Hotels with History | Waldorf Astoria, New York

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Hotels with History | Waldorf Astoria, New York

Podcast: Intelligence Squared
Hosts: Jules Perrone & Richard E. Grant
Release Date: June 18, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode inaugurates the new season of Hotels with History, delving into the legendary Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Hosts Jules Perrone and Richard E. Grant trace the hotel’s origins from a feud within New York’s most powerful family, through its Gilded Age heyday, rebirth atop Park Avenue, and the dazzling cast of guests it welcomed over the decades. They bring to life the ways this hotel became not just a place to stay, but a crucible for New York society, innovation in hospitality, and globe-spanning legends.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Astor Family Saga and Birth of the Waldorf (05:23–12:14)

• John Jacob Astor: German immigrant who amasses US$20 million by his 1848 death through fur trading and Manhattan real estate.
• The Gilded Age: Waves of wealth reshape NYC; Fifth Avenue sees mansions rise, wealth disparities soar (07:42).
• Caroline “The Mrs. Astor”: Social gatekeeper of New York, famous for her exclusive "400 List" (08:38).
• Feuding Cousins:
  • William Waldorf Astor builds the 13-story Waldorf Hotel, intentionally overshadowing Caroline Astor’s residence (09:33).
  • In retaliation, John Jacob Astor IV constructs the Astoria Hotel—the two hotels eventually connect via the grand “Peacock Alley,” birthing the Waldorf-Astoria (11:06).
  • Notable Quote:

    “A spite fence to end all spite fences.” — Richard E. Grant (09:33)

Transforming Hospitality: The People Behind The Legend (12:14–16:08)

• George Boldt:
  • Immigrant turned hotelman, mediates cousin feud, pioneers luxury hospitality: “the guest is always right,” room service, fresh flowers, abolished ladies’ entrance (12:52).
  • Builds Boldt Castle for his wife; involved in the invention of Thousand Island dressing (14:09).
  • Notable Quote:

    “He is the one who coined the phrase, the guest is always right.” — Jules Perrone (12:52)

• Oscar Tschirky (“Oscar of the Waldorf”)
  • Legendary maître d’, not chef, creator of the Waldorf salad (apples, celery, mayo; walnuts added later) and codifier of Eggs Benedict (15:05–16:04).
  • Notable Moment:

    “Waiter, I’m dying. Bring me butter toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a bucket of hollandaise sauce.” — Richard E. Grant, impersonating Lemuel Benedict, the origin story for Eggs Benedict (15:42)

Tumult, Transition, and Art Deco Rebirth (16:30–19:20)

• Titanic & Astor Decline:
  • John Jacob Astor IV dies on Titanic (1912), marking the beginning of the end for Astor family’s hotel dynasty (17:21).
  • The original hotel is sold and demolished (1929), making way for the Empire State Building; family exits hotel business (18:38).
• Rebirth on Park Avenue:
  • In 1931, Waldorf Astoria reopens as the tallest hotel in the world, an Art Deco marvel, symbolizing resilience during the Depression (19:20).
  • Notable Quote:

    “It represented hope, resilience.” — Richard E. Grant on the 1931 reopening (19:20–19:53)

Cultural Innovations and Celebrity Tales (20:18–26:13)

• Lucius Boomer:
  • Implements progressive wage and work policies, dedicated guest floors (21:31).
• Track 61 Secret Platform:
  • Private train platform for VIPs like FDR, even used in rumored Andy Warhol parties (21:31–22:03).
• Conrad Hilton’s Dream:
  • Acquires the Waldorf Astoria in 1949, calls it “the greatest of them all” (22:28–23:15).
• Famous Residents and Parties:
  • Cole Porter’s suite, Marilyn Monroe’s refuge, the Windsors’ pug-filled royal apartment, legendary balls and first encounters (e.g., Marilyn Monroe and JFK) (23:27–25:49).
  • Notable Quote:

    “Marilyn walks in and every single camera turns away from the Duchess to Marilyn.” — Jules Perrone on the 1957 April in Paris Ball (25:26)

The Waldorf Astoria’s Ever-Shifting Identity (26:13–29:34)

• Paris Hilton’s Stories:
  • Grew up in the Waldorf, reminiscing about riding elevators with presidents and rock stars (25:49).
  • Cary Grant’s Birthday Bash:
    • Frank Sinatra as emcee; guests like Elizabeth Taylor, Pavarotti, Muhammad Ali (26:24–26:54).
• Modern Renovation:
  • $1.7 billion, eight-year restoration, grand reopening in 2025.
• Presidential Suite:
  • Designed like the White House, bulletproof, home to memorabilia from Hoover, JFK, Carter, Reagan, and LBJ (27:25).

The Iconic Clock: Symbol and Secret (28:21–29:27)

• Historical centerpiece:
  • 2-ton bronze clock with portraits, gifted by Queen Victoria, moved from old to new Waldorf.
  • George Boldt’s timekeeping secret: clock set slightly fast so guests made their trains (28:53–29:22).
  • Notable Quote:

    “The guest is always right, even when the time is wrong.” — Richard E. Grant (29:22)

  • Closing Refrain:

    “Meet me at the clock.” — Both hosts (29:40–29:41)

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Memorable Quotes and Moments

• “A spite fence to end all spite fences.” — Richard E. Grant (09:33)
• “She decides who is in and who is out. She has a list, in fact, the 400 named, supposedly because that is exactly how many people fit into her ballroom?” — Jules Perrone (08:38)
• “A hotel born out of a petty family squabble into the unofficial palace of New York.” — Richard E. Grant (02:07)
• “The guest is always right, even when the time is wrong.” — Richard E. Grant (29:22)
• “Meet me at the clock.” — Both hosts, the classic New York meeting phrase (29:40)

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Important Timestamps

• 02:07 – 04:37: Setting the scene and personal connections to New York hotels.
• 05:53 – 08:38: Astor family fortune, Gilded Age context.
• 09:33 – 11:29: Family feud, construction of Waldorf and Astoria, Peacock Alley.
• 12:14 – 16:08: George Boldt’s hospitality innovations, birth of Waldorf salad and Eggs Benedict.
• 17:21 – 19:20: Titanic sinks, decline of Astor family, sale and demolition of original hotel.
• 19:20 – 22:03: Park Avenue rebirth, new Art Deco hotel, secret Track 61.
• 22:28 – 24:28: Hilton era, legendary residents (Porter, Monroe).
• 25:15 – 26:54: Celebrities and events (Windsors, Monroe, Cary Grant, Sinatra parties).
• 27:08 – 28:21: 21st-century renovation, political memorabilia.
• 28:21 – 29:27: Clock legend and symbolism.
• 29:40: “Meet me at the clock.” (Episode’s closing motif)

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Tone and Style

Warm, witty, deeply researched storytelling with lively banter. The hosts balance grand tales of society, intrigue, and innovation with human moments and sparkling anecdotes, capturing both the splendor and humor of luxury hotel life.

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Conclusion

From its scandalous inception to its ongoing transformation, the Waldorf Astoria emerges as both the heart and a historical mirror of New York City—an ever-evolving stage for society, innovation, and legend. The episode closes with a playful nod to its iconic clock and a promise to continue unearthing stories from the world’s great hotels.

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Transcript

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[Jules Perrone]

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[Podcast Narrator]

Connor Boyle Today we're whisking you away with a handpicked episode of Armchair Escapism. After a standout first season, Hotels with History is back. Produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Perrone International, this new season sees hosts Jules Perrone and Richard E. Grant travel further than ever the to some of the world's most storied hotels. This season you can stroll along white sand to the Copacabana palace, watch the 1918 German Revolution unfold from the windows of Berlin's Hotel Adlon, and of course, enjoy Richard's inimitable impersonations of Marlene Dietrich. In each episode, Richard and Jules check in to a different hotel, uncovering the unforgettable moments that took place within its walls and beyond its grounds, exploring how the tides of history transformed entire regions into the luxury destinations we know today. Now over to Jules and Richard for Hotels with History.

[Richard E. Grant]

Meet Me at the Clock. This was at one time the ultimate New York phrase, one that would have you weaving your way through the avenues to the Waldorf Astoria. On Park Avenue, past Rockefeller Centre, past Times Square, past Grand Central Station, you spin through the revolving doors and enter this marbled Art Deco fantasy. You hear that ticking that's coming from the clock itself, an eight foot bronze and silver beast dominating the smooth marble floors. Take a look around. There's even Cole Porter's infamous Steinway piano from when he lived here. We are standing in the heart of hospitality in the Big Apple. But if you had said Meet me at the Clark to a New Yorker in 1895, you wouldn't be standing here. You'd be 15 blocks south, the original building, the one that started it all, is gone. So how did we get from a pile of rubble on 34th street to this on Park Avenue? A hotel born out of a petty family squabble into the unofficial palace of New York. From its iconic architecture towering over midtown Manhattan to the innovative hospitality that made it a New York City benchmark and a clock mimicking the heartbeat of this ever changing city. Welcome back to Hotels With History.

[Jules Perrone]

I'm Jules Perrone, lifelong traveler. I've spent my career visiting some of the world's finest places to stay.

[Richard E. Grant]

And I'm Richard E. Grant. As an actor forever on the move, hotels have become my second home in every size, shape and flavor.

[Jules Perrone]

Hopefully you're joining us after having enjoyed our first season where I sent Richard around the world to explore the the histories of magnificent hotels. From Gleneagles in the Scottish Highlands all the way over to Raffles in Singapore. And now we're back with even more tales of intrigue, icons and influence, unpacking

[Richard E. Grant]

the history that transformed these buildings into modern legends.

[Jules Perrone]

In today's episode, the first in our new series of Hotels with History, how a hotel born out of a petty family squabble became the unofficial palace of New York. Richard, it is wonderful to be sitting opposite you again.

[Richard E. Grant]

Hear, hear, Jules. And welcome back to you too, dear listeners.

[Jules Perrone]

It's been a few months since we were last here to share the most exciting, unbelievable and intriguing hotel history that we can find. And of course, travel for us never stops, does it?

[Richard E. Grant]

I've been busy traveling to some of the most amazing locations we're going to be covering in this series. Our journey will take us around the world once again. From midtown Manhattan to the middle of Cape Town, over to Berlin and back again to Brazil before settling into a warm and comfortable beach lounger in the heart of the Caribbean.

[Jules Perrone]

But we're starting off in a place that I think both of us have spent rather a lot of time, and rightfully so. This city remains one of the world's biggest tourist magnets, in fact, one of the most visited cities globally and with lots of tourists.

[Richard E. Grant]

And naturally comes lots of hotels.

[Jules Perrone]

Exactly. It has amongst the highest number of five star and ultra luxury hotels in the world. So you can make sure you have the best pillow to lay your head down after a long day of shopping, eating and Broadway shows. We are of course today talking about New York. As we now know all too well, incredible travel destinations don't just appear, they are made. So let's take you back all the way to 1784. When John Jacob Astor first steps foot on US shores.

[Richard E. Grant]

John Jacob Astor is a German immigrant, and while he arrives with little money, he soon begins to make his fortune. Astor establishes the American Fur Company in 1808, which becomes a monopoly controlling the fur trade across much of the United States and into the Pacific Northwest.

[Jules Perrone]

But he's also a shrewd real estate investor. He begins buying property in Manhattan when it's still relatively cheap farmland. As New York City expands northward throughout the early 1800s, his land holdings become extraordinarily valuable. By his death in 1848, he is the wealthiest person in America, with an estimated fortune of $20 million. Today, that would amount to roughly $600 million.

[Richard E. Grant]

Bit of family tree history for you all now, so pay attention. The primary heir is William Backhouse Astor Sr. Who inherits most of the family wealth and continues the dynasty of his children. We need to know about John Jacob Astor iii, who carries on the family line, and William Backhouse Astor Jr. Who marries one Caroline Schmermerhorn of their children. John Jacob Astor IV is going to play a major role here.

[Jules Perrone]

By the 1870s, the Astors have already been rich for generations. But there is about to be a tidal wave of new money coming crashing down into New York City. America's railroads have been consolidated, creating a transportation empire connecting the Big Apple with every corner of the country. And if a railroad company in Kansas needed capital to lay more track, they came to Wall Street. Steel mills, oil refineries, mining industries are expanding. And it is here that people are coming to manage, invest, and spend their money.

[Richard E. Grant]

Suddenly, Fifth Avenue is lined with mansions. But just a few blocks away, you can find wealth gaps unlike anything the city has experienced before. Consider this. In 1890, the top 1% of American families by wealth owned more than the bottom 99% combined. Mark Twain didn't brand it the Gilded Age for no reason. It may have been golden on the surface, but the underbelly was anything but.

[Jules Perrone]

We've mentioned that along with his fur, John Jacob Astor was smart enough to buy up plenty of land across Manhattan. Driven by new industrial wealth and the influx of workers, Astor land becomes prime urban real estate.

[Richard E. Grant]

And with rising financial capital comes rising society capital. The Astors become the old money guard. And for new money families like the Vanderbilts, the Morgans, Caroline Astor is who you need to impress.

[Jules Perrone]

Caroline is known simply as the Mrs. Astor. Not a Mrs. Astor. The Mrs. Astor. She decides who is in and who is out. She has a list, in fact, the 400 named, supposedly because that is exactly how many people fit into her ballroom?

[Richard E. Grant]

But the next most important character for our story is her nephew, William Waldorf Astor, the son of the aforementioned John Jacob Astor iii, Caroline's brother in law. William is incredibly wealthy, very ambitious. But he has a problem. He thinks his wife, Mamie, should be the Mrs. Astor.

[Jules Perrone]

But Aunt Caroline is having none of it. She refuses to yield the title. William is furious. He is so angry, in fact, that he conceives a plan that is essentially the Gilded Age equivalent of a spite fence.

[Richard E. Grant]

A spite fence to end all spite fences. He owns the mansion right next door to aunt Caroline's on Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street. So in 1891, he commissions a hotel.

[Jules Perrone]

Well, not just a hotel. A towering 13 story German Renaissance chateau. It is designed specifically to overshadow her house, block her sunlight, and bring noise and riff raff to her doorstep. Mrs. Astor is horrified. She looks out her window and calls it a glorified tavern next door. That tavern is named the Waldorf. Named after Waldorf in Germany, the Astor's ancestral hometown.

[Richard E. Grant]

The waldorf opens in March 1893, and it's a hit. It has electricity throughout and private bathrooms, which are revolutionary luxuries. The public loves it, the press loves it, and Mrs. Astor, well, she finally capitulates. She moves, she does, uptown. But she leaves her son, John Jacob Astor iv, in charge. And he is not too happy the way his cousin has behaved. He decides to build an even taller, grander hotel. And he calls it the Astoria, named after the fur trading settlement his great grandfather had established in Oregon. It opens in 1897. So now you have two massive hotels built by feuding cousins standing side by side.

[Jules Perrone]

Eventually, thank goodness, cooler heads prevail. Mostly because there is so much money to be made. They decide to merge and connect the two buildings with a 300 foot marble corridor. They call it Peacock Alley because the ladies of society would strut through it in their finest plumage like peacocks showing off their feathers.

[Richard E. Grant]

Oh, I can just see myself there, Jules. A velvet paper cane strutting through the marble corridor.

[Jules Perrone]

And you would fit right in. And thus, the Waldorf Astoria is born. Symbolically united by a hyphen. Together the two hotels become the largest in the world, with a staggering 1300 rooms. And for the first time, New York society changes. Before this, the rich entertain behind closed doors in their mansions. And now they go out. They want to see and be seen in all their glory. The hotel becomes the parlor of the city.

[Richard E. Grant]

It's the birth of the velvet rope, isn't it? The beginning of seeing hospitality not just as a bed for the night, but as a stage.

[Jules Perrone]

Exactly. But a stage needs a stage manager. And the Waldorf had two of the best in history. We can't talk about the Waldorf without talking about George Bolt. He was a Prussian immigrant who starts out as a kitchen boy. Aged just 13, he rises through the ranks to become the most famous hotelman in the world. He is the one who mediates between the feuding cousins and. And runs the whole show.

[Richard E. Grant]

And he was a genius, wasn't he? I was reading up on him during my stay. And the man practically invented modern luxury service.

[Jules Perrone]

He did. He is the one who coined the phrase, the guest is always right. He introduces room service. He insists on fresh flowers in every room. He reminds his staff to make the Waldorf so comfortable they will never go to another place. He even abolishes the separate ladies entrance, allowing women to walk through the main doors to. Just like men. That was so groundbreaking for guests at the time. And he has a bit of a romantic streak. He builds Bolt Castle for his wife Louise in the Thousand Islands, a region along the St. Lawrence river in upstate New York.

[Richard E. Grant]

Hang on a minute. He builds a castle? This must have been a bit of a stretch on a hotel manager's salary.

[Jules Perrone]

Well, George Bolt wasn't the only one doing things in a bit of a radical way. William Waldorf Astor was himself an innovator. He recognised how valuable Bolt was to the operation.

[Richard E. Grant]

As well as his salary, Bolt was also given a financial stake in the hotel profits. And in essence, he became a partner in one of the world's most profitable hotels.

[Jules Perrone]

And with the boom that came from the Gilded Age and his own savvy investments, things are looking good.

[Richard E. Grant]

Incredible. So that's how he builds his mansion in the Thousand Islands. And I understand he had a bit of a hand in the creation of Thousand island dressing.

[Jules Perrone]

That's right. Legend has it George Bolt is on his yacht in the Thousand Islands. The chef realizes he's forgotten the salad dressing. Panic sets in, so he improvises. Mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle, relish, Hard boiled egg.

[Richard E. Grant]

Sounds like the contents of a bachelor's fridge thrown into a bowl.

[Jules Perrone]

But Bolt loves it. He puts it on the menu at the Waldorf and voila. Thousand island dressing.

[Richard E. Grant]

But Bolt isn't the only legend walking the floor. We need to talk about Oskar Cischky. Oscar of the Waldorf is what they call him back then. He worked there for 50 years. And he isn't a chef, he's a

[Jules Perrone]

maitre d. He does publish numerous cookbooks, though, despite his lack of cooking ability. And he creates dishes that conquer the world. He becomes so renowned that millionaires like J.P. morgan insist that Oscar personally attend to their needs anytime he visits.

[Richard E. Grant]

One of these iconic dishes is totally intertwined with the hotel. I am of course talking about the Waldorf salad created for the opening charity ball in 1893. The original recipe, apples, celery and mayonnaise. That's it. The walnuts came later.

[Jules Perrone]

Oscar's greatest contribution, in my humble opinion, is the hangover cure. The year is 1894. A wealthy stockbroker named Lemuel Benedikt wanders into the Waldorf. He is suffering. The night before was clearly excellent, but the morning is cruel. He sits down and orders.

[Richard E. Grant]

Waiter, I'm dying. Bring me butter toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon and a bucket of hollandaise sauce. And Oscar sees this chaotic order and he thinks, that's brilliant. He adds it to the menu, but not without a few twists. Toast is swapped for an English muffin, bacon for Canadian ham, and thus eggs Benedict is born.

[Jules Perrone]

And now every brunch in history owes a debt to a hungover Wall street broker.

[Richard E. Grant]

The hotel is also credited with popularising other subsequent American classics. From veal Oscar, named in Cersky's honor, to red velvet cake. Oscar and Bolt turned the hotel into a machine of American optimism. It's where you go to be treated like royalty, even if, God forbid, you're just new money from Chicago.

[Jules Perrone]

But nothing lasts forever in New York. New York is changing fast. And the Astor family are about to face huge change too, beyond their control. On April 15, 1912, word gets back to New York that that the Titanic, the largest ocean liner at the time, has sunk in the North Atlantic. And within the names of the victims, John Jacob Astor IV, son of Mrs. Caroline Astor and the person who built the original Astoria Hotel. He had been returning from a honeymoon in Europe with his young second wife, Madeleine. A marriage that had scandalized New York society because of their 29 year age gap and the fact he'd divorced his first wife to marry her.

[Richard E. Grant]

The situation rocks the Astors. They have lost one of the prominent patriarchs and one of the most visible Astors of that generation. His vast fortune goes to Vincent, his son from his first marriage. But the problem is that Vincent, who is just 20 years old at the time, is far more interested in yachting, publishing and philanthropy.

[Jules Perrone]

A far cry from building his family empire.

[Richard E. Grant]

The era of the Astors as New York's undisputed social royalty is Fading. And just a few years after the Titanic, the hotel's beloved George Bolt dies. It takes the Astor family just two more years to sell the Waldorf Astoria Hotel to T. Coleman Dupont and Lucius Boomer, who together were becoming prolific property developers and hoteliers. One thing is for sure, the Gilded Age is over and the city is changing.

[Jules Perrone]

And by the 1920s, the original location of the hotel is losing its shine too. Society is moving uptown and what had once been the heart of high society was now becoming the commercial centre of midtown Manhattan. And developers are eyeing up the spot to be the location of a new icon, the Empire State Building. And so in 1929, the hotel is sold and demolished.

[Richard E. Grant]

But the Waldorf doesn't die. It just moves with the city. In 1931, a new, even grander Art Deco Waldorf Astoria is built uptown on Park Avenue, just 15 blocks north of its original home. But the Aster family have nothing to do with this one.

[Jules Perrone]

No, they don't. Because T. Coleman Dupont and Lucius Boomer, when they bought the hotel, had also bought the name Waldorf Astoria, allowing them to use it as they wished. The family had held onto the original Waldorf astoria for about 36 years, but once they sell, they are out of the hotel game for good. Which is rather ironic considering the entire project was born out of family spite.

[Richard E. Grant]

And so this is the location we know now. An Art Deco skyscraper. A whopping 47 stories at the time, it's the tallest and largest hotel in the world. President Herbert Hoover opens it on the radio from the White House. He calls it an exhibition of courage and confidence. It couldn't have come at a more symbolic moment too. Opening against the backdrop of the Great Depression was a declaration of optimism. It represented hope, resilience.

[Jules Perrone]

We have one person to thank for saving the Waldorf. Lucius Boomer, A New York born businessman who dreams big. He enters the hotel business after years as an aspiring professional violinist, starting as a stenographer at the hotel before moving his way up to eventually managing the original Waldorf Astoria. After it is demolished, he retains exclusive rights to the name of the hotel with a bold vision for its future.

[Richard E. Grant]

And so once again, the hotel finds itself at the heart of innovative thinking. While the norm for staff at luxury hotels previously was seven days non stop work, Boomer introduces a six day work week with a guaranteed day of rest each week. He even creates a floor reserved exclusively for female guests and another with dedicated Spanish speaking staff. It's nice to see the ambitious drive of the cousins carried through in the hotel's legacy Isn't it?

[Jules Perrone]

Yeah, completely. And it is also an architectural masterpiece in its own right. It's hard to imagine that this very land was once owned by the New York Central Railroad. At breakneck speed, it is Transformed into over 2000 rooms by architects Leonard Schultz and S. Fullerton Weaver. It occupies an entire block and costs millions. And the result is fantastic. It's a hotel built to stop people in their tracks. And you know, when you look at the hotel from the street, Richard, you can see two slender towers from the street outside. Those become known as the Waldorf towers. With around 100 suites that are eventually used as private residences.

[Richard E. Grant]

It really is a city within a city. I had the opportunity to explore some of its secrets. Jewels including that of Track 61, a hidden railway platform connected to Grand Central. It has a massive freight elevator that goes straight up to the hotel from the station, designed so that VIPs could arrive privately. Franklin D. Roosevelt comes straight from an armored train car to the hotel without anyone seeing him. Rumor has it Andy Warhol even threw a party down there in the 60s.

[Jules Perrone]

Today, it's still largely restricted and off limits to the public. That if you're quick, passengers on departing Metro north trains can catch a glimpse. Sit on the right side of the train and take a look out the window as soon as you leave Grand Central. If you're quick, you may see a side platform for just a few seconds and a short stretch of unused track. Roosevelt's armored train car still reportedly sits on the platform.

[Richard E. Grant]

Hotel magnate Conrad Hilton steps in. Yes, that Hilton Conrad had always been in the hotel business. His first was a 40 room hotel in Cisco. And he then continued to lease and renovate hotels in Texas during the 20s oil boom. And then his strategy became to buy up iconic hotels at opportune moments like Townhouse in LA and Roosevelt Hotel in New York. But his lifelong dream, to purchase the

[Jules Perrone]

Waldorf Astoria, which he eventually does manage to do in 1949 for a mere $3 million in stock.

[Richard E. Grant]

Did you know he apparently kept a picture of the Waldorf under a glass on his desk for decades? He said it was the greatest of them all. A phrase that soon became synonymous with the hotel.

[Jules Perrone]

Well, it's hard not to fall in love with the glamour and beauty of the hotel, especially in those Waldorf Towers. I mentioned earlier, the hotel within a hotel on the upper floors. And this is where the legends lived.

[Richard E. Grant]

I was lucky enough to have a quick look around suite 33A, which was Cole Porter's. He lived here for nearly 30 years and had two grand pianos back to back, so anyone playing them could see each other while they performed. Imagine the parties, he wrote. I've got you under my skin right there. It was actually quite surreal walking through the lobby, because the piano that you pass is one of those very pianos which he gifted to the hotel.

[Jules Perrone]

Apparently, he also kept two cats in his apartment named Anything and Goes. And Frank Sinatra takes over that same suite later on.

[Richard E. Grant]

But it wasn't all parties. There's a melancholic sight to the towers, too. Marilyn Monroe lives in suite 2728 in 1955. There's a quote from her biographer that really stuck with me. He said she was often acutely lonely in her Waldorf Towers apartment, as only a famed movie star cut off from ordinary mortals can be.

[Jules Perrone]

Well, it must have been one of the few places she could escape the world and the relentless gaze of the paparazzi up there in the clouds.

[Richard E. Grant]

We have to talk about the Windsors, the former King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. The hotel is preparing for a visit from Queen Elizabeth ii. The staff are scrambling to create a royal suite fit for a reigning monarch. Wallis Simpson catches wind. She demands she get the suite instead. And she wins. It becomes their primary residence in New York for two decades. Decorated entirely in Wedgwood blue, a pale, powdery shade. And pugs, pugs everywhere. Pug pillows, porcelain pugs. Can you imagine having tea with a duchess while surrounded by pug themed upholstery?

[Jules Perrone]

It's a very specific aesthetic.

[Richard E. Grant]

Yeah, it's tragic and hilarious all at once. Exiled royals lording it over Park Avenue, being upstaged by Marilyn Monroe in the lobby.

[Jules Perrone]

Because that actually happened. And at the April in Paris Ball in 1957, the Duchess is there holding court. Marilyn walks in and every single camera turns away from the Duchess to Marilyn,

[Richard E. Grant]

the new royalty eclipsing the old. If you can believe the stories, that's also the night Marilyn allegedly met John F. Kennedy for the first time.

[Jules Perrone]

And that is exactly the story of the Waldorf, isn't it? It's constantly evolving and expanding in new ways. Unexpected guests rubbing shoulders against one another. Like Paris Hilton, great granddaughter of Conrad. She actually grew up in the hotel during the 1980s and 90s and has spoken about how one day she would be in a lift with the President, and the next, the Rolling Stones.

[Richard E. Grant]

I can't sing. Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste.

[Jules Perrone]

Possibly one of the most famous and dazzling events at the hotel is Cary Grant's birthday party.

[Richard E. Grant]

Oh, this is definitely an event that I wish I had been at. The master of ceremonies is none other than Frank Sinatra. And the guest list features the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Pavarotti and Muhammad Ali. For that one night, the wall of Astoria transforms into Hollywood's east coast headquarters. Sinatra must have had a good night because for his 75th and 80th birthdays, he threw similarly legendary parties at the Waldorf, even dueting with Cole Porter.

[Jules Perrone]

Truly an eternally shape shifting space and it has just evolved again. The restoration. In 2017, the hotel closes for eight years and a $1.7 billion renovation.

[Richard E. Grant]

It reopened in 2025. And I must say the Grand Ballroom looks spectacular. You can almost hear the ghosts of the Tony Awards. They hosted the very first ones there, you know, tickets were priced at $7.50. They're a little more expensive today, that's for sure.

[Jules Perrone]

Not just ghosts, well dressed shadows too. The ballroom is also witness to historic fashion shows from Dior, Balmain and Givenchy, and appearances from stars such as Marlene Dietrich and Joan Crawford. And the hotel became known as the unofficial palace of New York, given the impressive list of presidents who've stayed. The Presidential suite is fortified, bulletproof and designed to look like the White House, America's guest house, if you will. Hoover spent the last 30 years of his life in a private apartment in the Waldorf Astoria Towers and the hotel was littered with presidential memorabilia over the years. There was JFK's favorite rocking chair, Jimmy Carter's eagle desk set, Ronald Reagan's mirror and eagle based table, and Lyndon B. Johnson's eagle wall sconces. I'm sensing a theme which brings us back to the lobby and the clock.

[Richard E. Grant]

Oh, the clock is magnificent. A 2 tonne, 9 foot tall bronze beast, it's crafted from American walnut with four faces that originally displayed the local time in New York, Madrid, Paris and London. Crowning the clock is a gilded Statue of Liberty. It's adorned with bronze panels, dark, depicting athletes swimming, playing baseball, and the Brooklyn Bridge, which had just opened 10 years before the clock arrived. It features silver plated portraits of six US Presidents and even includes a portrait

[Jules Perrone]

of Queen Victoria, which makes sense given the fact that it was a gift from Queen Victoria for the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893. Commissioned to showcase English craftsmanship, John Jacob Astor IV bought it for the old hotel. And when they move in 1931, of course they bring the clock with them. And there's a lovely little secret about it. Legend has it that George Bolt used to keep the clock running slightly fast to ensure that his guests wouldn't miss their trains at Grand Central.

[Richard E. Grant]

Aha. The guest is always right, even when the time is wrong.

[Jules Perrone]

Exactly.

[Richard E. Grant]

You know, Jules, we need one of those in the recording studio.

[Jules Perrone]

Why?

[Richard E. Grant]

You want to tell us we're running out of time? Because I believe we are.

[Jules Perrone]

We are indeed. I'm going to go find a Waldorf salad and perhaps a martini at Cole Porter's piano.

[Richard E. Grant]

Meet me at the clock.

[Jules Perrone]

Meet me at the clock. So that's the end of this episode of Hotels With History with me, Jules

[Richard E. Grant]

Perrone, and me, Richard E. Grant.

[Jules Perrone]

Thank you for exploring the Waldorf Astoria with us, and see you next time where we'll be heading off to the Mount Nelson in Cape Town.

[Podcast Narrator]

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Hotels With History, produced by Intelligence Squared in partnership with Perrone. If you enjoyed it, just search Hotels With History wherever you're listening to this podcast and follow the show so you don't miss an episode.