Inside the opulent $2 billion refurbishment
There are few better feelings than entering the lobby of such a loved and experienced hotel in a strange city; this is part of the city’s timeline. In the case of the original Waldorf Astoria, fresh off an eight-year, US$2 billion ($2.84 billion) total renovation, you might have to sink into a velvet couch in the legendary Peacock Alley and realize you’ve just checked into one of New York’s most famous hotels.
The “street”, which resembles an extraordinary living room with its unique ocean blue fish motif carpet and boulevard-style entrance, takes its name from the promenade that once connected the Waldorf and Astoria hotels and was the place where the city boasted. Today, you can sit at the mahogany art-cased grand piano once used by hotel resident Cole Porter, now part of Peacock Alley. This is a 1907 Steinway & Sons piano (composed by himself) I hide you under my skin) still bears many of the ring marks from his Martini glasses. When Porter died in 1964, Frank Sinatra took over his Waldorf apartment, along with his piano.
The street’s famous American oak bronze and gilt Queen Victoria Grand Clock – commissioned by Queen Victoria for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and later purchased by John Jacob Astor – stands a few feet from the piano. “It’s all very New York, isn’t it?” says assistant hotel manager Danny Harpaz when I meet him at the hour for a hotel tour. “So New York!” I shouted, thinking this was the closest I’d ever come to encountering High Society.
This is an investment, not a purchase
In the early 2000s, a fashion editor friend of mine from Sydney insisted that an expensive jacket was “an investment, not a purchase.” Looking back, she was probably parroting New York’s other grand dame, Anna Wintour. As I lounged on the well-padded lounge chair in my 620-square-foot (57.5-square-meter) Junior suite, Mad man-I’m going to build a Park Avenue style building, I’m taking his advice. Of course, staying in this $1,700-per-night suite could also be considered an “investment,” if only for bragging rights.
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The hotel’s history is one of New York’s best: The Waldorf Astoria brand originated in New York when two hotels built side by side on Fifth Avenue in the 1890s were eventually merged by feuding relatives of the Astor family, more specifically feuding cousins William Waldorf Astor and John Jacob Astor IV. The current hotel opened on Park Avenue in 1931, after the original hotel was demolished for the Empire State Building. In 1949, the Waldorf Astoria was purchased by Conrad Hilton, who declared it “the best.”
The property only reopened in mid-2025, and its lengthy renovations are being touted as the most expensive in America. It also dwarfs the $620 million four-year (2012-2016) overhaul of the Paris Ritz; Likewise, US$200 million spent on Raffles Singapore in almost three years since 2017.
The eight-year renovation transformed the original 47-story 1930s art deco tower, built of granite, brick and limestone and topped with bronze-clad domes, from a 1,400-room hotel into a hub with 375 luxury rooms and 372 private residences.
Who doesn’t want to road test the results?
These rooms in midtown Manhattan are blue chip
The design brief of “restrained, streamlined, art deco-inspired elegance and gilded grandeur” was dutifully followed. Bright and bright rooms are a triumph of stylish neutral tones and understated technology. The built-in library in my junior suite’s lounge area is adorned with the kind of coffee table tomes, sculptural vases, and dusty knick-knacks you could only dream of replicating at home.
Architects Skidmore, Owings & Merrill managed the project and Pierre-Yves Rochon did the interiors; this feels like a classic blue chip choice that is sure to impress your best self while traveling.
The bed features 400-thread-count cotton satin sheets by Italian duvet maker Frette, while Australian brand Aesop is a pump iron away in the large spa-style bathroom.
It’s a free media stay, but I’m a sucker for epic nostalgia and have long compared a few nights in a historic hotel to a work of art for the soul. On the first of my two nights in the dorm, I expect a paid return to the Waldorf Astoria New York even before I turn off the soft lighting.
After a quick check of early 2027 nightly rates, during New York’s low season (January through early March) two people can enjoy a 53.4-square-foot Deluxe King entry-level room starting at US$1295 ($1806) per night. And who needs to go out when you’re staying at the Waldorf in the winter?
The impeccable renovation preserves the air of all this history with a practical, contemporary flair, and it’s all matched by thoughtful, generous service from thoroughly attentive staff, from the quick-witted concierge to the cheeky wait staff and the zen masseuse with whom I had a facial at the Guerlain Wellness Spa. Coming from Queens to work here when he gets off the subway is like “a dream in heaven,” he says, and I agree.
If an overnight stay is outside the credit limit, at least go for lunch or dinner at Lex Yard, the hotel’s fine dining restaurant downstairs, helmed by chef Michael Anthony. The upper floor is the really fancy tasting area. Downstairs, not only is the menu more affordable, but you’re much more likely to rub shoulders with busy New Yorkers stopping in for the $34 mushroom tagliatelle with bacon, black pepper and Alpha Tolman sauce or the $38 Lex Yard burger. “Bar bites” for pickled vegetables start at $17, and the impressive global wine list includes wines from Australia and New Zealand.
Is it still too expensive? A hot cup of freshly brewed Joe at Peacock Alley costs $8. Sip and think about these dreams like clouds in your coffee. But remember, this is an investment coffee; It’s in the Waldorf. Even if you’re wearing a jacket from the thrift store to help finance it.
DETAIL
TO STAY
New York tends to be cheapest in January, February and sometimes early March. Hilton Honors members get the cheapest rates on the Waldorf’s website, starting at $1295 ($1806). To see waldorfastorianewyork.com
TO EAT
The Lex Yard restaurant, open all day, is the hotel’s flagship restaurant. You can also dine kaiseki-style at Yoshoku, and Peacock Alley is perfect for a quick breakfast, lunch or dinner.
SPOIL
The world’s largest Guerlain Wellness Spa has 16 treatment rooms and is on the fifth floor of the hotel. You’ll also find a Cryotherapy Chamber, infrared sauna, steam room, Moroccan bath, arctic snow cave and three lounges. Prices for the Deep Muscle New York Signature massage start at $380 for 90 minutes.
FLY
Air New Zealand flies direct to New York City via Auckland. To see airnewzealand.com.au
The author stayed as a guest of the Waldorf Astoria and flew to the USA courtesy of Air New Zealand.
