Officially open to the public as of June 1st, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills is a sight to be seen. Giroux Glass, Inc. recently wrapped up our portion of the development of this grand structure. In the end, we touched just about every room in the hotel.
The original Waldorf Astoria resides in New York City, but Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills marks the 26th property in Waldorf Astoria’s portfolio worldwide. The New York hotel is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver, which was completed in 1931. The Beverly Hills location takes that Art Deco design even further, with designs by Pierre-Yves Rochon. It stands at 12-stories with 170 rooms, 119 deluxe and 51 suites. Rooms run at a rate of $600/night to an astounding $20,000/night for the Presidential Suite. Besides the guest rooms, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills boasts many other amenities including a gym, salon, and a 5,000 square foot spa with 5 treatment rooms, a steam room, and experience shower for both men and women.
The Waldorf Astoria brand has always been on the cutting edge. The New York location was the first hotel to offer room service to its guests and, in 1931, became the first hotel in the world to hire women as chefs. The Beverly Hills location introduces renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, with over 40 restaurants worldwide, to L.A. Want a drink with a view? The “Jean-Georges Beverly Hills” has both indoor and outdoor seating. And the “Rooftop by JG” lounge provides sweeping views of L.A. and Beverly Hills below.
The Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills has been in the works since 2008 when development was approved. The cost of construction is estimated at a costly $200 million, and the time, cost and effort involved are visibly apparent in the stunning results.
The team at Giroux Glass started work in May 2016, and completed in time for the opening on June 1, 2017. Giroux’s work can be seen from the moment enter. From the gold mirrors along the sides, to the giant mirror behind the grand bronze chandelier, the lobby is full of Giroux’s work. Step down the hallway and you’ll see the storefronts built of opaque glass. From there, Giroux did some work in every hotel area: the retail storefront, fireplace mirror, lobby mirrors, fitness mirrors, fitness storefront door, salon mirrors, salon back-painted glass, salon storefront, glass handrail on stairs, showers in all guest rooms, mirrors in guest rooms, low iron glass shelves in guest rooms, showers in spa, cash room window, fire feature glass on rooftop fire pit, gold mirrors in pre-function, gold mirrors in ballroom, sliding pantry door, storefront for presidential suite, and mirrors in bar/kitchen for presidential suite. The list is long — and we’re proud to see our work throughout this beautiful hotel.
In the field, our Giroux team members included Sam Gonzales (Estimator); Ralph Deligio (Project Manager); David Gonzales (Foreman); Alex Barrios; Daniel Tomich; David Cruz; David Soto; Frank Rodriguez; Marcus Belt; Nicholas Butcher; Paul Blackard; Randy Barquera (Foreman); Rob Neal; Robert Perez; Rogelio Anaya; and Ruben Lopez. Our office team included Lydia Arevalo (Billing), Jenny Jimenez (CAD), Amanda Torigiani (Closeouts).
Giroux worked with a number of great companies including the general contractor, Matt Construction. Glass came from Glasswerks, Trulite, and Glas-Pro. Metal was manufactured by Arcadia. Sliding pantry doors came from Custom Storefronts and decorative pantry door mirrors came from Miriam Ellner. Custom color for decorative metal trim on mirrors was done by Metal Coat Technology, and cladding for the storefront was by Eurocraft Architectural Metal.
Every project is not without its challenges. With this project, Giroux Glass faced tight timelines and multiple scopes of work. It’s also always a challenge to find ways to get the glass to where it’s got to go. For the mirrors in the lobby, a scissor lift was needed to reach 30 feet into the air for installation. But the challenges are always worth it. The hotel looks amazing!
When asked what makes this project stand out, Project Manager Ralph Deligio said, “The name says it all: Waldorf Astoria Hotel,” adding, “I met new vendors we had never done work with before. Knowing that I worked on the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills, I can always look back at this time in my life and reflect on this project as something I had a hand in.” He also said, “I want to thank David Gonzales who did an exceptional job. David knew how to talk to the contractor and come up with solutions to problems. His crew has the utmost respect for him.”
Giroux Glass is also incredibly grateful for all the hours spent by Sam Gonzales to estimate the job. Given the sheer volume and variety of different projects involved at the hotel, there was no detail too small for Sam to ignore — and the results are proof of his amazing attention to detail.
The Waldorf Astoria in New York City is undergoing its own construction with renovations that could keep the hotel closed for the next three years. So, if you want to experience high-end Art Deco, the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills delivers.
