Living History in a Spectacular Setting
Waldorf Astoria Residences New York offers residents the opportunity to live in opulence and luxury at one of the world’s most historic addresses.
There are perhaps only a handful of what we would classify as truly famous hotels in the world. Hotels that have a certain tradition and are filled with legendary stories and stature and marked by unmistakable elegance, glamour and sophistication. Those hotels give off a palpable feeling — just by walking into the lobby, you feel like “Wow, I’m really here!” It’s a joy to visit such places, a pleasure to stay in them and an even greater privilege to actually live in them.
The Waldorf Astoria in midtown Manhattan is on that list of the world’s most famous hotels — in fact, it may be at the top of that very exclusive list. It’s one of those rare places where you might say to yourself, “If these walls could talk …” since it has hosted both the famous and infamous since 1931, when the 52-storey building opened, and from then it has been celebrated both in print and on film.
Now, for the first time ever, 375 luxury condominium residences are available at this iconic Park Avenue address, from penthouses to studios beginning at US$1.825 million, as part of an unprecedented restoration of this Art Deco landmark by renowned architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The new contemporary condominium residences will begin on the 19th floor and will feature sophisticated interiors and amenities by internationally renowned designer Jean-Louis Deniot. Deniot’s vision was to create a truly modern experience within the Waldorf Astoria’s historic frame, with the wide variety of residences ranging from gracious studios to opulent four- bedroom residences and grand penthouses, many featuring unique floorplans and private outdoor spaces ideal for entertaining. All are supported by the Waldorf Astoria’s unparalleled and attentive service. After all, it was the first hotel in the world to offer room service.
New York is a city of stories, and there are few as legendary as that of the Waldorf Astoria. The original hotel started as two hotels on Fifth Avenue built by feuding relatives in 1893. William Waldorf Astor, multimillionaire developer, built the first on the site of his father’s former mansion mostly to annoy his aunt, Caroline Webster Schermer Astor, who lived next door, with whom he was having a longtime dispute. (Wealthy people don’t simply refuse to return the push lawnmower in a family feud — they can get even in very different ways from us mere mortals.) That hotel was eventually torn down to make way for the Empire State Building, and the present- day hotel opened in 1931 as the then-tallest and largest hotel in the world.
Staying within those famous Waldorf Astoria walls have been some of the world’s most famous people, politicians, athletes and celebrities. The walls could tell what went on when Marilyn Monroe and her husband, Arthur Miller, lived at the hotel for several months in 1955, or when every U.S. president who visited New York stayed there, or of the time in the 1960s when Fidel Castro brought a flock of live chickens into the hotel, insisting that they be killed and freshly cooked on the premises to his satisfaction, only to be turned away.
Every notable name from the 20th century stayed at the hotel, from Muhammed Ali to Vince Lombardi, Elizabeth Taylor, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn, Judy Garland, as well as royalty such as Grace Kelly, Prince Ranier, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. Rock royalty also visited but with different results. After the British rock band The Who stayed at the hotel in 1968, they were banned for life.
Gangster Bugsy Siegel owned an apartment at the Waldorf and Frank Sinatra made the hotel his home away from Los Angeles, paying $1 million per year to keep his suite there between 1979 and 1988. Legendary composer Cole Porter and his wife had an apartment at the Waldorf for 30 years, and his 1934 song “You’re the Top” contains the lyric, “You’re the top, you’re a Waldorf salad,” invented in the hotel in 1896.
Residents living among this history at the new condominiums of Waldorf Astoria Residences New York will have access to more than 50,000 square feet of private residential amenities, ranging from health and wellness facilities to entertaining and business spaces, including the stunning 25-metre- long Starlight Pool, state-of-the-art fitness centre, luxurious and serene private spas for men and women and numerous entertaining spaces in which to host elegant or casual private dinners or functions.
It’s not often you get the opportunity to live surrounded by history. If the walls could talk at the Waldorf Astoria Residences New York, it would no doubt be a fascinating and entertaining conversation.
