Want to book a room at the Waldorf Astoria New York next year? Plan that trip early in the year, the hotel's owner will not accept reservations beyond Feb. 28 and final checkout will be March 1—suggesting its owner will begin converting about 1,000 rooms to luxury condos shortly thereafter.
The blackout dates were shown on a booking website run by Hilton Worldwide Holdings, which operates numerous Waldorf Astoria hotels around the world. A spokesman for the property confirmed the reservation cutoff and that the landmarked building would close next spring, but would not elaborate on the residential conversion nor disclose plans to upgrade whatever hotel operation is left intact.
"We have not finalized any plans in terms of the scope, nature and details of the renovation project or the exact timing and duration of the hotel's closure," the spokesman said. "We are currently developing conceptual plans and will share additional details once those plans are finalized."
China-based Anbang purchased the Waldorf Astoria, located at 301 Park Ave., for $1.95 billion in late 2014 with vague plans to renovate it. Two months ago, Crain's reported that the insurer's strategy entailed converting roughly 1,000 of the hotel's 1,413 rooms to luxury condos.