Four Seasons Hotel, Washington, D.C.
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The Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC is a luxury hotel located at 2800
Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4 ...
NW in
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...


About the hotel

The 222-room, $21.726 million Four Seasons hotel was designed by architect
David Childs David Magie Childs (born April 1, 1941) is an American architect and chairman emeritus of the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. He is the architect of the new One World Trade Center in New York City. Early life and education Chil ...
of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. At its opening in 1979, ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' architectural critic Wolf Von Eckardt said the building featured "skillful urban design". But it was marred by poorly laid brick and "phoney"
concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...
window lintels painted to look like brownstone. He called Childs' idea of making the entrance a campanile "charming", but declared Childs' idea of making the campanile a stand-alone tower "insipid". The hotel's interiors were designed by Frank Nicholson. Rooms featured a great deal of marble and plush carpeting. The furniture was imitation Chippendale, public spaces and guest room features occasionally mimicked Chinese and Japanese artistry, and the color scheme of the hotel was
earth tone Earth tone is a color scheme with multiple meanings. In its narrowest sense, it refers to "any color containing some brown" – the color of ground or soil (earth). It can also refer to "natural colors" (colors found in nature) such as brown soil, ...
s. There was no hotel lobby. Rather, a concierge behind a
standing desk A standing desk or stand-up desk is a desk conceived for writing, reading or drawing while standing up or while sitting on a high stool. History Several writers and statesmen wrote standing up: Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens, Winston Churc ...
greeted guests. In 1989, the Four Seasons Hotel won a five-diamond rating from the
AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...
, the organization's highest ranking. The Four Seasons underwent a $20 million renovation in 2004. The 200 rooms in the hotel's main structure were closed, and major expansions of the rooms undertaken. The middle room of each three-room block was removed to permit the expansion of the remaining two rooms, with most of the space devoted to expanding each remaining room's bathroom (which now featured custom maple and pear wood cabinets). Room size expanded to an average of per room from . The 60 rooms and suites in the hotel's addition (which were larger than those in the main structure) remained open, as did the hotel's meeting space, restaurant, and spa. The
Mobil Guide Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as Mobil Guide or Mobil Travel Guide) is a star rating service and online travel guide for hotels, restaurants and spas. In 2011, Forbes Travel Guide published its last set of guidebooks and on November 15, 201 ...
gave the hotel a five-star rating after the renovation. Bourbon Steak, the hotel restaurant, is overseen by head chef
Michael Mina Michael Mina ( ar, مايكل مينا; born 1969) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, and cookbook author. He is the founder of the Mina Group, a restaurant management company operating over 40 restaurants worldwide. He is the exec ...
. The restaurant has a capacity of seating of 144 people and a private dining room which seats 22. In September 2015, King Salman of Saudi Arabia rented every single room at the Four Seasons Hotel in order to accommodate his entourage while he met with President Barack Obama. The hotel added an extensive amount of gold gilded furniture and laid red carpet in every hallway in order to meet the royal party's tastes. In that same month,
Strategic Hotels & Resorts Strategic Hotels & Resorts is an American REIT in the hospitality industry. It was publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange as BEE. The company owns 18 luxury hotels, 17 of which are located in the United States and one of which is in German ...
sold itself to
The Blackstone Group Blackstone Inc. is an American alternative investment management company based in New York City. Blackstone's private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyouts in the last three decades, while its real estate b ...
for $6 billion, giving the Four Seasons its first change in ownership.


Rating

In February 2016, the hotel had a five-star rating from
Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as Mobil Guide or Mobil Travel Guide) is a star rating service and online travel guide for hotels, restaurants and spas. In 2011, Forbes Travel Guide published its last set of guidebooks and on November 15, 201 ...
, and a five-diamond rating from
AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...
.


References

{{Four Seasons Hotels 1979 establishments in Washington, D.C. Four Seasons hotels and resorts Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) Hotel buildings completed in 1979 Hotels established in 1979 Hotels in Washington, D.C.