|
|||||||||
         
|
|
The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel is one of the most famous luxury hotel in New York. since it began operation in 1893, it has moved once. Its original site on Fifth Avenue is now occupied by the Empire State Building. The present Waldorf=Astoria building at 301 Park Avenue is a 47-storey, 625 feet (191 metre) skyscraper designed by architects Schultze and Weaver in 1931. It is part of The Waldorf=Astoria Collection, the very upscale brand of hotels previously of the Hilton Hotels and Conrad Hotels chains. The name of the hotel, Waldorf=Astoria, is officially written with a double hyphen, rather than a single, although originally a single hyphen was used. A popular New York City expression, "Meet Me at the Hyphen" means meet me at the corridor between the Waldorf and the Astoria. That's because originally the Waldorf=Astoria were two separate hotels. The Waldorf=Astoria traces its roots back to 1893, when millionaire William Astor built his hotel, called the 13-storey Waldorf Hotel, on the site of his father's mansion, and next door to the home of his aunt, the famous socialite Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor. At that time, he was having a feud with the aunt, and the construction of the hotel worsened the feud. The aunt called the Waldorf Hotel the "glorified tavern next door". The founding proprietor of the hotel was George Boldt, who also owned the boutique hotel Bellevue in Philadelphia when he went into business with William Astor to operate the Waldorf Hotel. A few years later, William's cousin John Jacob Astor IV, also wanted in on the hotel business. With help from Boldt, he managed to persuade his mother, William's aunt, to move uptown. John then built the 17-storey Astoria Hotel on the site next to William's. The two hotels are linked by a corridor, and they combined their names, forming the Waldorf=Astoria, with the "=" being a lasting symbol of the connection between the two. The Waldorf=Astoria changed the way people look at hotels. Not just a place to spend the night, the Waldorf=Astoria becomes "the destination", a social centre for people to meet, see and be seen. The hotel was ahead of its time, and was instrumental in advancing the status of women, who were admitted without the need of a chaperon. It was the first to introduce room service and the first to suggest that people should live permanently in their own hotel suites. The filthy rich, of course. George Boldt also became filthy rich as well as internationally prominent. In 1929, the original Waldorf=Astoria buildings were demolished to make way for the Empire State Building. A new Waldorf=Astoria was constructed 15 blocks north, on Park Avenue. When it opened on 1 October, 1931, it was the biggest and tallest hotel in the world. It gave prominence to the Art Deco style of skyscrapers. The opening was officiated by President Herbert Hoover through a radio broadcast. Boldt retired from running the hotel and moved to Florida, but retained the rights to use the name "Waldorf-Astoria". Unfortunately he died in a plane crash in 1947. Two years later, Conrad Hilton, founder of the Hilton chain of hotels, bought the Waldorf Astoria in 1949. Today the Waldorf Astoria continues to epitomise the very height of elegance and luxury. T-shirts, tank tops, faded jeans, cut-offs, and casual hats are not permitted in the main lobby, Park Avenue Lobby, restaurants, or public areas of the hotel. Even name badges are discouraged outside the private conference rooms of the hotel. The dress code ranges from casual in Oscar's Restaurant to elegant casual at Bull and Bear Steakhouse. How to reach the Waldorf-AstoriaThe Waldorf-Astoria is located at 301 Park Avenue. Take the 6 train to the 51st Street subway station. Walk west along East 51st Street until intersection with Park Avenue. Turn left, walk south along Park Avenue until you see the Waldorf Astoria on your left, at the corner of Park Avenue and East 50th Street.Postscript: William B. Astor is a parishioner at the Church of the Ascension which I also describe. Find a hotel
 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, at 50th and Park Avenue in New York City Photo: Alan Light, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License | ||||||||
Local Tours of New York City
Check out some of the Local Tours of New York City that you may want to pre-book for your trip.Explore other sights in Upper Midtown.
Return to Manhattan Travel Guide,
New York City Travel Guide,
or to United States Travel Guide
Find lowest price for your Hotel RoomBefore booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
|
Return to EarthDocumentary World Budget Travel GuideMy message introducing God to all the world: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO TIM  EarthDocumentary and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye. |
|
|
 EarthDocumentary logo © copyright Timothy Tye 2007-2010. Content and articles in EarthDocumentary are provided in goodwill and are believed to be correct at time of writing. While every reasonable care is taken to check and verify the information shared, EarthDocumentary disclaims responsibility for its use. Text in EarthDocumentary is available under Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike License meaning you are free to copy, distribute, transmit, adapt and make derivative works, as long as you attribute your resulting work and apply it under the same, similar or a compatible license. You may use the information on this website on your blog or website so long as you place a link back to the page in AsiaExplorers where it appears. Wikipedia and Wikitravel are cited as among the sources of references. Photographs appearing in EarthDocumentary are available according to the licensing terms specified in its caption. Photographs supplied by Panoramio are governed by the Panoramio API terms & condition, are for display only, and may not be downloaded for use. Photographs belonging to the author are the copyright of Timothy Tye and may not be reused without prior written permission from the author. Contact the author for permission and licensing of the photos. |
