“I like to say there are many hotels in D.C.,” says common supervisor Stephane Vogel, “but there’s only one Hotel Washington.”
Which is a well mannered approach of claiming: When you’ve been round for greater than a century in the country’s capital — a town of custom, energy and affect — you don’t want to concern an excessive amount of about being hip. Especially this present day, when sustainability and authenticity are being reembraced.
Truth is, this the city is on occasion cool however at all times ancient. Vogel arrived in Washington 23 years in the past amid the explosion of artsy, boutique motels — which, like many eating places, are white-hot for a 12 months or two, then disappear. In 2021, the W used to be reportedly bought to the Schulte Hospitality Group, which right away reclaimed the well-known title. Vogel got here onboard final 12 months, decided to de-hip the lodge and spotlight its lengthy history.
There’s a mild line between respecting the previous and dwelling in it — maximum motels aren’t literal museums. The trick is attaining one thing that turns out undying with out feeling pressured, a cultured that lots of the grand previous European motels have mastered.
The Beaux-Arts construction, opened on May 22, 1917, sits one block from the White House — making it the simple selection for somebody visiting the president. VIP visitors have integrated Duke Ellington, John Wayne, Will Rogers and Tom Cruise. The solid of the Ziegfeld Follies stayed there; Shriners celebrated the finish of Prohibition through driving horses thru the foyer. (Alas, no pictures continue to exist.)
It used to be additionally house to many dignitaries who appreciated the luxurious and comfort of dwelling in a lodge only a stone’s throw from the White House. Residents integrated a number of individuals of Congress. Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy and Vice President John Nance Garner each lived there for just about a decade.
And, in fact, the notorious, week-long keep of Elvis.
In December 1970, the celebrity checked in hoping for a gathering with President Richard M. Nixon. “Sir,” he wrote in a letter, “I am staying at the Washington Hotel, Room 505-506-507 [now Suite 406] … I am registered under the name of Jon Burrows. I will be here for as long as it takes to get the credentials of a Federal Agent.” The well-known picture op of the ensuing White House stumble upon is nonetheless certainly one of the most-requested pictures in the U.S. National Archives.
The lodge used to be indexed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995, so there have been many tears when it closed in 2007, going through a renovation and a long term as a part of the graceful, stylish W franchise. The W brand used to be younger, arty, type ahead, with a foyer as “living room” and packed bars with lovely younger other people.
The new vibe used to be much less magnificence and extra nightclub — space tune, zebra prints and pink patent leather-based — that you just may well be admitted to should you have been cool sufficient. But cool used to be in: Obama arrived in Washington simply as the W opened, and the town attempted to be as without problems refined as the new president used to be.
The W “really tapped into this new wave of travelers that were expecting something else than just staying at a boring hotel in a boring room,” says Vogel. “They did a fantastic job. But travelers have come to a point where too much hipness is no longer really wanted. I think there is a need for people to understand where they stay, a connection to the local.”
That tracks with present traits in the lodge trade, says Stacy Shoemaker, the editor in leader of Hospitality Design mag. “The buzz words are ‘local,’ ‘authentic,’ ‘true to place,’” she stated. “We’re seeing a lot of historic renovations and adaptive reuse. The bones and history of a place mean more and more.”
In New York City, a new generation is flocking to historic venues — Bemelmans in the Carlyle Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, the Rainbow Room — to revel in the glamour and sophistication of the vintage cocktail lounges and motels. Shoemaker says there’ll at all times be room for a brand new, cool spot — however other people come to Washington for history, and “leaning into that history makes it more meaningful for guests. It’s creating that soul.”
In 2019, the W unveiled a $50 million renovation that proved to spectacularly ill-timed — not up to a 12 months prior to the pandemic crippled the international shuttle and hospitality trade. The lodge used to be bought in 2021, and Vogel used to be employed the subsequent 12 months to stay what works and jettison the relaxation.
The zebra prints were changed through refined neutrals. The hovering foyer has been redone in more-muted colours. The large crystal chandeliers — authentic to the lodge and placing in a staircase — will change the fashionable foyer fixtures quickly. Vogel is maintaining the ballroom carpet (an summary tackle Pierre L’Enfant authentic design of the country’s capital) and the ceilings of the 3 elevators depicting the constellations in the night time sky on July 4, 1776; the lodge’s opening in 1917; and Obama’s first inauguration.
Unchanged: the rooftop terrace, the jewel in the lodge’s crown. You may have noticed it in “The Godfather: Part II” or “No Way Out.” Arguably the most lovely view of Washington, it used to be a hidden gem for many years, prior to turning into an unique scorching spot right through the W incarnation. There have been traces and ropes to stand up, and the New Yorker held its annual White House Correspondents’ reception on the too-packed-to-move house.
Before Vogel labored at the lodge, the roof used to be the first position he took his folks once they visited from Switzerland. He confirmed them the White House, the monuments and, some distance in the distance, the most sensible of Arlington Cemetery.
Now this view is a part of his lodge, person who’s woven into the tale of the town and the nation. “The stories are our history,” he says, “and history always endures.”