New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel Began with a Family Feud
The Waldorf Astoria Hotel has a history that mirrors the rise of Manhattan as a world capital of luxury culture and power.
Its story unfolds in two major chapters: the original Hotel on 5th Avenue and the current Art Deco Masterpiece on Park Avenue.
This all began as two rival hotels, built by feuding relatives of the wealthy Astor family.
The Waldorf Hotel in 1893 was built by William Waldorf Astor, a grandson of the fur-trading magnet John Jacob Aster. It was designed by architect Henry J Hardenbergh, it rose on the site William’s mother’s mansion at 5th Avenue and 33rd Street.
With 13 stories and 450 rooms, it was the tallest and most luxurious hotel of its time, offering private baths, electric lights and telephones in every room– revolutionary amenities in the 1890s.
The Astoria Hotel was built by John Jacob Astor IV in 1897, William’s cousin and social rival directly next door on his mother’s property.
Also designed by Hardenbergh, of course the Astoria had to be taller at 17 stories and have more rooms at 550.
Finally there was a truce and the two hotels were connected by a long marble corridor called Peacock Alley, which became the center of New York Society. The combined property called Waldorf=Astoria was the largest hotel in the world.
During this time the Waldorf Astoria was the stage for high society balls, diplomatic receptions and political meetings. It introduced innovations like room service and the American Plan of including meals with lodging.
Famous guests included US presidents European royalty and industrial titans like JP Morgan.
By the 1920s, Midtown Manhattan’s commercial boom made the site more valuable for offices. The original hotel was demolished in 1929 to make way for the Empire State Building which opened in 1931.
The new Waldorf Astoria on Park Avenue opened on October 1. 1931 and was designed by architects Schultze & Weaver. It was built in the height of the Art Deco style and became the world’s tallest hotel at the time 47 stories.
The hotel featured lavish Interiors of marble, bronze and murals with famous spaces like the Grand Ballroom and the Starlight Roof.
It even had a private railway platform track 61, connected to Grand Central Terminal for discreet arrivals of VIPs.
Over the decades the Waldorf Astoria hosted an extraordinary roster of guests: Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller kept a suite there, as well as Frank Sinatra. Cole Porter who lived in the towers for decades has his piano is displayed in the lobby of the hotel today.
Others included the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Douglas MacArthur, Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, the Dalai Lama, Elizabeth Taylor, Humphrey Bogart, Charlie Chaplin, Spencer Tracy, Ava Gardner, Gregory Peck, Muhammad Ali, Liberace, Bugsy Siegel, Nikolai Tesla, and Grace Kelly with Prince Rainier.
The hotel as a filming location includes the movies: The Out of Towners, Broadway Danny Rose, Coming to America, Scent of a Woman, Analyze This, Catch Me If You Can, the Royal Tenenbaums, Two Weeks Notice, The Pink Panther, The Cowboy Way, For Love of the Game, Mr and Mrs Smith and others.
Today the Waldorf Astoria is newly reopened and a fully restored luxury hotel with condominiums, following a $2 billion renovation.
David Garland NY New York Sep 27, 2025 How Did You Get Here? Places to Stay
Sep 27, 2025
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