At the Empire Club, a luxe business center and lounge open only to Waldorf Astoria residents, the hotel’s 24/7 room service means you never have to label your lunch in the office fridge.
After an eight-year, $2 billion restoration, the iconic New York landmark hotel now features 372 condominium residences in addition to its 375 hotel rooms. Buyers gain access to 50,000 square feet of amenities reserved exclusively for residents, including the Empire Club, in addition to all of the Waldorf Astoria’s guest offerings. Prices range from $1.8 million for studio apartments to $18.75 million for four-bedroom units.
The Empire Club resembles a private members-only space, such as Ned’s Club, furnished with curated art pieces and private offices available for reservation.
The Waldorf Astoria granted Business Insider exclusive access to the Empire Club. Take a look inside.
The Waldorf Astoria is located at 301 Park Avenue in New York City, spanning an entire city block in both length and width.
The Waldorf Astoria opened its current 47-story location in 1931, but the hotel dates back to the Gilded Age.
To access the Empire Club, I entered through one of the doors reserved for residents of the Waldorf Astoria.
Residents enter and exit through separate doors from hotel guests.
The private residents’ lobby featured marble columns that appeared elongated by a mirrored ceiling.
The decor in the lobby remained true to the hotel’s Art Deco heritage with bold geometric patterns and clean lines.
I proceeded up to the 19th floor, where residents can swipe into the Empire Club with a keycard.
The Empire Club is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Spanning 3,100 square feet, the exclusive club provides a luxurious space for condominium owners to work, hold meetings, and lounge.
The interiors were designed by Jean-Louis Deniot, who also designed the Waldorf Astoria Residences. Pops of color from the furniture and artwork added dimension to the Empire Club’s sleek grayscale color scheme.
The art throughout was curated by Simon de Pury, who highlighted sculptures, paintings, and other works by emerging artists.
“The Waldorf Astoria will have one of the largest private art collections for a condominium in New York City,” Loretta Shanahan, the Waldorf Astoria’s senior director of sales, told Business Insider.
When I visited on a December morning, sunlight streamed into the conference rooms, many of which were already in use by residents.
The Empire Club offers complimentary high-speed internet with a unique IP address, coworking spaces, and a range of boardrooms and conference rooms available for reservation.
The rooms are named after significant figures from the hotel’s history.
The Schultze room, for example, is named after Schultze & Weaver, the architectural firm that designed the Waldorf Astoria building in its signature Art Deco style in 1931.
Interior designer Jean-Louis Deniot furnished the walls and ceiling of the club’s largest coworking space with a high-gloss black Macassar ebony.
“In order not to break that wall and ceiling square grid, I used LED lighting strips between each square to emphasize the geometry, giving the space an active and elevated atmosphere,” Deniot said in a statement to Business Insider.
The club also has smaller rooms with private office layouts.
“A lot of buyers don’t live in New York full-time, but they’re here two, three, four days a week, and they need to take meetings,” Shanahan said. “This is a perfect option.”
The club includes a pantry and kitchen for catering or small dining events, though members also enjoy free room service at all hours.
The Waldorf Astoria is widely recognized as the inventor of room service, introducing the offering in 1931.
To end my tour, I was led through a residents-only passageway back into the hotel’s famous lobby and Peacock Alley.
I was struck by how easy it was to get from the Empire Club to the rest of the hotel, offering condominium owners the shortest possible commute.
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