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Waldorf Astoria New York
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Waldorf Astoria New York
The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, 625 ft (191 m) Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver and completed in 1931. The building was the world's tallest hotel until 1957, when it was surpassed by Moscow's Hotel Ukraina. An icon of glamor and luxury, the Waldorf Astoria is one of the world's most prestigious and best-known hotels. Both the exterior and the interior of the Waldorf Astoria are designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as official landmarks.
The original Waldorf-Astoria, built in two stages in the 1890s, was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building. Conrad Hilton acquired management rights to the hotel in October 1949, and the Hilton Hotels Corporation bought the hotel outright in 1972. It underwent a $150 million renovation by Lee Jablin in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 2009, the Waldorf Astoria and Towers had 1,416 rooms; the most expensive room, the Presidential Suite, was designed with Georgian-style furniture to emulate that of the White House.
The Anbang Insurance Group of China purchased the Waldorf Astoria New York for $1.95 billion in 2014, making it the most expensive hotel ever sold. Anbang closed the entire building in March 2017 for extensive renovations, converting the upper stories into 375 condominiums and retaining 375 hotel rooms on the lowest 18 floors. Dajia Insurance Group took over the Waldorf Astoria when Anbang went bankrupt in 2020, and, after several delays, the hotel reopened in July 2025. The hotel has three restaurants: Peacock Alley, Lex Yard and Yoshoku.
The Waldorf Astoria has been known for its lavish dinner parties and galas, often at the center of political and business conferences and fundraising schemes involving the rich and famous. After World War II, it played a significant role in world politics and the Cold War, culminating in the controversial World Peace Conference of March 1949. The Presidential Suite was the residence of Herbert Hoover after his wife died for 20 years, and Frank Sinatra kept a suite at the Waldorf from 1979 until 1988. Some of the luxury suites were named after celebrities who lived or stayed in them, including Cole Porter, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill.
The first name of the hotel is ultimately derived from the town of Walldorf, which lies in the north of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, south of Mannheim and Heidelberg. The name of the town is derived from the German words Wald, meaning "forest", and Dorf, meaning "village". Walldorf is the ancestral home of the Astor family, the prominent German-American family to which the two side by side original hotels belonged, the Waldorf and the Astoria.
The hotels were soon joined by what was called peacock alley, and afterwards the hotel was known as the Waldorf-Astoria with a single hyphen, as recalled by a popular expression and song, "Meet Me at the Hyphen". The sign was changed to a double hyphen, looking similar to an equals sign, by Conrad Hilton when he purchased the hotel in 1949. The double hyphen visually represents "Peacock Alley", the hallway between the two original hotels on Fifth Avenue. The use of the double hyphen was discontinued by its parent company Hilton in 2009, shortly after the introduction of the Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts chain.
The original hotels on Fifth Avenue were built by feuding relatives. The Waldorf Hotel was opened in 1893, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street, on the former site of millionaire developer William Waldorf Astor's mansion. In 1897, Waldorf's cousin, John Jacob Astor IV, opened the Astoria Hotel on an adjacent site where his mansion had been. The hotels were initially built as separate structures but were intended to be connected by an alley. The hotel subsequently became known as the "Waldorf-Astoria", the largest hotel in the world at the time.
From the early 20th century, the hotel faced stiff competition from newer hotels in New York City such as the Hotel Astor (1904), St. Regis (1904), the Knickerbocker (1906), and the Savoy-Plaza (1927). By the 1920s, the Waldorf Astoria was becoming dated, and the elegant social life of New York had moved much farther north. The Astor family sold the hotel to the developers of the Empire State Building, closing the hotel in 1929 and demolishing it soon after.
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Waldorf Astoria New York
The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, 625 ft (191 m) Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver and completed in 1931. The building was the world's tallest hotel until 1957, when it was surpassed by Moscow's Hotel Ukraina. An icon of glamor and luxury, the Waldorf Astoria is one of the world's most prestigious and best-known hotels. Both the exterior and the interior of the Waldorf Astoria are designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as official landmarks.
The original Waldorf-Astoria, built in two stages in the 1890s, was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building. Conrad Hilton acquired management rights to the hotel in October 1949, and the Hilton Hotels Corporation bought the hotel outright in 1972. It underwent a $150 million renovation by Lee Jablin in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 2009, the Waldorf Astoria and Towers had 1,416 rooms; the most expensive room, the Presidential Suite, was designed with Georgian-style furniture to emulate that of the White House.
The Anbang Insurance Group of China purchased the Waldorf Astoria New York for $1.95 billion in 2014, making it the most expensive hotel ever sold. Anbang closed the entire building in March 2017 for extensive renovations, converting the upper stories into 375 condominiums and retaining 375 hotel rooms on the lowest 18 floors. Dajia Insurance Group took over the Waldorf Astoria when Anbang went bankrupt in 2020, and, after several delays, the hotel reopened in July 2025. The hotel has three restaurants: Peacock Alley, Lex Yard and Yoshoku.
The Waldorf Astoria has been known for its lavish dinner parties and galas, often at the center of political and business conferences and fundraising schemes involving the rich and famous. After World War II, it played a significant role in world politics and the Cold War, culminating in the controversial World Peace Conference of March 1949. The Presidential Suite was the residence of Herbert Hoover after his wife died for 20 years, and Frank Sinatra kept a suite at the Waldorf from 1979 until 1988. Some of the luxury suites were named after celebrities who lived or stayed in them, including Cole Porter, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Douglas MacArthur, and Winston Churchill.
The first name of the hotel is ultimately derived from the town of Walldorf, which lies in the north of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, south of Mannheim and Heidelberg. The name of the town is derived from the German words Wald, meaning "forest", and Dorf, meaning "village". Walldorf is the ancestral home of the Astor family, the prominent German-American family to which the two side by side original hotels belonged, the Waldorf and the Astoria.
The hotels were soon joined by what was called peacock alley, and afterwards the hotel was known as the Waldorf-Astoria with a single hyphen, as recalled by a popular expression and song, "Meet Me at the Hyphen". The sign was changed to a double hyphen, looking similar to an equals sign, by Conrad Hilton when he purchased the hotel in 1949. The double hyphen visually represents "Peacock Alley", the hallway between the two original hotels on Fifth Avenue. The use of the double hyphen was discontinued by its parent company Hilton in 2009, shortly after the introduction of the Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts chain.
The original hotels on Fifth Avenue were built by feuding relatives. The Waldorf Hotel was opened in 1893, at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street, on the former site of millionaire developer William Waldorf Astor's mansion. In 1897, Waldorf's cousin, John Jacob Astor IV, opened the Astoria Hotel on an adjacent site where his mansion had been. The hotels were initially built as separate structures but were intended to be connected by an alley. The hotel subsequently became known as the "Waldorf-Astoria", the largest hotel in the world at the time.
From the early 20th century, the hotel faced stiff competition from newer hotels in New York City such as the Hotel Astor (1904), St. Regis (1904), the Knickerbocker (1906), and the Savoy-Plaza (1927). By the 1920s, the Waldorf Astoria was becoming dated, and the elegant social life of New York had moved much farther north. The Astor family sold the hotel to the developers of the Empire State Building, closing the hotel in 1929 and demolishing it soon after.
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