Red Star Hotel

With the United Nations General Assembly session almost underway, a new issue seems to have gripped several world powers: where in New York will its leaders stay? Or, more accurately, will they put up at the prestigious Waldorf-Astoria?

The Waldorf-Astoria has housed kings, queens, world leaders and celebrities as diverse as Cary Grant and the Dalai Lama. Frank Sinatra, for instance, is believed to have kept a suite here from 1979 to 1988. The hotel has also been a favourite of several dignitaries, especially those from the US administration. But now Barack Obama is breaking a decades-old tradition to cancel his stay at the Waldorf-Astoria. Instead, he will be booking himself at a Korean-owned establishment, New York Palace Hotel, where Narendra Modi had stayed on his last visit. Modi, scheduled to stay at the Waldorf-Astoria from 23 to 26 September, is also now, according to some media reports, considering pulling out. The Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, has booked a suite, his first in 10 years. And so has Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The change of allegiance in the hotel’s patrons may have something to do with the sale of the hotel to the Chinese insurance firm Anbang Insurance Group, which bought it for $1.95 billion in October last year. The past owner, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, continues to run the hotel, but the fact that the chairman of Anbang Insurance Group is believed to be married to the granddaughter of former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, coupled with the sales contract allowing for ‘major renovation’ within the hotel, appears to have spooked both Washington and New Delhi. While no official reason has been provided for their giving the hotel a miss, media reports speculate it to be the fear that the hotel could be used for Chinese cyber-espionage and eavesdropping.

The Waldorf-Astoria has a rich history of being closely associated with the US administration. The current building of the hotel opened in 1931. When the idea of such a luxury hotel was being entertained back in 1929, the Depression had not yet arrived. But even when the US stock market crashed and the country was thrown into financial misery, the investors decided to honour their commitment. A 1958 newspaper report claims, ‘The new Waldorf-Astoria was built at the wrong time by men who wept as the steel stilts reached for the sky.’ When the hotel was complete, the then US President Herbert Hoover offered his congratulations in a radio broadcast from the White House, calling it an advancement of hotels. The Waldorf-Astoria was the world’s tallest and largest hotel at the time, about one third of its 100 suites being leased as private residences for the extremely rich and famous.

Once opened, it was an instant favourite with dignitaries and celebrities, and became a host to significant events across a spectrum of industries, for instance the launch of IBM’s personal computer in 1981.

It has played a key role in the Cold War by providing its space for several conferences and meetings during this era, and becoming, for over half a century, something of a command post whenever the US president was in town. All 13 American presidents attending the UN gathering since its opening have stayed here.

According to a source cited by a newspaper report, Modi was scheduled to stay at the Waldorf but several factors are now being taken into account. “The PM had a pleasant stay at the New York Palace Hotel last year. This year we are actively considering Astoria too for his stay but a final decision is yet to be made… This issue (bugging) is something everyone looks at when the Prime Minister travels abroad.”

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Lhendup G Bhutia

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