Waldorf Astoria New York — Hotel in New York

Waldorf Astoria New York||Just wrapped up a quick stay. Overall, we enjoyed our stay. It’s the best Hilton property in the city, without a doubt. We used our Hilton Free Night Certificate and booked a King Room. We were upgraded to a Deluxe King Room over a week before our arrival. If you’re staying in the city and specifically want to stay with Hilton, then WA is your best bet. The hard product is just beautiful. Service left a lot to be desired though. A hotel of this caliber really shouldn’t have had the misses we experienced. I don’t believe this property compares to other luxury hotels in the city such as St Regis, Ritz Carlton, Aman or Edition. ||I booked this hotel several months in advance for my birthday. The only pre arrival correspondence from their concierge team came 24 hours prior to arrival, therefore, we had already arranged our own transportation by then and made our own dinner reservations. Not a big deal but an attention to detail that was noticeably absent. ||Upon arrival, we were dropped off in front of their porte-cochère entrance. Our driver was unable to get into their actual entrance as two other vehicles were temporarily stationed there. We offloaded our bags and walked towards the entrance. There were 6 bellmen/doormen, all of them readily available. I didn’t have an issue that they didn’t assist us with our luggage as we unloaded in the street. What bothered me is that my partner and I went through two sets of glass doors while not a single one of them opened our doors. Once again, a noticeable detail overlooked. If I were with my elderly mother, I would have most definitely addressed this concern. ||One of them did follow us inside and asked if we needed assistance. After I informed him we were checking in, he said he’d be happy to take our bags and have them sent to our room. He asked for my last name and then discovered he didn’t have a pen. After several seconds, he asked if we by chance had a pen. We had one in our bag and provided it to him and I jokingly stated he could keep it since it appeared they were running short on pens. He then radioed upstairs and informed them of our arrival. As the hotel is running at reduced occupancy, it would have been a nice gesture if a team member were waiting for us at the top of the stairs to escort us to their check in area. Waldorf Astoria Cabo and Maldives both do this and it leaves a memorable and lasting impression. ||Check in started off rather rocky. We were originally checked in by a team member who was training. She was not new to Waldorf Astoria but new to hospitality in general. In my opinion, a hotel such as Waldorf Astoria NY should be scouting talent from the top hotels in the city. It was evident she was nervous and wasn’t familiar with their system nor the property. As I handed my ID and credit card, she hastily took them from me. Welcome drinks, such as water, were not proactively offered. A colleague ended up taking over for her after she noticed the first colleague was freezing up. I was not informed of my F&B credit nor any hotel amenities such as restaurants or their hours. I was also informed that only the lower 3 floors of the hotel are opened and certain parts of the hotel were still under construction. ||The room was gorgeous and spacious. A small oversight but only one nightstand has outlets. I had a bottle of champagne, a small birthday cake, a bowl of fruit and a chocolate bar waiting for me. The stiletto wine glasses were rather sexy. Turndown service left two gin & tonics, cookies and the best bowl of nuts & home made cheez-its I’ve ever had. Big shout out to Clarence, a member from their concierge team, for keeping this review a 5 out of 5. ||In the morning, I went to the gym. A small section of it is still under construction. The space that is open is more than enough to get an efficient work out. I had left my key in the room so I went to the front desk. The concierge gentleman was on a phone call and the front desk was unstaffed. I waited for 6 minutes until I finally went behind the desk and knocked on their back office door. Someone came out and made me a key after apologizing. ||Breakfast service was good. I enjoyed avocado toast for $39. I had dined at Lex yard in July and had a chicken Waldorf Salad for $67. It’s definitely pricey, even for WA NY prices. The first time I dined there, I wasn’t provided with linen nor silverware. This time, when I arrived, the hostess was on a phone call. I waited patiently. A gentleman arrived after me and waited behind me. After the hostess finished her phone call, she greeted the gentleman behind me and sat him first. This left a sour taste. ||I understand there was no real service failure during my stay. I’m being somewhat picky. I can best describe the service during my stay as reactive versus proactive. This was the Waldorf Astoria New York though, not Econo Lodge Motel. ||Will I stay again? Yes but not for several months. They have several kinks to work out before I use a FNC, points or pay cash to stay there again. Until then, I think I’ll stick to Ritz...

The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, is a 47-story 625 ft (191 m) Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver, which was completed in 1931. The building was the world's tallest hotel from 1931 until 1963, when it was surpassed by Moscow's Hotel Ukraina by 23 feet (7.0 m). An icon of glamour and luxury,[5] the current Waldorf Astoria is one of the world's most prestigious and best known hotels.[6] Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts is a division of Hilton Hotels, and a portfolio of high-end properties around the world now operate under the name, including in New York City. 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 was built in two stages, as the Waldorf Hotel and the Astoria Hotel, which accounts for its dual name. That original site was situated on Astor family properties along Fifth Avenue, opened in 1893, and designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh. It was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building.

Particularly after its relocation, the Waldorf Astoria gained international renown for its lavish dinner parties and galas, often at the center of political and business conferences and fundraising schemes involving the rich and famous. Particularly 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 at the hotel, in which Stalinism was widely denounced. Conrad Hilton acquired management rights to the hotel on October 12, 1949, and the Hilton Hotels Corporation finally bought the hotel outright in 1972. It underwent a $150 million renovation by Lee Jablin in the 1980s and early 1990s, and in October 2014 it was announced that the Anbang Insurance Group of China had purchased the Waldorf Astoria New York for US$1.95 billion, making it the most expensive hotel ever sold. On July 1, 2016, Anbang announced that it would convert some of the Waldorf's hotel rooms into condominiums, closing the hotel for a three-year renovation on March 1, 2017. The renovated structure will house 375 hotel rooms and 375 brand-new residential condos.

The Waldorf Astoria and Towers has a total of 1,413 hotel rooms as of 2014. In 2009, when it had 1,416 rooms, the main hotel had 1,235 single and double rooms and 208 mini suites, while the Waldorf Towers, from the 28th floor up to the 42nd, had 181 rooms, of which 115 were suites, with one to four bedrooms. Several of the luxury suites are named after celebrities who lived or stayed in them such as the Cole Porter Suite, the Royal Suite, named after the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the MacArthur Suite and the Churchill Suite. The most expensive room, the Presidential Suite, is designed with Georgian-style furniture to emulate that of the White House. It was the residence of Herbert Hoover from his retirement for over 30 years, and Frank Sinatra kept a suite at the Waldorf from 1979 until 1988. The hotel has three main restaurants: Peacock Alley, The Bull and Bear Steak House, and La Chine—a new Chinese restaurant that replaced Oscar's Brasserie in late 2015. Sir Harry's Bar, also located in the hotel, is named after British explorer Sir...

How the mighty have fallen! After an 8 hour ride to NY City, I arrived at the World Famous (now infamous) Waldorf Astoria. After parking my Escalade in the valet, I put my luggage on a vacant bellhop cart. The Valet attendant watched us unload my vehicle without a ounce of effort on his part. As we went to move the bellhop cart, he would not let us use the cart as it belonged downstairs. When I asked him why he didn't help or tell us this before we loaded the cart, he lost the ability to speak English all of a sudden, disappointing. I realized I was dealing with someone that was clearly unmotivated to do his job We were headed to the 8th floor, room 887, and we were excited to be in one of the most famous hotels in the world. What was waiting for us in our room? Luxury? Unprecedented service? A room so clean that you could eat off the floors? We were so excited. The excitement began to wayne as we got closer to our room. Dirty walls, dusty ceiling vents, wall paper draping off the wall from water damage, barely held on the wall with the cheap masking tape they had used. Tons of scuff marks and gouges in the wall paper in the hallway,. Not just at luggage level. I noticed badly broken electrical outlets in the hallway as well as vent fitting that no longer seated into their moorings. I was wondering what had happened? Then we got to the room. Our party of 4 was crammed into the smallest room I have ever been in. We order a "deluxe" room and this was just heartbreaking. There was black mold on the ceiling in the bathroom, the room phone was missing it's cord and unable to be used. There were stained sheets on one bed, and a big stains on cloth of the chairs, lit-up nice and bright with a black light! There was a funky discoloring at the window molding too, a black/grey that specked the part that most likely received air from the outside, or perhaps rain. We were tired and I don't like to complain, so we just lived with it. Judging from the condition of the hallway, there was no reasonable expectation that any room they transferred us to was going to be any better. Fortunately, the holiday hours were in effect for room service, so we were able to order room service at 2am. That was great news. It took the staff several trips to "remember " to bring the entire order, and I'm still waiting for steak knives to arrive , but the meal was good. Upon sleeping , my friend said she was gotten bitten on her exposed legs. Upon pulling back the covers, she had over 100 bites on her legs, bed bugs I guess. I had PJ's on so I was saved from being riddled with parasites. Nothing some Aloe Vera couldn't fix, with some sleeping pills to work us past the idea of insects in our beds. After that, we thought it besides if we all wore street cloths to bed so we wouldn't be next on the parasite desert cart, of course after taking pictures. Being a retired police supervisor, I realize that documentation was necessary to prove what had happened in the hotel of nightmares. In the morning- showers. Surprising good water pressure, but the spotted black vegetation on the ceiling wasn't attractive (black mold?). The door was in poor shape and I would have been embarrassed to have it in my own home. Growing dust bunnies in the GFI outlet was obvious as well as several fixtures that had rusted through the paint. The door was in bad need of recalling of the panels...