The Peebles Corp. wants to build a hotel at the site of the old Stevens School.
A while back, I wrote about the proliferation of boutique hotels—both recently-opened and in the works—in Washington D.C. and drew up a list of all the new options flooding downtown with their sleek leather furniture and funky lighting (and annoying websites with intolerable ambient music).
At my latest count, there are eight—EIGHT!—sites to consider in the District. For the whole list, check below the jump.
National Public Radio has an explanation for this madness in a recent story. At one point before the recession, customers were willing to pay about $80 more to stay in these special hotels rather than generic chain places. Boutique brand managers just expect that one day, it will all turn around again.:
[Reed Woodworth, a hotel industry analyst for PKF Consulting] says investing in new locations during a downturn can keep customers loyal and interested. But it’s risky.
“It’s still pretty much the wisdom in the hospitality world that this is going to be a rather slow climb out of this hole,” he says. “So while they are riding the upswing as it were, it still looks to be a very gradual upswing over the next few years.”
That means it could be a long time before these hotels make money. After all, people have gotten used to paying low rates for high-end hotels.
There are several proposed hotels in the works:
- In Adams Morgan, there’s a hotel planned the corner of Champlain and Euclid Streets.
- On U Street, there’s a hotel planned for the corner of U and 13th Streets.
- The Franklin School building downtown could go hotel.
- The neighbors in the West End are dying for a boutique hotel in the old Stevens School.
- One finalist to redevelop Hine Junior High School pitched a Kimpton Hotel for the Eastern Marketarea (…but they didn’t win the site, after all).
- The Me by Melia chain is expecting to open a location in Mount Vernon Square, as a commenter pointed out.
Plus several new additions:
- Starwood Hotels’ W brand just opened up a hotel, next to the White House, and the CEO envisions more Washington D.C. hotels, according to the Washington Business Journal.
- Plus, Thompson Hotels opened up the Donovan House by Thomas Circle in early 2008.
- The Jefferson Hotel on 16th Street just reopened.
Image by Peebles Corporation