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“Will it reopen or not?” Hotel cynics have been wondering about the Waldorf Astoria New York for years. (No meOf course. I am an eternal optimist who always thought it was coming back. Cough.) But now, the Waldorf Astoria in New York is on a clear path to eventual reopening day.

After a multi-year, multi-story, multi-story renovation, the ultraluxury hotel is now taking reservations for December 10, 2025. 375 overhauled guest rooms and suites, a signature restaurant overseen by chef Michael Anthony, and the reopening of the hotel’s famous Peacock Alley cocktail lounge.

But it’s also a major feather in Hilton’s cap and its expansion into the luxury end of the hotel food chain.

“It’s been a labor of love,” Dino Michaels, Hilton’s senior vice president and global head of luxury brands, said of the Waldorf renovation in an interview with TPG this month at the International Luxury Travel Market in Cannes, France. “I think when people go, they’ll realize why it took so long. They’ll see the detail, the silver leaf, the gold leaf, the renovated mosaics, the marble, the paintings, and they’ll be like, ‘Okay, now we get it. .'”

But it’s more than New York City’s Waldorf Astoria outpost that keeps Hilton busy on the luxury front. Hilton plans to open additional Waldorf Astoria properties in Costa Rica; Osaka, Japan; And Shanghai next year. Waldorf Astoria could have as many as 50 hotels worldwide in the next two to three years, Candice D’Cruz, Hilton’s vice president of luxury brands for the Asia-Pacific region, told TPG at ILTM.

Conrad is set to add hotels in Athens and Hamburg, Germany next year, while LXR Hotels & Resorts will expand to Casablanca, Morocco in 2025. The expansion comes amid a flurry of acquisition and partnership deals for Hilton, including a new partnership. The deal to expand the world’s smaller luxury hotels and Nomad brand, Hilton’s leading luxury lifestyle offering.

“This has been a long time coming,” said Faizal Jaffer, global head of LXR Hotels & Resorts, of Hilton’s broader luxury play. “I mean, this is a journey that we’re on to really change the perception of luxury.”

But growth doesn’t come easy. Hilton leadership needs to distance hotel owners from what the competition from Marriott, Hilton and IHG is offering on the brand front.

“They pitch it with all the enthusiasm in the world, and it’s a beauty pageant,” Michael said. “You’re pitching against other brands.”

The pitch seems to be working. At a separate event at ILTM, the world’s leading small luxury hotels noted that more than 80% of their properties are now participating in the new Hilton partnership; They see value in gaining more exposure and bringing in new types of customers from the Hilton Honors orbit.

Hilton’s luxury liftoff looks to be on track to hit the stratosphere in the new year.

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