Elegant but dated
I was excited about staying in the world famous Waldorf Astoria in NYC. The lobby and adjacent areas are elegant and tasteful. The room was ok, but not exciting. The view was horrid, but then I didn't pay extra for a room with a view. As a Hilton Gold member, I'd been hoping for a better accommodation -- apparently they provided an upgraded room, but it just didn't seem so (not sure how the more basic room would have been). 
There was something disconcerting to me, and at first I thought I was imagining it --- the room smelled like cat urine. I remarked to my friend, and she said that she smelled it but attributed it to foul air freshener. It was most noticable when returning to the room from being out. The hallway definitely did not have the same odor, but the minute the door to the room was open, there it was. I've had cats, so unfortunately I know that horrid smell. 
You know, I really wanted to love my experience at the Waldorf, but it seemed that there was something a bit off, left and right...
The bathroom was nice and spacious, but the water didn't drain well while showering. Tromping around in an inch of water while in the shower isn't appealing.
There was WIFI, but it was so slow I couldn't bear to use it. The television was nice, but the remote didn't respond properly (in the end, we decide the batteries were probably nearly dead --- just weird to have these issues at a hotel of the Waldorf's stature). 
We had a drink in the hotel bar (I'm trying to remember the name of it -- not the one open to the lobby, but another, dark panelled place). The service was not good. My friend ordered the specialty drink at the top of the menu, and was told that they didn't have the main ingredient -- again, seems weird for a place with a presumably fine reputation, to operate that way. Why would they not have the ingredients for their "signature drink"? The waitress brought our drinks, then never came back to our table. Eventually she came back and never asked us if we wanted another. You notice these sorts of things when you have high expectations during a visit.