Waldorf Astoria New York Intro
Although many people have heard about the Waldorf Astoria New York, fewer people know the long and interesting history of this NYC landmark hotel. Did you know it all started with a family feud? Find out fun facts about this hotel in New York City.
In addition I will review our stay there. In the past, it has been both the largest hotel and the tallest hotel in the world.
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Table of contents
History of the Waldorf=Astoria New York
Enjoy finding out the fascinating history of this hotel, it all started with a pesky nephew named William…
Family Feud
Though the Waldorf Astoria is on Park Avenue now, it originated on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, the current location of the Empire State Building. Back then, William Waldorf Astor had fallen out with his aunt Carolina Astor. To spite her, he built the Waldorf Hotel right next door to her house, so that the busy hotel traffic would disturb her. When the hotel opened in 1893, his aunt moved uptown in a huff.
At this point in time, there was only one hotel, just the Waldorf. Founding proprietor George Boldt, designed the hotel, originally with 11 stories. Because Boldt’s wife, Louise, believed that 13 was a lucky number, she persuaded her husband to add two floors to the construction. They named the hotel after the German town of Walldorf, where the Astor’s family started out.
A few years later in 1897, William’s cousin John Jacob Astor IV built the adjoining Astoria Hotel. As seems common in the Astor family, these two cousins were also fighting. Because John Astor wanted to outdo his cousin, he built his hotel higher, as a 16-stories building. Eventually, thanks to Boldt mediating, they merged the two buildings under his management as the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel.
Size Matters: The Largest Hotel in the World
Since they weren’t sure how long their truce would last, the cousins connected the hotels with just one narrow alley, reasoning that it would be easy to block off the passage with a simple brick wall if needed. Surprisingly, this narrow alley, called “Peacock Alley”, was the place to be seen. After connecting, the combined hotel had 1,300 bedrooms, making it the largest hotel in the world. Not only that, but it also was the first hotel to offer electricity and private bathrooms to all guests. Luxury travel at its best!
Oscar’s Fabulous and Famous Food at the Waldorf Astoria
After Boldt hired Oscar Tschirky as maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf-Astoria, The Waldorf gained world renown for its fundraising dinners and balls. Tschirky authored “The Cookbook by Oscar of The Waldorf” featuring now-famous recipes, such as the Waldorf salad, Eggs Benedict and Thousand Island dressing.
The Waldorf salad used to be apples, celery, walnuts, grapes and mayonnaise, but nowadays the dressing is often based on yogurt. When we visited, we made sure to eat Waldorf salad in the Peacock Alley restaurant. Not surprising, it was really good!
Not only did the Waldorf develop these famous dishes, they also were the first hotel to offer room service to their guests. This seems like such a given now, but it was unheard of at that time.
Women’s Liberation in the Waldorf-Astoria New York
A little-known fact is that the hotel helped advance the status of women. Unusual at that time, they admitted women singly, without escorts. Even better, when the hotel started offering afternoon teas, men were only admitted to the teas if they were in the company of a woman.
Just imagine, this was long before women even gained the right to vote in 1920. Clearly, the Waldorf was at the forefront of equal rights.
Notable Visitors to the Old Waldorf-Astoria
Because of its luxury furnishings, the Waldorf was always a “must stay” hotel for foreign dignitaries. Some examples:
- 1896: the viceroy of China, Li Hung-Chang;
- 1892: Prince Henry of Prussia;
- Andrew Carnegie
- 1909: Arctic explorer Frederick Cook
- 1920s: Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia
In 1912, the United States Senate inquiry into the sinking of the RMS Titanic was opened at the hotel before moving on to Washington, D.C. Ironically, John Jacob Astor IV, one of the founding cousins, was one of the people who perished on The Titanic’s journey. His wife and unborn child were among the survivors.
Making Room for the Empire State Building
At the end of the 1920s, the hotel became outdated and New York high society started visiting other, newer hotels. The owners sold the hotel to developers, who then razed it to make space for the 1929 construction of the Empire State building.
Seemingly the end of an era, but the hotel rose like a phoenix a few years later in another area of New York.
The Current Waldorf Astoria New York
In 1931, the current Waldorf Astoria New York, a 47-story hotel, opened. Their new location was on Park Avenue, you know, the really expensive Monopoly real estate.
Size Matters: The Largest and Tallest!
At that point in time, it was the world’s largest hotel. Not only that, the building also was the world’s tallest hotel until 1963 when it was surpassed by a hotel in Russia.
As one of the most well-known hotels worldwide, its interior is beyond opulent. Frommer’s calls the hotel as an “icon of luxury”. They compare the decor of the rooms to those of an English country house, and describe the corridors as being wide and plush-carpeted, which “seem to go on forever”.
Presidents, Other VIPs and The First IBM PC
Visiting this hotel is like taking a walk through history. Many famous people have stayed here, for example Cary Grant, the Dalai Lama, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of the British Commonwealth. Naturally, the list also includes US presidents.
- Herbert Hoover lived in the Presidential Suite for over 30 years;
- Dwight D. Eisenhower lived in the Waldorf until his death
- Since Hoover, every President of the United States has either stayed over or lived in the Waldorf Astoria, with the exception of Jimmy Carter who claimed to have never stayed overnight at the hotel.
- Frank Sinatra kept a suite from 1979 until 1988.
- Katharine Hepburn,
- Muhammad Ali
- In 1955, Marilyn Monroe and her husband, Arthur Miller
- Cole Porter
On August 12, 1981, IBM unveiled its Personal Computer in a press conference at the Waldorf Astoria.
Money Matters: Most Expensive Hotel Ever Sold
In 2014, a Chinese insurance company bought the Waldorf-Astoria New York. They paid $1.95 billion, which back then was highest price ever paid for a hotel. Their plans was to convert part of the building to luxury condos, but keep the lowest 18 floors as a hotel managed by Hilton.
In 2020, the Anbang group went bankrupt, and another Chinese insurance group took over. As far as we know, the plans for both condo conversion and hotel stayed the same.
When will the Waldorf Astoria New York reopen?
Anbang Optimistic Plan: 2021
After buying the hotel, the Anbang group started an extensive renovation. At first, the planned reopening was scheduled for 2021, but it was pushed back to 2023.
More Realistic: 2023
When the renovation of the Waldorf Astoria in mid-2022 stalled because of going over its $2 billion budget, the reopening was delayed again! The new Chinese owner, Dajia Insurance Group, now talks about 2024 at the soonest.
Hope Springs Eternal? 2024…
For now, it looks like 2024 or later, so if you want to visit, some patience is required. Hilton on its website states
The iconic Waldorf Astoria New York is currently under total restoration. Grand rooms, suites, and residences will set a new standard for New York service and style. Expect fine dining, elegant event venues, and unmatched sophistication when this Park Avenue landmark reopens.
Waldorf Astoria NYC web site
Notice that they don’t commit to any opening date or even year… We are looking forward to visiting once it opens again.
Meanwhile, you can visit three famous Waldorf artifacts at the New-York Historical Society Go check out
- The World’s Fair clock from the lobby, originally designed for the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
- A rocking chair, which was a gift from President John F. Kennedy, that sat in the Presidential Suite.
- Being restored before moving to the historical society: Cole Porter’s 1907 Steinway grand piano. Porter lived in the Waldorf and even wrote some of his songs here.
Our Review of the Waldorf Astoria New York
Just before the renovation of the Waldorf started late 2016, we found a good deal and jumped on it. I mean, who wouldn’t want to stay in this prestigious and well-known hotel? Currently, the Waldorf Astoria hotel New York City is still closed.
When we checked in to this hotel, we had Hilton Honors Gold Status (thanks to our AMEX Hilton credit card) and got upgraded to “The Towers”, the even more luxurious part of this Waldorf. He handed us our “Towers” room key, giving us access to the “Towers guests only” exclusive areas of the hotel.
Happily we discovered we had a suite, with a living room, bed room and amazing bath room. Wow! This was even better than we had imagined. Not only that, we got two coupons for free drinks. Life was good.
Since we could only afford one night in this paradise, we quickly got settled and then went out to explore the hotel and all its famous restaurants. Such a fun feeling, walking around in this historic hotel.
Restaurants and Bars
First we checked out the bars, the Bull and Bear, and Sir Harry’s Bar. Sipping our drinks, we contemplated how lucky we were that we got to see this iconic landmark in real life. Afterwards, we tried out the Peacock Alley restaurant where I had the famous Waldorf salad in addition to other delectable small plates.
During the rest of the night, we wandered around, drinking in the opulent atmosphere of the place. What a treat! At the end of the night I made sure to take a bubble bath in the luxurious bath room, ending up all warm and rosy, smelling like a French flower field.
The next morning, we had breakfast in an top floor lounge with an amazing view over New York City, another perk of our Hilton Honors gold status. Sadly, then it was time to check out and thus ended our fairy tale stay at the Waldorf Astoria New York.
The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.
Alice Morse Earle
We will be back!
Conclusion Waldorf Astoria New York
If you get the opportunity to visit this Waldorf Astoria, go for it! Try to wait for a good deal like we did, or use one of your free weekend night certificates from the Hilton Amex credit cards. We are impatiently awaiting the reopening in 2021 or 2022, so that we can repeat our first experience of this dreamy hotel.
Have you been to this Waldorf Astoria? What about other Waldorf Astoria’s? What was your favorite? Visiting every Waldorf Astoria hotel in the world is on our bucket list. Our stay here in New York was an excellent start!
Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
If you enjoyed this first Waldorf Astoria, check out the newer Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where you can live in the lap of Dutch Golden Age luxury.
Other Things To Do in New York City
- Take a free ferry ride past the Statue of Liberty and get awesome pictures for your instagram;
- Attend a Broadway show. Check out how to get cheap Broadway Show tickets.
- Make sure you know how to beat the shell game. There is no scarcity of scammers in NYC!
- If you are a reader, check out Lauren Elena’s Literary Dates blog, where she shares a lot of NYC book tours. A fascinating and different dimension for visiting New York City;
- Not New York City, but still interesting, visit the New York State Capitol and see some murals by the same painter as the first Waldorf Astoria;
- Explore New York City!
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Comments
6 responses to “Waldorf Astoria New York: History and Review”
Oh this was great. A really entertaining and fun filled read. I didn’t know anything much about the hotel before. Now I feel like an expert. Thanks for that.
Yeah, that is similar to me, even after staying there. I had so much fun researching the long history. When we visited we got a bit of a taste of how important this hotel was in NYC and world history, but i learned so much more while writing this article. I think that is one reason I love blogging so much, doing all the nitty gritty research and sharing it with “everyone” 😀
Thanks for stopping by and commenting
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