Waldorf

Defunct

Address

Waldorf Hotel, Fifth Avenue & 33rd Street

GPS

40.747850894006, -73.985119408908

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So, while more or less fortunate little rich boys were defying governesses on the beach at Newport, or being spanked or tutored or read to from Do and Dare, or Frank on the Mississippi, Amory was biting acquiescent bell-boys in the Waldorf, outgrowing a natural repugnance to chamber music and symphonies, and deriving a highly specialized education from his mother.

This side of Paradise

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Waldorf-Astoria was born as two adjoining hotels built by relatives divided by social rivalry within the Astor family.
The first, the Waldorf Hotel, opened on 13 March 1893 and was built in the German Renaissance style to designs by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh, with around 450 guest rooms and a large zone of public salons; its grand dining room and the Empire Room quickly became a reference point for New York dining.
The Astoria, opened in 1897 next to the Waldorf, followed the same style and the same architect, with close to 550 rooms and a spectacular Louis XIV–inspired ballroom designed for large banquets and concerts.
After the union, both buildings were connected by a famous corridor called Peacock Alley, and the whole complex reached around 1,300 rooms, making it the largest hotel in the world at the time. In 1929 it was demolished to make way for the Empire State Building.

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