The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story, 625 ft (191 m) Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver and completed in 1931. The building was the world's tallest hotel until 1957, when it was surpassed by Moscow's Hotel Ukraina. An icon of glamor and luxury, the Waldorf Astoria is one of the world's most prestigious and best-known hotels. Both the exterior and the interior of the Waldorf Astoria are designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission as official landmarks.
The original Waldorf-Astoria, built in two stages in the 1890s, was demolished in 1929 to make way for the construction of the Empire State Building. Conrad Hilton acquired management rights to the hotel in October 1949, and the Hilton Hotels Corporation bought the hotel outright in 1972. It underwent a $150 million renovation by Lee Jablin in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 2009, the Waldorf Astoria and Towers had 1,416 rooms; the most expensive room, the Presidential Suite, was designed with Georgian-style furniture to emulate that of the White House.