Frederick and William C. Muschenheim planned the massive hotel when the area was still dubbed Longacre Square. At the time, the area was a far more subdued part of town, but the Muschenheim brothers correctly read the winds of change. The brothers leased the land from William Waldorf Astor (who would lend the hotel its name) and construction began in 1902.

While much was made in the press of the Hotel Astor built as a part of a rivalry between William Waldorf Astor and Col J.J. Astor (who was building the St. Regis.), the Muschenheim brothers were the real drivers behind the hotel and Astor remained a largely absentee landlord. However, the brothers quickly took advantage of the press, billing the hotel as the spiritual successor to the Waldorf-Astoria.

The Muschenheim brothers had sited their hotel well. The Hotel Astor opened in August of 1904, the same year that the New York Times finished their new headquarters nearby (resulting in the name change to Times Square from Longacre Square.) The resulting publicity, added foot traffic, plus the subway that the Times' owner had convinced the city to build at Times Square, put the Hotel Astor "At The Crossroads of the World."

At the cost of 5,000,000$, the Hotel Astor was a site to behold. It occupied an entire city block, with architect's Clinton and Russel giving it a handsome Beaux-Art facade made of red brick and limestone. Nine stories tall with two subterranean levels, the Astor had 500 hundred guest rooms as well as halls, cafes, and bars.

The Astor was also meant to be fully up to date. Fully electrified, the hotel contained elevators, electric lighting, a trash incinerator, and other amenities that would be taken for granted today, but which caused the hotel to be quite novel for 1904.

The Astor was a success and soon crowds flocked to stay at the hotel or rent its rooms for events. Its visitors counted everyone from Winston Churchill to Dwight D. Eisenhower.

A 1964 New York Times article would state "Since its grand opening 60 years ago, the Astor's Grand Ballroom has been the scene of brilliant social events attended by 10 presidents, numerous kings and queens and practically every major celebrity to come to New York. The late Mayor James J. Walker called the room "the Times Square annex to City Hall"

A beautiful Italian garden cafe was a centerpiece of the hotel with plants and vines filling the space.

These rooms included a rathskeller meant to replicate the Heidelburg Tun for its guests to carouse in.

Moreover, the Astor had numerous banquet halls where elaborate dinners were held.

The largest of these was a Louis XV banquet hall and ballroom that could be combined to host more than 750 guests.

A series of renovations, sales, and demographic changes to the area would eventually alter the Hotel Astor greatly. A 1964 fire would burn out the shell and eventually seal its fate. Despite a million-dollar restoration, the hotel was demolished two years later following the financial troubles of its owner.