The Watergate Hotel’s $125-million renovation means a new legacy for an old story
On June 17, 1972, Frank Wills, a security guard at the Watergate Complex, changed American politics — and a D.C. landmark — forever.
Early that morning, Wills alerted authorities to a possible disturbance. At 2:30 a.m., five burglars were arrested for breaking into the complex as part of a plot to bug in the offices of the Democratic National Committee. This was the beginning of the end for President Richard M. Nixon, who would resign two years later. President Gerald R. Ford took office. America moved on.
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But the Watergate Complex remains, with a legacy shadowed by scandal. The Watergate Hotel in June will reopen to unveil a $125-million renovation after nearly a decade of being closed.
In the '70s, the Watergate name was synonymous with luxury and glamour.
"It was all encompassing," said Gigi Winston, president of Winston Real Estate.
Winston, who grew up at the Watergate working under her father managing the complex, believes the renovation will give the complex a fresh start and bring back its lost luster.
"People would come from the suburbs to spend the day," she said. "You would see all sorts of celebrities around. We experienced the best shopping and food. It was everything."
The idea of the complex was revolutionary for D.C. at the time of its construction. Famed Italian architect Luigi Moretti designed the complex in 1962, creating an iconic structure from the beginning.
The Watergate Complex consists of several parts, with office and residential buildings, commercial areas and the hotel.
"It’s an Italian building unlike many in the U.S.," said Richard Longstreth, a professor of American Studies and Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at George Washington University, who is also an advocate for historic preservation in the D.C. area.
"Watergate seems like a 'strange' group of buildings because the complex is really one-of-a-kind in the United States and very different from the myriad tendencies we associate with Modern Architecture here during the mid-twentieth century," Longstreth wrote in a letter to the Historic Preservation Review Board advocating for the refresh of the hotel. "Few Washington properties less than fifty years old come close to matching its significance as a design."
"People will still recognize the familiar exterior," said Rakel Cohen, Senior Vice President of Design and Development for Euro Capital Properties, which completed the $125-million renovation. She notes the building was designed to look like a sail on the Potomac, and that the renovation takes opportunities to build on that.
"We wanted to be the first to really embrace the building’s history, avant-garde architecture and bold curves."
"We wanted to be the first to really embrace the building’s history, avant-garde architecture and bold curves," she said.
The Watergate’s legacy is intact, scandal and all, and that’s the way Euro Capital Properties wants it: It’s not negative — it’s iconic. Hotel guests will even receive key cards that read "no need to break in."
The hotel's new amenities include a rooftop lounge, a whisky bar in the lobby, a full spa and health center and a new restaurant, called Kingbird, set to open shortly after the hotel's unveiling.
There are 336 rooms, 17,000 sq. ft. of indoor event space and 10,000 sq. ft. of outdoor space.
Cohen says the D.C. market is "starving" for the Watergate's new luxurious face. The Watergate Hotel has been relatively overlooked and seemingly untouched during the District's recent renaissance.
Areas like Logan Circle, Shaw and U Street are booming with new luxury concepts in hotels and restaurants — the waterfront is poised to catch up.
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