Waldorf Astoria’s Chinese owners plan to sell iconic New York City hotel: report

[BENGALURU] The Chinese owners of the iconic Waldorf Astoria in New York City are preparing to put the luxury hotel up for sale, months after it reopened following a multibillion-dollar overhaul, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday (Feb 11).

The Park Avenue landmark reopened in November after an eight-year renovation from a 1,400-room hotel to 375 hotel guest rooms and 372 residences. The transformation was five years behind schedule and more than US$1 billion over the initial budget.

The hotel was the setting for the film Weekend at the Waldorf, starring Ginger Rogers, and its US$1,000-a-week Suite 2728 was home to Marilyn Monroe in 1955 after she left Hollywood.

Waldorf’s adjoining restaurants, shops and other amenities would be included in a sale, but the condos would continue to be sold separately, the report added, citing sources with knowledge of the plans.

Hilton Worldwide, which has a 100-year management contract for the hotel, sold the property in 2014 to Anbang Insurance Group, a reinsurance firm based in China, for US$1.95 billion, making it one of the most expensive hotel sales ever.

The group spent an additional US$2 billion on construction, bringing the total to more than US$4 billion.

The Chinese state-run Dajia Insurance Group was later appointed to manage Anbang’s assets after its CEO Wu Xiaohui was prosecuted for economic crimes.

The seller does not expect to get all its costs back on a sale, however, with an expected billion-dollar-plus price tag, only a small cadre of potential buyers would be able to afford the flagship property for Hilton’s Waldorf luxury brand, the WSJ report added.

Hilton said that it does not own the hotel but manages the property, and directed questions about the sale to the hotel’s owner, Strategic Hotels & Resorts.

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While Waldorf Astoria and Dajia Insurance Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Strategic Hotels & Resorts could not be reached. REUTERS