The St. Regis Washington, D.C. known for many years as the Carlton Hotel, is an historic hotel located at 923 16th and K streets, N.W. in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

two blocks north of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

History

20th century

The Carlton Hotel was built by local developer Harry Wardman and opened on October 1, 1926. It was designed in a mix of the Beaux-Arts and Neo-Renaissance styles by architect Mihran Mesrobian.

Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevel ...

lived there during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Wardman was forced to sell the hotel in 1930, due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. The hotel was sold, along with the Wardman Park Hotel, to Sheraton Hotels on May 27, 1953. The new owners renamed the hotel the Sheraton-Carlton Hotel. In December 1987, The Sheraton-Carlton closed for extensive renovations, costing $16 million. The hotel's guest rooms were entirely gutted and enlarged, reducing their number from 250 to 200. The Sheraton Carlton began receiving guests again on October 1, 1988, the anniversary of its original opening. The hotel's grand reopening was celebrated on October 6, 1988. The hotel was renamed The Carlton - An ITT Sheraton Luxury Hotel in 1991. On April 6, 1999, Starwood Hotels & Resorts renamed the hotel The St. Regis Washington, D.C.

21st century

In 2007, Claret Capital, a real estate investment firm based in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, purchased the hotel for about $170 million. Claret renovated the property in 2008, but the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

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 had secured from

Barclays Capital Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

. Barclays foreclosed on the hotel in September 2010, and announced plans to auction off the property. Westbrook Partners, a real estate investment firm based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, purchased The St. Regis from Barclays in May 2011 for $100 million. 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. Westbrook Partners sold The St. Regis to Al Rayyan Tourism Investment Co. (ARTIC), a hotel and resort investment company based in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, for an undisclosed sum in July 2015. Included in the purchase was a , two-story building next to the hotel. ARTIC said that the hotel would continue to be branded a St. Regis. The hotel is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, and is designated as a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

to the

Sixteenth Street Historic District The Sixteenth Street Historic District is a linear Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Washington, D.C., that includes all structures along 16th Street NW between H Street (Washington, D.C.), H Street and Florida Avenue. ...

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. Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as Mobil Guide) awarded the hotel four out of five stars as well in 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:St. Regis Washington, D.C. Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Hotel buildings completed in 1926 Historic district contributing properties in Washington, D.C. Hotels in Washington, D.C. K Street

Sheraton hotels