Waldorf-Astoria - Photo

This historical image of the Waldorf-Astoria was taken a short while after the two hotels merged and became the largest hotel in the world at that time.

It started as two hotels: one owned by William Waldorf Astor, whose 13-story Waldorf Hotel was opened in 1893 and the other owned by his cousin, John Jacob Astor IV, called the Astoria Hotel and opened four years later and four stories higher.