Description: Ah, the Waldorf-Astoria. The Art Deco landmark world renowned for service and hospitality since 1893. I never thought my budget conscious self would have a chance to stay here, but a business convention changed that.
Walking into the lobby is quite amazing - marble, crystal and glass everywhere you look. In fact, the lobby area is so big, we had to look around a bit in order to find out where we should check in! The main reception area is covered in dark walnut - from the walls to the posts in the center of the room to the reception desk. Check in was very smooth, in fact I was upgraded to a room in the Waldorf Towers, which rather suprised me as I'm simply a lowly Silver in Hilton status (The Waldorf Astoria is part of the Hilton Hotels HHonors program). I suspect that the conference I was attending booked up most of the hotel and they were simply running out of rooms.
The Towers is accessible through a separate entrance from the rest of the hotel, which has a keycard slot so only Towers vistors can enter after hours (during the day the door is manned by a very friendly doorman). I was on the 33rd floor, and had a rather small room, actually. However, it was non-smoking, and I'll take small over smoking any day! The room was well equipped, all amenities I needed were there, from a hairdryer to a fax machine to an in-room safe. There was also a stocked minibar charging $3.75 for a regular Snickers candy bar! The only complaint about the room was the in-room coffee pot and cups had not been cleaned when I checked in and I had to call someone to take care of it. Otherwise, the room and the service was superb. The turndown service was especially nice - they left the lights dimmed slightly and had soft classical music playing on the radio, rather than simply turning down the bed. Room service is readily available (the breakfast menu is left at turndown) but at $8.50 for a bowl of Special K with milk, I passed!
The concierge is willing to help with any situation that arises. In our case, we were trying to get tickets to the Late Show with David Letterman. While we didn't end up getting tickets, the concierge did give us two different numbers to call for last minute tickets and even offered to call for us while we were in a conference session.
All in all, I was very impressed with my stay at the Waldorf. The classic Art Deco style, the superb service, the overall ambience of the hotel, it all made for a wonderful stay.
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