10 X 10 CANOPY FRAME

January 2010 - A Hotel of the Waldorf=Astoria Collection!

The Waldorf Astoria Collection is a collection of what the Hilton Worldwide considers to be its premiere, most luxurious and most identifiable hotels and resorts.

In January 2006, Hilton Hotels, Inc, announced it would launch a luxury brand called the The Waldorf Astoria Collection, branded after the famous Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, called the most powerful hotel name in the world.[1] Hilton Hotels declared that the new brand will create luxurious business hotels and resorts worldwide, exceeding the chain's existing luxury brand, Conrad Hotels.[2]

As of April 2007, there were 4 properties — the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix, La Quinta Resort & Spa in La Quinta, California, the Waldorf=Astoria in New York and the Grand Wailea Resort & Spa in Maui, Hawaii. Later in 2007, the Qasr Al Sharq in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia was added to the portfolio. The next property to join the portfolio was the Rome Cavelieri, a rebranding and upgrading of the Cavalieri Hilton in Rome, Italy in early summer 2008. During the fall of 2008, three Florida hotels, located in Boca Raton, Key West and Naples, were also added. In July of 2009, the Dakota Mountain Lodge opened in Park City, Utah. It is the first ski resort to join the portfolio.[3]
[edit] Properties
The hotel's name with the double hyphen on the awning over the Park Avenue entrance of Waldorf=Astoria - New York City.
The Palace Jerusalem, a member of The Waldorf=Astoria Collection, under construction in 2008.

Current

* The Waldorf=Astoria — New York City, New York
* Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa – Phoenix, Arizona
* Boca Raton Resort & Club — Boca Raton, Florida +
* Casa Marina Resort & Beach Club – Key West, Florida +
* Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa – Maui, Hawaii
* La Quinta Resort & Club – La Quinta, California
* Edgewater Beach Hotel — Naples, Florida +
* Naples Grande Beach Resort – Naples, Florida +
* Qasr Al Sharq — Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
* The Reach Resort – Key West, Florida +
* Rome Cavalieri — Rome, Italy
* Trianon Palace – Versailles, France
* El San Juan Hotel & Casino — San Juan, Puerto Rico +
* El Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa – Fajardo, Puerto Rico +
* Las Casitas Village & Spa – Fajardo, Puerto Rico +
* The Roosevelt – New Orleans, Louisiana
* The Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa — Scottsdale, Arizona +
* Dakota Mountain Lodge & Golden Door Spa — Park City, Utah
* Waldorf=Astoria at Bonnet Creek – Orlando, Florida (2009)
* The Bentley Hotel – London, United Kingdom

Planned (Conversion or Development)

* The Palace Jerusalem – Jerusalem, Israel (2010)
* Waldorf=Astoria Beverly Hills – Beverly Hills, California (2010)
* Waldorf=Astoria Chicago – Chicago, Illinois
* Waldorf=Astoria Philadelphia – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (2012)
* Waldorf=Astoria Sarasota – Sarasota, Florida (2010)
* Waldorf=Astoria Montreal – Montreal, Canada (2011)
* Waldorf=Astoria Berlin – Berlin, Germany (2011)
* Waldorf=Astoria Shanghai — Shanghai, China (2011)

+ means conversion from LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels.

Located in the heart of London, enjoy!:)

Detail of the arched facade of Christopher Wrens Sheldonian Theatre.

From Wikipedia : 'Nothing is known for sure of Wren's first designs for the Sheldonian, but the finished building was a sharp, unmistakable break from the Gothic past. Wren designed the Sheldonian based on Serlio's engraving of the D-shaped Theatre of Marcellus in Rome in the first century BC.

Like any Mediterranean theatre of that time, the Theatre of Marcellus had no roof: the audience relied on a temporary awning for inclement weather. But 17th-century Oxford was not ancient Rome, and the Theatre needed a permanent roof. Yet the span of the D-shaped roof was over 70 feet (21 m). No timbers existed that were long enough to cross that distance, and Wren dismissed the obvious solution of a Gothic roof. Instead, he decided to use the "geometrical flat floor" grid developed twenty years before by Oxford professor John Wallis.'