Editors’ Note

A Hilton veteran for more than 30 years, Eric Long held key management positions in New Jersey, Florida, and the Midwest before moving to the Waldorf in 1994.

Property Brief

The Waldorf=Astoria (www.waldorf-astoria.com) is one of New York’s premier luxury hotels, with 1,246 rooms and suites. Originally opened on Fifth Avenue in 1893, it has occupied its present Park Avenue site since 1931. The Waldorf Towers features an additional 101 suites and 79 executive guest rooms, plus a separate entrance and staff. The property is owned by the Beverly Hills, California-based Hilton Hotel Corporation (NYSE: HLT).

Given the robust competition that The Waldorf=Astoria faces in New York, how were your results in 2007?

Simply said, we had an exceptional year. All segments of our business were even stronger than we had projected. New records were set in each of our major revenue centers.

What is your outlook for growth for The Waldorf=Astoria in 2008?

Although there have recently been troubling signals from the financial markets, we continue to project another record-setting year in 2008. The Waldorf is particularly well positioned in the New York City hotel market. It’s a large luxury hotel, complemented with dramatic public spaces ideally suited for large corporate and incentive meetings, or social events. When a major IPO or aquisition is being announced, it is more often than not announced from The Waldorf. Our secret is that we avoid being overly reliant on any one segment of the market, by leveraging our strength in the international community, as well as domestically.

What new projects or developments are you planning for The Waldorf?

Virtually every aspect of our hotel is under constant renewal. In 2007 alone, we invested $62 million in 48 distinct capital projects, many with multiple facets. But we go to great lengths to make it nonintrusive for our guests. Overall, the entire property reads very well and only gets better with each passing year.

How is The Waldorf experience defined, and what makes The Waldorf unique in the market?

The Waldorf experience is unique. While The Waldorf Towers provides a very private and luxurious experience and a very residential feel, guests also have access to all of the facilities of a much larger and more complex hotel offering, including a choice of dining options and a wide diversity of meeting and catering facilities, each of which is very individual in look and feel. The hotel enjoys a special place in the community. Many social events are held here, including Sunday brunch, family holiday events, weddings, power breakfasts in Peacock Alley, and Fox News’ live telecasts each weekday evening from the Bull and Bear, which wraps up the day’s activity on Wall Street. Last October, we introduced high tea for children, which came about through our new relationship with Disney. This is a very special hotel.

What’s new at the hotel in terms of spa services?

Our new luxury spa will be opening in early April. This is a strategic partnership with Guerlain, which is a division of LVMH. The spa will encompass 14,500 square feet and will include 16 treatment rooms, each with a personal dressing area and full facilities, including a large walk-in shower. Architecturally, it will be very well done with the very best finishes. This facility will set a new benchmark for spas in New York City.

What sort of executive meeting space does the hotel offer?

A key strength of ours is the diversity and style of our meeting and catering facilities. The building itself was brilliantly designed to include three distinct centers of activity: the third and fourth floor ballroom complex, the Starlight Roof and executive meeting center on the 18th floor, and the Hilton and Empire Ballrooms on our main lobby level. A company or event planner hosting an event is oftentimes unaware of the level of activity occurring elsewhere in the building.

What impact has technology had on the hotel?

Our proprietary technology platform is very good. We have a technology board in place for the property, with representatives from every aspect of our business. The group surfaces and comes up with specific ideas that help us streamline and improve current operating practices, including simple things like bar codes for each piece of kitchen equipment to identify equipment that is not only costing us excessive maintenance dollars, but also negatively impacting our operating team; interfaces between our room maintenance program and our preventative maintenance system to immediately identify those accommodations that must be addressed by the staff of a specific trade on a specific date to avoid unnecessary revenue displacement; and a very senior member of our team dedicated to the customer experience, ensuring that our meeting customers have access to the very latest technology, as well as the internal support to make it painless.

How has the role of the General Manager evolved from your early days in the industry?

Identifying a winning strategy for your business and then putting the pieces in place to execute that strategy is the essence of any General Manager’s role. Getting the team focused on executing a multi-year plan is absolutely critical – looking beyond this quarter, deciding how we want to position ourselves over the long term, determining what we need to change to make that vision a reality, and then just doing it. Everything revolves around one issue – the acquisition and retention of the very brightest people. That is our number-one focus area as a team.

What are your key priorities for the coming year?

Service, service, service. We use the expression “a warm, personal, and engaging style of customer service, unique in our city.” People are the key differentiator in any business. In our hotel, with the unusually high level of energy and events activity, it is imperative that our people bring the scale of this building down to a one-on-one interaction. They need to get to know our guests, anticipate their needs, create relationships, and give people a sense of comfort that they are back in a setting where they are totally comfortable. Essentially, it’s grace without being stuffy.

In addition, we’re also making it a priority to find those special individuals, who have a love affair with service and the management expertise to operate a large and complex business, that will remain our principal focus going forward.