George Boldt
| George Charles Boldt, Sr. | |
|---|---|
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| President of the Waldorf–Astoria Hotel Company | |
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In office 1897–1916 |
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| Succeeded by | George Charles Boldt, Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Georg Karl Boldt April 25, 1851 Bergen auf Rügen, Germany |
| Died | December 5, 1916 (aged 65) Manhattan, New York City |
| Spouse(s) | Louise Augusta Kehrer |
| Children |
George Charles Boldt, Jr. Clover Louise Boldt |
George Charles Boldt, Sr. (25 April 1851 – 5 December 1916) was a Prussian-born American hotelier. A self-made millionaire, he influenced the development of the urban hotel as a civic social center and luxury destination.
He was born as Georg Karl Boldt in Bergen auf Rügen, Germany on 25 April 1851. He immigrated to the United States in 1864. He began as a kitchen worker in New York and, at age 25, was hired (by his future father-in-law) to manage the dining room of Philadelphia's most exclusive gentlemen's club, The Philadelphia Club.
Boldt's first hotel was the Bellevue (1881), at the northwest corner of Broad & Walnut Streets, in Philadelphia. He soon bought a competing hotel, the Stratford, at the southwest corner. Two decades later, on the site of the Stratford, he built the largest hotel the city had ever seen, the 1,090-room Bellevue-Stratford Hotel (1902–04, now the Park Hyatt).
The enormous fortunes generated by robber barons in the post-Civil War Era led to an unprecedented level of luxurious living for wealthy Americans. Boldt catered to this new super-rich class, charging the highest prices for the very best, and becoming one of them in the process.
William Waldorf Astor built the Waldorf Hotel (1890–93) in New York City, with Boldt as proprietor. John Jacob Astor IV built the adjoining Astoria Hotel (1897). Boldt mediated between the feuding millionaire cousins, leasing the Astoria himself, and merging the two buildings under his management as the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The Empire State Building now occupies its site at 34th Street and 5th Avenue. He is credited with popularizing Thousand Island dressing at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where he instructed the maître d', Oscar Tschirky, to include it on the menu. The hotel introduced other popular food items, such as Waldorf Salad. Boldt also owned the Waldorf Astoria Segar Company, which imported fine Cuban cigars and was located at the hotel.
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