This year’s US delegation to the United Nations is breaking its decades-long tradition of staying at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, but the hotel is filling up with other high profile guests, including Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese president Xi Jinping.
For the UN’s annual meeting in September, Putin has booked a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria for his first attendance in 10 years, reports Colum Lynch at Foreign Policy. So has Xi, whose appearance at the meeting will be his first as China’s leader.
President Obama and US diplomats will set up camp at New York’s Palace Hotel instead of the famous address on Park Avenue, which was purchased by a Chinese company in 2014, the AP reported earlier this year. No official reason was given for relocating.
Since its opening in 1931, the Waldorf-Astoria has hosted all 13 US presidents attending the UN gathering. What’s more, over the past seven decades, most US representatives to the UN have lived at the hotel’s penthouse, including current ambassador Samantha Powers. According to Foreign Policy, the government’s lease on that apartment ends in 2016.