The St. Regis Washington, D.C.

The St. Regis Washington, D.C. known for many years as The Carlton Hotel, is an historic hotel located at 923 Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C. two blocks north of the White House.

Carlton Hotel
Location923 16th Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Coordinates38°54′6.42″N 77°2′11.53″W
Built1926 (1926)
ArchitectMihran Mesrobian
Architectural styleBeaux Arts
Part ofSixteenth Street Historic District (ID78003060)
NRHP reference No.90000911
Added to NRHPJune 28, 1990 [1]

History

The Beaux-Arts and Neo-Renaissance style luxury hotel was built as The Carlton Hotel in 1926 by local developer Harry Wardman. It was designed by architect Mihran Mesrobian.[2] Cordell Hull lived there during World War II.

Wardman was forced to sell the hotel in 1930, due to the Great Depression.[3] The hotel was then resold in 1953 to Sheraton Hotels,[3] which renamed the hotel the Sheraton-Carlton Hotel.

The Sheraton-Carlton closed for extensive renovations from December 1987 to October 2, 1988 at a cost of $16 million.[4] Soon after reopening in 1988, the hotel's name reverted to The Carlton Hotel. In 1999, it was renamed The St. Regis Washington, D.C.

Claret Capital, a real estate investment firm based in Dublin, Ireland, purchased the hotel in 2007 for about $170 million. Claret renovated the property in 2008. But the Great Recession significantly hurt both the luxury hotel industry and the Irish economy, and Claret Capital was not able to continue making payments on the loan it secured from Barclays Capital. Barclays foreclosed on the hotel in September 2010, and announced plans to auction off the property.[5]

Westbrook Partners, a real estate investment firm based in New York City, purchased the St. Regis from Barclays in May 2011 for $100 million.[6] Westbrook renovated the lobby and main bar in 2013. That same year, the hotel's high-end restaurant, Adour, closed and was replaced by a more moderately priced establishment, Decanter, which was owned and managed by the hotel itself.[7]

"The Pursuit of a Legacy: The Mehran Mesrobian History and Heritage Tour of the St. Regis Washington D.C." – an hour-long history and heritage tour of the property for guests of the hotel and the public - ran on Thursdays and Fridays at 5:00 PM from October 2013 through July 2014. The experience was led by the hotel's Cultural Attaché. The tour was the first of its kind in Washington, D.C., and took participants through the hotel's extraordinary 87-year history, from its inception to the modern day.

Westbrook Partners sold the St. Regis Hotel to Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Co. (ARTIC), a hotel and resort investment company based in Qatar, for an undisclosed sum in July 2015. Included in the purchase was a 22,000 square feet (2,000 m2), two-story building next to the hotel. ARTIC said that the hotel would continue to be branded a St. Regis.[7]

The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is designated as a contributing property to the Sixteenth Street Historic District.

Ratings and reviews

The AAA gave the hotel four diamonds out of five in 2008. The hotel has maintained that rating every year, and received four diamonds again for 2016.[8] Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as Mobil Guide) awarded the hotel four out of five stars as well in 2016.[9]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Data". npgallery.nps.gov.
  3. "Info". npgallery.nps.gov.
  4. "Historic Hotels of the World".
  5. Krouse, Sarah (April 26, 2011). "Barclays to sell St. Regis this spring". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  6. "Westbrook paid $100M for St. Regis debt". Washington Business Journal. May 19, 2011. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  7. Cooper, Rebecca (July 8, 2015). "One of D.C.'s luxury hotels gets new owner from Qatar". Washington Business Journal. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  8. American Automobile Association (January 15, 2016). AAA/CAA Four Diamond Hotels (PDF) (Report). p. 1. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  9. "Forbes Travel Guide 2016 Star Award Winners". Forbes Travel Guide. February 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
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