I stayed at the newly-renovated Waldorf Astoria New York for 5 nights in mid-October and, as the hotel just re-opened, I wanted to write about my stay as I’m sure people are interested to hear about the updates and whether it’s worth a stay.
I should note that I never experienced the hotel before its renovation, so my review is purely based on the hotel as it is now.
The basics
The Waldorf Astoria New York is a hotel steeped in history and is the first ever Waldorf Astoria hotel. The hotel closed in 2017 and recently reopened in July 2025 after a near $2 billion renovation. The hotel is located in Midtown Manhattan and I found it to be a very walkable location, although a bit removed from nightlife.
How I paid for my stay
I used Hilton points to pay for my trip. When I booked, it was 150,000 points per night and with the 5th night free benefit, I used 600,000 Hilton points for my 5-night stay. As the cash price for the same stay would have been around $10,500, I ended up getting about 1.75 cents per point in value, which is pretty great as far as Hilton redemptions go.
Checking in
I was pleasantly surprised that even though my flight landed at 4:30am and I got to the hotel closer to 5:30am that they were able to check me in right when I got to the hotel. This was a very nice touch on their end, check-in time is normally at 4pm.
Also, as a Hilton Diamond member, they upgraded me to a Junior Suite. I will say that I wasn’t automatically upgraded — instead, at check-in they told me that I’d be staying in the room that I initially booked which is when I mentioned that I was a Diamond member, and asked if there were any space-available upgrades. The woman at the front-desk went back to speak with someone else (I’m presuming her manager) and came out a few minutes later letting me know they were able to upgrade me to the Junior Suite.
The check-in area, like pretty much everywhere else in the hotel, was gorgeous and though I didn’t have to wait there, I don’t think I would have mind having to sit on the couches for a bit and taking in the view.
The room
I was in Room 1232, a Junior Suite 1 King Bed that currently retails for over $2,000 a night after taxes. The room was spacious and included a desk, a couch, a TV, a very comfortable bed, a bathroom with separated toilet (including bidet) and shower/bathtub, a closet, and a mini bar with complementary coffee.
Although I overall loved my room, the only downside was there was no view — I was looking straight into an office building across the street. The lack of natural light was a little depressing, but hey, it’s New York — you’re not supposed to be spending most of your time in your room anyway.
The hotel also had basket of fruit and some chocolate in my room for my arrival, along with a note welcoming me to the hotel, which I really appreciated. The A/C worked perfectly (I look my room pretty cool) and there were buttons next to the bed that made it easy to close the drapes, turn off the lights, and blackout all light, which made it easy to sleep in.
The Guerlain Spa
Okay, so I am a huge fan of Guerlain Spas, having been introduced to them during my first stay at the Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam. When I heard the Waldorf Astoria New York was going to have a Guerlain Spa, I knew that I’d have to book myself a few treatments and I’m so glad that I did.
If you’ve never heard of Guerlain, it’s a luxury French skincare company that is expanding their spa footprint around the world. While treatments aren’t cheap (I paid over $800 for a facial + massage and over $400 for a 90-minute massage), they use amazing products and you will definitely leave feeling relaxed, aside from the bill.
Given that it’s New York, you will sometimes hear traffic outside during your stay — but that’s going to be true for most spas in New York. As the spa facility is brand new (it opened on October 14th and I got my first treatment that same day), there are still some areas not open yet, like the sauna and steam room areas.
If you can swing it, I absolutely recommend getting a treatment here (and if you are looking for a facial, ask for Patience — she gave me one of the best facials I’ve ever had!).
Dining
There are a few dining options at the Waldorf Astoria New York:
- Peacock Alley (think small bites and cocktails)
- Yoshoku (a Japense restaurant)
- Lex Yard (elevated American dining)
- In-room dining
For breakfast, you can eat at either Peacock Alley or Lex Yard, with Lex Yard having a wider selection.
I only had breakfast once at Lex Yard but thought it was delicious. That said, the price tag was a little wild — $63.27 after tip for eggs, potatoes, a bagel, and an iced latte. I pretty much only ate breakfast here because of the $25/person daily food and beverage credit (more on that below).
I also had some snacks and a lunch at Peacock Alley, which I really enjoyed (particularly the turkey club). Service at Peacock Alley can be a bit slow, so if you’re going know that it’s more an area to lounge and don’t expect to be able to easily get the attention of a server.
In-room dining was also great, but pricey. One day I didn’t order any food and wanted to take advantage of my $25 credit, so I ordered a cheesecake which was delicious but came out to $44.29 — the most expensive slice of cheesecake I’ve ever had.
Overall though, if you’re concerned about cost, you should look for dining options outside of the hotel. But if you want to splurge a bit, every meal I had at the hotel was delicious.
Food and beverage credit
As a Diamond member, I received a $25/person daily food and beverage credit and something that I really appreciated was that even though it was only me staying in my room, since I had booked the room for two people, they gave me a $50 credit each day. (Pro tip: if you’re ever booking a hotel stay just for yourself and the price is the same, I always recommend putting down two guests — this will give you the flexibility to bring a friend for all or part of your stay and can sometimes get you extra credits, like it did for me during my Waldorf Astoria New York stay).
The gym
The gym area is large — possibly larger than you’d expect. It’s laid out a bit like a maze, so once you enter, go to the right and you’ll find additional areas in the gym (I didn’t realize this at first and thought there was a lack of equipment until I explored some more).
The gym is open 24/7 and was rarely busy.
Areas for improvement
While I did love my stay, I had a couple of issues pop up during my stay that I wanted to highlight (and note that most of these have to do only with Hilton and not the hotel itself):
Hiccups trying to redeem Hilton gifts
As a multiple American Express cardholder, I’ve been redeeming my Hilton “coupons” for gift cards over the last few years. Basically, I almost never stay at U.S.-based hotels, so this was my first chance to redeem my Hilton gift cards.
I brought six with me totaling $330 and since I had to leave the hotel at 6am on Sunday, on Saturday night I went to the front desk to check out and pay, knowing that it might be a pain paying with gift cards. Well, that was an understatement. None of the gift cards worked (despite them clearly having a balance) and the front desk asked me to leave the gift cards with them. I checked on Sunday, October 19th and it’s now Wednesday, October 22nd and the issue still hasn’t been resolved.
Basically, the hotel told me that they’ve tried calling Hilton, have tried running the gift cards themselves, and basically they keep hitting a wall. They charged my Amex Aspire in full and said that if they can’t figure out a way to redeem the gift cards, they will mail them back to me.
While I do appreciate all of their effort here, it is frustrating to buy Hilton gift cards and to not be able to use them even at a U.S. property. Because I had the gift cards, I was a little more lax with my spending than I would have been otherwise, so I will be a bit frustrated if I end up having to pay cash for the spa treatment that I thought would be covered almost fully by the gift card.
Issues with having points credited to my Hilton account
Another issue is that it’s now three days after my stay and my points still haven’t posted to my Hilton account. Now I know three days isn’t a lot, but I should note that I also put my aunt up there for a night (October 17-18th) and the points from her stay posted almost immediately after check-out.
I spent almost an hour on the phone with Hilton trying to get this resolved, but they said they’re running into issues. First, two separate Diamond desk agents told me the reason I’m not getting any points is because I paid for the stay with points. Then I pointed out (a) I’m talking about charges for incidentals (like food and spa), and (b) the reservation for my aunt was also paid for with points and I did already receive those points for incidentals.
Honestly, I think Hilton needs to train its customer service reps better. They should know that incidentals do qualify for points and it’s not something I should need to explain to them (heck, if I wasn’t a travel writer or a Hilton loyalist, I may have just taken them on their word and lose out on the ~29,000 points I earned during my stay.
Upgrade wasn’t offer automatically
I mentioned this above, but I was a bit disappointed that I had to ask to be upgraded as a Diamond member. This is especially true since I sent them a message in the app before my visit letting them know that I’m a Diamond member and that I’d love an upgrade if possible. For what it’s worth, the hotel did upgrade my aunt’s stay (booked on my account) without me asking, but I’m not sure if that’s because I had asked about an upgrade for my initial room at check-in.
Bottom line
I had a wonderful stay at the Waldorf Astoria New York. The room was spacious and comfortable, the food was delicious, and I absolutely adored the Guerlain Spa. That said, it’s definitely a splurge and for a lot of readers, will only be worth it if you’re able to book using points or use a Hilton free night certificate.
