The towering Waldorf=Astoria.

On a visit to the Waldorf=Astoria, we saw a notice for history tours of the hotel offered every Thursday and Saturday morning at 11:30.

Not many hotels boast sufficient history or chutzpah to warrant a tour priced at $50 a person (they do throw in lunch). Besides, the Waldorf devotes four bulging lobby display cases to memorabilia, from place settings for royal dinners to photos of illustrious guests, like Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy and Bruce Springsteen. What more could there possibly be?

We decided to find out. Besides, we’d always wondered why an equal sign connects the words Waldorf and Astoria. (more…)