'The first "on location" movie filmed outside the Hollywood studios sets' according to a plaque at the Waldorf Astoria. The movie continually plays on a monitor near the registration desk at the Waldorf.
This film was a huge success at the box office, earning MGM a profit of $1,474,000 ($20.3M in 2017) according to studio records.
The owners of the Waldorf-Astoria at the time lobbied MGM to shoot the film in color to better showcase the hotel's opulence and decor, but obviously were unsuccessful.
Some interior and exterior scenes were shot on location at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, but the majority of the film was produced at the MGM studios - where the lobby, Starlight Roof Garden, and about sixty other sets were created.
Following in the illustrious footsteps of its source material, Grand Hôtel (1932), the story lines of this film do not intersect, which means the ensemble cast does not appear together in any one scene.