The reopening of the iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel, which I had expected would happen in early 2023, has been postponed to next spring, offering ultra-luxury condominiums primarily to globetrotting investors. It's the latest insult to New York City by a Chinese company interested in selling. Someone who may never turn on the lights.
What does this legendary property's great public spaces like Peacock Alley mean to Dajia Insurance Group, which took control of Waldorf when another Chinese company collapsed three years ago? If you understood that, it would be the same as cutting your liver into pieces.
Certainly, the Waldorf will reopen someday. But Hilton, which manages the property, teased information last week that the reopening, originally scheduled for later this year, would be pushed back again to sometime in spring 2025. And that is just a period of “anticipation”.
This great landmark is currently undergoing an eight-year restoration and redesign. 8 years! (Hilton was sold to Anbang in 2014 for $1.95 billion. Dajia took over after Beijing dissolved Anbang for unclear reasons.)
A powerful skyline presence and symbol of Manhattan glamour, the Waldorf is home to the legendary Peacock Alley and was the footprint of Cole Porter, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe until it closed in February 2017.
The Waldorf relaunch was first touted for 2020, then announced for 2021, 2022, and 2023.
The hotel will have 375 rooms and suites compared to the original 1,400, but the new rooms will be twice as large and there will also be 375 condominiums priced from $1.8 million to $20 million.
However, Anbang's bankruptcy and the subsequent departure of Waldorf's U.S. project manager in early 2023 contributed to repeated slowdowns, in addition to those related to the pandemic.
Today, much of the building's first and second floors appear empty through the windows and open doors, except for the glittering Park Avenue business, where Cole Porter's piano is on display. .
The current state of the building is also a nuisance to nearby businesses. “This is a big black hole on Lexington Street. People don't like to walk here from uptown,” said an employee at Fresh & Co. across the street.
Landmark restoration doesn't happen overnight. However, the Plaza Hotel was elaborately redesigned to include condominiums, completing the job in just three years. One Vanderbilt, a skyscraper that measures 1,401 feet from top to bottom, took less than four years to construct.
The still-obscure Waldorf was an embarrassment to Hilton, which in 2006 launched the Waldorf-Astoria Collection of luxury inns and resorts around the world (now called Waldorf-Astoria Hotels & Resorts). ).
Of course, the only thing missing is the real Waldorf Astoria.
Earlier this year, Hilton launched an advertising campaign to convince the world that the new Waldorf Astoria was indeed coming.
Gramercy Tavern chef Michael Anthony has been named “head culinary consultant” for the proposed two-story American brasserie (name to be determined) on the ground floor and mezzanine.
The hotel's managing director Luigi Romaniello, Hilton's head of luxury brand Dino Michael and interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon were also on hand to share their enthusiasm for the “new” Waldorf.
The secretive Dazia also took part in it. project director Lei Gu told the Wall Street Journal“The Waldorf has been lacking in improvements, so to speak, for many years.”
He must have missed La Chine, the wonderful modern Chinese restaurant that opened in 2015 to replace the disastrous Oscar.
However, the economic boost for the hotel industry remains positive. “As we watch construction move forward at a rapid pace every day, we are not too concerned about the postponements of recent months,” said Vijay Dandapani, CEO and chairman of the New York City Hotel Association. No,” he said. It should be a very special hotel, albeit a much smaller one, when it reopens. ”
But Oscar's sign inexplicably still hangs on Lexington Avenue at the corner of East 50th Street. At this rate, it may soon become the only evidence that a Waldorf-Astoria ever existed.
