Waldorf Astoria, New York

Nothing says luxury like a totally out-of-date hotel on Park Avenue in Manhattan, and the Waldorf Astoria fits that description.

I spent some pre-meeting time, along with 5 other guys, sitting in the living room of the suite where one of my bosses stayed.  (I stayed at the local Y.)  The living room was adjoined by a dining room with a table for 8.  The suite had a small kitchen: Room service, not home cooking, would have been the order of the day.  The decor was early grandma, with a lot of crushed velvet, heavy chairs, heavy knick-knacks, and brocaded drapes.

The first photo shows what I thought was the lobby until I stumbled into the real lobby.  The second photo shows the 9-foot clock in the main lobby of the hotel.  According to About.Com:

The nine foot-tall, two-ton bronze clock was created for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and was the centerpiece of the original Waldorf Hotel, which once stood where the Empire State Building is. When the hotel moved to its current location in 1931 [at 53rd and Park Ave], the dramatic clock was relocated as well. The clock's Westminister chimes sound every 15 minutes.

Waldorf Astoria lobby at the 53rd Street entrance.

The clock sits atop this mag- nificent base and is located in the main lobby of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York.