes the author The two met at the power broker hangout of the time, Maxwell's Plum. Ivana Zelnickova was standing outside in a line wearing a red mini-dress and high heels hoping to get the nod to get in. Trump checked out the seven model and said he could get her a table With his purchase of the Plaza, Trump made Ivana president and announced, 'My wife, Ivana, is a brilliant manager. I will pay her one dollar a year and all the dresses she can buy!' That comment provoked outrage but Ivana dismissed it publicly saying, 'We are a team. We are working together. I think it's really ridiculous to ask my husband for a salary'. Privately she was humiliated and it 'was just the beginning of their marital tensions', writes the author. Coming back from helping to run his casino in Atlantic City to her command post at the Plaza, Ivana wore her 'daily armor of Chanel suit and Charles Jourdan pumps' and eyed the Hotel critically with binoculars from the Trump Tower triplex before heading to the Plaza. If anything was amiss, she'd pick up the phone and bark, 'There's paper on the sidewalk, get it cleaned up!' On site, she barked orders to the housekeeping staff and even got down on her hands and knees and demonstrated how the bathroom floors should be scrubbed. She was a profligate spender with enormous floral bouquets decorating the lobby and guests rooms outfitted with Frette linens and Chanel toiletries. A new dress code was instituted for staff and visitors -- no shorts, jeans or casual wear in any common area of the hotel. Ivana (pictured outside of the hotel in 1987) managed the Plaza with an iron fist. She barked orders to staff and even got down on her hands and knees and demonstrated how the floors should be scrubbed. She was a profligate spender with enormous floral bouquets decorating the lobby and guests rooms outfitted with Frette linens and Chanel toiletries Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, New York That didn't limit Eric Trump or his siblings from roller-skating through the lobby. She made it 'crazily ornate, as if Louis IV were holding a yard sale', with a panoply of gold trim and faucets shaped like swans – wrote a New York Times critic. 'Everyone wanted to come to the Plaza, from Kim Basinger to the Duke of Wales to Mike Tyson', a hotel manager told the author. Michael Jackson rented out the expensive Astor Suite and only bothered staff with his daily orders of candy. Actor Mickey Rourke trashed his room to the expense of $20,000. The Beatles came to New York in 1964 for their first American appearance and the start of the British Invasion, and made reservations in the innocuous names of Starr, Harrison, Lennon and McCartney, before their big first single, 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'. The hotel had no idea they were the teen idols until cabled by the London office. The Plaza's manager, Alphone Salomone, had rejected the reservation believing it would too disruptive for the hotel – until his daughter's histrionics convinced him to reconsider. It was pandemonium outside the hotel but up in the rooms, the fab four only disturbed staff when calling room service repeatedly for more tea. 'There was no throwing of television sets or mountains of emptied beer bottles; the boys' most animated behavior was jumping up and down on the plush Plaza beds', writes Julie Satow. The Beatles came to New York in 1964 for their first American appearance and the start of the British Invasion, and made reservations in the innocuous names of Starr, Harrison, Lennon and McCartney. The hotel had no idea they were the teen idols until cabled by the London office. The Plaza's manager, Alphone Salomone, had rejected the reservation believing it would too disruptive for the hotel – until his daughter's histrionics convinced him to reconsider. Pictured: The Beatles with American psychologist and writer Joyce Brothers during an interview at the Plaza Hotel in New York in February 1964 In 1966, writer Truman Capote celebrated the success of his true-crime book, In Cold Blood with a bal masque, the Black and White Ball, that was held in the ballroom at the Plaza, viewed as New York's most glamorous, luxurious space. Princess Lee Radziwill (pictured with Capote at the event) and the rest of the Kennedy clan were there 'Everyone wanted to come to the Plaza, from Kim Basinger to the Duke of Wales to Mike Tyson', a hotel manager told the author. Pictured: The actress in her Plaza Hotel room In later years, there were drug-fueled parties in the hotel's luxury corner suites where young girls and older wealthy men partied – with Trump flitting in and out, according to gossip chronicler Michael Gross. Pictured: Trump, Mike Tyson and Fred Trump attend Tyson's press conference on July 26, 1988 at the Plaza Hotel In 1966, writer Truman Capote celebrated the success of his true-crime book, In Cold Blood with a bal masque, the Black and White Ball, that was held in the ballroom at the Plaza, viewed as New York's most glamorous, luxurious space. The dress code was strictly black-and-white and masks were required and fans for the ladies -- for some 540 guests, highbrow, lowbrow, famous and obscure. An endless line of limousines discharged their passengers at the hotel's entrance. There were movie stars, artists, and society royalty that included Rose Kennedy, Tallulah Bankhead, actress Joan Fontaine and Gloria Vanderbilt – and of course, Andy Warhol. At midnight masks were removed and the evening ended with a buffet and Eddie Duchin's orchestra playing until 3:30 a.m. Some partygoers took the party over to Elaine's, an Upper East Side celebrity hangout. Frank Sinatra moved on to a hall-in-the--wall joint. Princess Lee Radziwill and the rest of the Kennedy clan were there along with William Buckley and Norman Mailer. In later years, there were drug-fueled parties in the hotel's luxury corner suites where young girls and older wealthy men partied – with Trump flitting in and out, according to gossip chronicler Michael Gross. Trump was always accompanied by 'a lot of girls', Andy Lucchesi a frequent party attendee told Gross. Cocaine and cigarette smoking were the order of the day but Trump was a teetotaler. Trump was always accompanied by 'a lot of girls', Andy Lucchesi a frequent party attendee told Gross. He was spending his time with sometime actress and model, Marla Maples who was holed up in a room at another hotel Trump owned, the St. Moritz Hotel, on Central Park South. Pictured: Trump with Maples in the 1990s Nothing was helping the rising tensions in Trump's marriage and he confessed to others 'the guilt he felt over having made her totally subservient'. 'She wasn't challenging', he later stated about the breakdown. 'I left essentially because I was bored'. He was spending his time with sometime actress and model, Marla Maples who was holed up in a room at another hotel Trump owned, the St. Moritz Hotel, on Central Park South. Trump submitted plans for a dozen exclusive penthouses to the city and got approval – hoping to make money off their sale but he did nothing to advance the penthouse concept. He was too distracted by his personal life, his casinos and other Trump branded ventures. It had all been a pipe dream. Four years after purchasing what he called his 'Mona Lisa', for a record amount, he lost the hotel to his bankers – Citibank – who found other buyers. Four years after purchasing what he called his 'Mona Lisa', for a record amount, he lost the hotel to his bankers – Citibank – who found other buyers Trump's bankruptcy filing ran almost 1500 pages long and there were reams of unpaid creditors that included owing New York State $800,000 in sales tax, Con Edison $300,000 for electricity, Manhattan Limousines $200,000. 'Trump had no choice but to give up the Plaza'. A henchman of his hid behind a secret wall in a room in the hotel where Citibank was negotiating with other buyers and called the fire department sending in firemen with hatchets and hoses to make the building appear unstable but the dirty prank that only caused pandemonium didn't work. The hotel was out of Trump's hands in 1995 and 'despite coming out a loser, Trump insisted that he was a part of the new ownership', writes Julie Satow. It wasn't true. By 2005, multimillion-dollar condos and penthouses had been carved out of the Hotel and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was on line early to buy two – along with other buyers including Hollywood executives, Russian oligarchs, and anonymous shell companies using money from savory or illicit sources. An embattled Indian businessman purchased the hotel in 2012 and ran it from jail in Delhi until the hospitality arm of the Qatar Investment Authority acquired the hotel – with devotees hopeful that the once grand hotel would see return to glory days. Julie Satow's new book The Plaza, The Secret Life of America's Most Famous Hotel is available here. All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility