What's a hotel chain to do when it wants to add a property in an urban area?
Option A is to build a property on undeveloped land in the 'burbs, and hope guests won't mind the trip to the city center. Option B is to purchase astronomically expensive land within the city limits, and construct from scratch.
Or, the chain could go for option C, renovating an existing city-center property. Though hard to pull off, sometimes this ends up being the best plan for owners, guests, and newly employed local residents. A good example is Washington, D.C.'s Courtyard by Marriott Convention Center. This property opened in June of 1999, but occupies a building constructed in 1891.
This hotel is not the first (or the last) Marriott has opened in a restored historic building--the chain now includes 12 such properties in several American cities. But the downtown Washington location is one of the more unique.
In the early 1990s, few people would have guessed that before the turn of the decade, a successful hotel would open in the neighborhood. The economy was depressed, area storefronts were boarded up, and no one was looking for moderately priced rooms in Washington's down-and-out downtown.
By the mid 90s, however, things had changed. The economy picked up, and plans were announced to build the massive MCI sports and entertainment arena on F Street. Developer R. Donahue Peebles knew the time was right to make his move. Having grown up in Washington, D.C., he had faith that the city's fortunes would turn around.
Peebles was well aware of the history of the building he purchased on the 900 block of F Street. It originally housed the Washington Loan and Trust Company, and later the Riggs Bank. Most recently, it was the home of the business school of the University of the District of Columbia. Although the 100-year-old building was on the National Register of Historical Places, it had been vacant for several years when Peebles purchased it.
$25 million later, the hotel has been restored to a modern version of its full glory. Preservation was not just a consideration, it was a mandate of the renovation process. Guests will notice the effort as soon as they enter the lobby with its marble floors, vaulted ceiling, and brass fittings.
Inside, the rooms and amenities are thoroughly modern. Each room comes with a two-line phone equipped with data ports, and plenty of workspace. There are also plenty of nice touches like hairdryers, irons, and coffeemakers. The property also offers a pool, fitness center, and a decent restaurant--in short, all the best the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries have to offer.•
