The Iconic Waldorf Astoria New York
- Apr 21
- 3 min read
Last summer the iconic Waldorf Astoria New York reopened after major renovations and restorations, and last week I was treated to a property tour before a travel event launching the new EVOKE | Inspire brand. I'm crazy about Art Deco, and the hotel is filled with so many marvelous design flourishes, everywhere I looked I felt like a cartoon character with eyes springing out of my head.
When the hotel was completed, it was the tallest and largest hotel in the world and had modern innovations like teletype devices and the first phones that rang automatically, connected to a telephone switchboard with over 2,500 connections. The rooms here remain large and luxurious, and the smallest room category (which we saw on our tour) would pass for a Junior Suite in most hotels. This was also the first hotel to offer 24 hours room service and the first to hire women as chefs since 1931.
The photo above is just a small portion of this gorgeous lobby floor mosaic, facing a center lounge with Peacock Alley - a thoroughfare known as a walkway to see and be seen. It's where the term "peacocking" was born. Every Waldorf Astoria hotel built since purposefully includes their own Peacock Alley inside. At the center of New York's Peacock Alley is a magnificent, 4,000-pound bronze clock from the 1893 World's Fair, and nearby is the Steinway & Sons grand piano once owned by Cole Porter, who lived and composed songs at the Waldorf Astoria for 30 years.
Many, many Kings, Queens, Presidents, and artists have been guests or even lived here for a time. It gained the reputation as being a "vertical Beverly Hills." Marilyn Monroe stayed here for months in 1955 with her husband Arthur Miller, and Frank Sinatra paid almost $1 million a year for his suite between 1979-1988. The heckling Waldorf from the Muppets was named after the hotel. Endless stories and legends echo throughout this New York Landmark. Every U.S. president from Hoover to Obama have stayed or lived here (except Jimmy Carter, who said he never actually stayed overnight).
Will the next guest be you? Check rates and even book your own stay using my Virtuoso affiliate link here for Waldorf Astoria New York. All of my clients who stay here receive a $50 daily breakfast credit in addition to a $100 hotel credit, and, pending availability, a free room upgrade and early check-in / late check-out. You can receive all these perks when you book with my link!
If you love New York City history, antiques, Art Deco, interior design, great food, and excellent service, you deserve to treat yourself to the first Waldorf Astoria in the world as a hotel guest, a tourist admiring its beautiful public spaces, or a patron at one of its restaurants. If you want company, reach out to me, and I'll join you because I can't wait to go back!
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