Kathy Hilton Opens Up About Raising Her Family in NYC Hotel

Getty Waldorf Astoria in New York City

Kathy Hilton used to have some hunky dory living quarters.

The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star opened up about living at the famed Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City for nearly a decade when her children were young.

Before moving into their Bel-Air, California mansion, Kathy and Rick Hilton raised their kids Paris, Nicky, Barron, and Conrad in a luxurious 30th-floor penthouse at the posh Waldorf Towers at the hotel, according to Showbiz Cheatsheet.

While that seems like an unusual place to raise a family, the Hiltons have major ties to the hotel world. Not only is Kathy’s husband, Rick, part of the famous Hilton hotel family, but Kathy used to work in the banquet and sales department at the Waldorf Astoria, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The family was able to live in the penthouse in the residential section of The Waldorf because Rick’s father had owned the hotel since the 1940s, per Starcasm.

The Hiltons Had Famous Neighbors at the Hotel

CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images

It’s no surprise that the Hiltons had some celebrity neighbors when they lived at the hotel for years.

Pal Andy Warhol would often hang out with Kathy at the hotel, per Interview magazine. And Kathy once told Forbes that she sometimes hosted parties and charity balls and would party afterward with hotel regulars Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand,

“They lived on the 33rd floor,” she said. “Michael Jackson lived on the 30th floor opposite us — we were 30H, and he was 30A. He was there for about six months. We had gone to school together when we were younger, so we had a lot of fun spending time together.”

Kathy Hilton Called Her Time Living at the Waldorf Astoria ‘Lovely’

GettyKathy Hilton and her husband Rick Hilton

Kathy also addressed her time living at the hotel while speaking at the “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” reunion. After host Andy Cohen asked her how long her family lived at the hotel, the mom of Paris Hilton said, “Nine years.”

“It was very, very lovely,” she said of the experience, per BravoTV.com. “We loved being in close quarters under one roof, except when Paris would sneak out of the service elevator.”

Kathy’s sister Kyle Richards also chimed in to say that one time when she was visiting her sister at the hotel they couldn’t find her daughter Alexia or Kathy’s son Conrad.

“They were hiding in an air conditioning vent at the Waldorf Astoria,” Kyle revealed.

Paris and Conrad weren’t the only mischievous Hiltons. Kathy’s daughter Nicky Hilton told Forbes that there was “excitement” every day while living in the high-end quarters and that she and her sister would sometimes snoop around after high-profile events.

“You would go up in the elevator one day with the President and the next day with the Rolling Stones,” she said. “There was always someone or something interesting going on here. I would say one of our favorite past times was breaking into the ballroom after an event and peeking and sneaking around. We weren’t called the ‘Eloise’s of the Waldorf’ for no reason.”

There was also once a security mix-up when a pair of Kathy’s diamond earrings went missing while the family lived at the hotel. Kathy told Footwear News that she called Waldorf Astoria security to report her jewels stolen only to find out that her daughter Nicky had borrowed them without telling her.

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