Heart of the City

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For a spring or summer wedding, you don’t have to think about where to go to escape the cold, so why not head to a city known for romance? There are many that are far from our shores, of course, notably Paris, the fabled city of love. But there are also many on the U.S. mainland (or not far offshore) that are known for providing just the right blend of romantic backdrop and city delights. Join us as we travel to Charleston, New York City, San Juan and San Francisco. Let the honeymoon magic begin here.

New York City, New York

From Breakfast at Tiffany’s to Manhattan to Serendipity (not to mention King Kong), Manhattan has long served as a bustling, dramatic backdrop for high romance in the movies. It can provide the same storybook setting for your honeymoon, too, especially if you’re in the mood to take the money you might have spent on travel fare to other destinations and put it into a luxury hotel room, theater and concert tickets, fabulous meals, cab fare and shopping in one of the world’s great cities.

Many of the city’s romantic highlights— carriage rides through Central Park, cocktails at the bar in the Rainbow Grill, a Circle Line cruise around Manhattan, strolling through Little Italy—are known to all. But that doesn’t make them any less romantic. Indeed, you will find the city an endless source of pleasure whether your tastes run to art, history, drama, architecture, sports, media, science or even that favorite pastime of just-married couples: people watching. (What . . . did you think I was going to say something about sex?)

But in this marvelous place, where you could construct a whole honeymoon around Broadway musicals, art museums or even Irish pubs, you need a proper home base, a hotel that is worthy of your first days and nights together as a married couple.

One hotel that most certainly fills that requirement for grandeur is the Waldorf-Astoria, which since 1931 has been in the same city-block-sized location and synonymous with old-school luxury in New York, even while undergoing $400 million worth of recent improvements and updating. Sit at a table for two at the hotel’s Cocktail Terrace overlooking the Park Avenue lobby and you’ll soon find yourselves awash in the ebbing and flowing tides of people—rich people (or are they just pretending?), important-looking people, a splendid international cast of characters—moving back and forth in front of you. Linger awhile as the dusk outside deepens and the sounds of Cole Porter begin to tinkle around you, and you will begin to feel like you too belong at the Waldorf-Astoria.

The Cocktail Terrace is only a small part of this grand hotel’s story. The luxuriously appointed rooms (rich tones, plush fabrics) vary in all sorts of ways from one another. There are standard rooms, small suites, larger suites and very large suites suitable for, and occasionally occupied by, potentates; there are rooms with stunning views, full kitchens, terraces and dressing rooms. There is even a separate, super-luxury area called Waldorf Towers with its own reception and concierge.

If you wanted to indulge in a little gold-plated cocooning, you could probably spend your entire honeymoon within the Waldorf’s substantial walls, but all of Midtown is at your doorstep, and the rest of the island not far beyond. Within easy walking distance of the hotel are such diverse pleasures as the Museum of Modern Art, Radio City Music Hall, Central Park, Times Square, the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and the Diamond District (see how yours stacks up). You’ll need to walk only four blocks west to find yourselves in the Theater District. And as you wind your way through these attractions, you’ll pass—or, in some cases, enter—shops and restaurants of every conceivable description. Worried that New York isn’t “exotic” enough for a honeymoon? You won’t be for long.

You’ll no doubt be catching meals and testing cuisines all over Manhattan, but one dining experience you probably won’t want to miss is the Waldorf’s own renowned Sunday brunch. According to the hotel, the work of 14 cooks, from executive to sous-chefs, goes into the preparation of this lavish feast, served in the main lobby near the legendary clock tower. From the signature Waldorf salad (of course you have to try it here in its birthplace!) through molten chocolate desserts, the array of foods, expertly watched over and attended to by informative, pampering servers, includes 12 themed displays and more than 100 individual dishes. It’s a meal fit even for a new bride and groom.

One of the best things about honeymooning in New York is that if you find a place or an activity that you really love, you can easily go back again and again in the years ahead. And one day, if you are so inclined, you’ll be able to bring the kids.

—Charles Monagan

For more information, call (800) 925-3673 or visit hiltonfamilynewyork.com.