Waldorf Astoria New York: Historic, Grand, Friendly, Spacious, Pricey Hotel

I just spent a night at the 375-key Waldorf Astoria New York, which reopened in mid-2025, after a transformative eight-year renovation. I’ve been intrigued by this hotel, given what an icon it is, and also how much it changed since pre-renovation (when it had 1,400+ rooms).

I booked my stay with a Hilton Honors free night award (the rate would’ve otherwise been around $1,000 or 150,000 Hilton Honors points), as a Hilton Honors Diamond member.

While I’ll have a full review soon, in this post I’d like to share some initial impressions. Long story short, the property exceeded my expectations. This is a gorgeously restored, grand hotel, with such a great sense of place. It has spacious rooms, friendly service, and a massive gym. That being said, I found the food & beverage outlets to be extortionately priced, without actually delivering that great of an experience.

All-in-all, I’d highly recommend this property, and this is definitely one of my new go-to luxury points hotel in New York, perhaps along with the Ritz-Carlton NoMad New York (which has a totally different vibe and location).

The Waldorf Astoria New York is a historic masterpiece

The Waldorf Astoria is a New York icon, having operated in its current location since 1931. Prior to closing for a renovation, the hotel was definitely a bit past its prime.

So I can’t help but give the hotel’s owners perfect marks for the way they restored this property, to bring it back to its old glory days. The interior design project was led by Pierre-Yves Rochon (also behind properties like the Four Seasons George V), and the team did an amazing job maintaining the hotel’s charm and sense of place, while making it more luxurious and less outdated.

For now I’ll just share a few pictures, and then I’ll have a lot more details in the full review.

The Waldorf Astoria New York has huge & comfortable rooms

A vast majority of the rooms at the Waldorf Astoria New York are suites, though even the limited number of non-suites are spacious, with the deluxe king rooms (which I stayed in) measuring 575 square feet. I thought it felt more like a junior suite than anything, and I appreciated the double sinks, soaking tub, walk-in shower, etc.

I thought the room design was tasteful without being anything too over-the-top or memorable, which is probably the right approach to take for a historic property with such iconic public spaces, since you don’t want to have room finishes that contradict the design in other parts of the hotel.

The Waldorf Astoria New York has very friendly service

I don’t necessarily have the best impression of service in New York City hotels, and with nearly 400 rooms, I was expecting the Waldorf Astoria to maybe not have very good service.

So I have to say, I was positively impressed by the employees. It was clear that all staff had an incredible sense of pride to be working at this historic property, and I think this hotel definitely punches above its weight when it comes to service.

Just to give one example, the very friendly bellmen who helped us with our bags upon arrival had asked for our names at the time (to let the front desk know we were coming), and several hours later when we left the hotel, he still remembered our names, and addressed us by them. For a hotel with 375 rooms, that’s amazing.

The Waldorf Astoria New York dining outlets are expensive

The Waldorf Astoria New York has three food & beverage outlets — there’s Peacock Alley (the iconic lobby bar) Lex Yard (the signature restaurant), and Yoshoku (a Japanese restaurant). The Japanese restaurant was closed during our stay.

Peacock Alley is of course a very impressive venue, and you can’t help but be in awe at what a space it is.

Here’s the thing — I’d like to think that I have realistic expectations when it comes to how much things should cost, and as a result, I rarely have sticker shock. But I found the pricing here to be borderline offensive, with cocktails ranging from $32 to $38, and that’s before tax and tip. Yowzers.

What bothered me most wasn’t the price as such. Instead, I feel like if you’re going to charge $35 for a classic negroni, at least proactively serve it with some nice bar snacks, and make it a little bit of an experience. To me it just shows a lack of effort when you’re charging that amount for a drink, and offer nothing with it (there wasn’t live music or anything else special, to create a vibe).

Take Les Airelles Courchevel, for example — that’s also how much they charge for each cocktail, but you get a little pizza and a tray of nuts when you order drinks.

I had breakfast at Lex Yard, the hotel’s signature restaurant, which is beautiful.

Let’s just say that your $50 daily Hilton Honors Diamond credit won’t go very far. 😉

My baked egg white frittata cost $35, and while tasty… ouch.

Anyway, you of course expect to pay high prices at a luxury hotel in New York, but I thought the prices here were on the steep side without the experience otherwise reflecting that. I guess they’re just charging for the venue, which is (in a way) fair enough. But still, these drink prices are materially higher than at Aman New York…

The Waldorf Astoria New York gym is amazing

The Waldorf Astoria New York has a Guerlain Spa, though what impressed me most was the gym. This is the best gym I’ve ever seen at a hotel in New York (in fairness, I haven’t stayed at the Equinox Hotel, and I’d hope that offers access to a better gym). But wow, what a facility!

For what it’s worth, the hotel doesn’t have a pool, which will be a downside for some…

Bottom line

I’m happy I had the chance to stay at the Waldorf Astoria New York, after its insanely long restoration. All-in-all, the property exceeded my expectations, with beautiful historic design, big rooms, friendly service, and an incredible gym.

I’d recommend this property, and I think it’s among the more compelling luxury points hotels in New York. The Park Hyatt has a nice pool but is otherwise sort of lackluster (how does it still not have a real restaurant?!), and among historic properties, I prefer this to the St. Regis.

Admittedly the Waldorf Astoria is for those looking for an old world vibe, since this isn’t some modern, trendy, young hotel, if that’s what you’re after.

What’s your take on the Waldorf Astoria New York?