Marriott Wardman Park
Encyclopedia
The Marriott Wardman Park Hotel is a Marriott International
property in Washington, D.C.
. The hotel is located in the Woodley Park neighborhood at 2600 Woodley Road, NW and Connecticut Avenue
, NW, adjacent the Woodley Park station of the Washington Metro
system.
The Wardman Park is the largest hotel in the capital, with 1,316 guest rooms, and 195000 square feet (18,116.1 m²) of total event space and 95000 square feet (8,825.8 m²) of exhibit space.
celebrated the end of World War I
by opening the five-million-dollar 1,000-room Wardman Park Hotel. In 1928, the main building was expanded with the opening of the annex, now known as the Wardman Tower and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
"Before the United States entry into World War II
, espionage and intrigue enveloped the historic hotel with a beguiling British
spy named Cynthia, who operated out of the premises as she spied on the French Vichy Embassy. Cloaked in the darkness of night, she would visit her lover, an embassy employee whom she had compromised, and steal top-secret documents, transporting them back to the hotel and photographing them in a lab she had set up in her room.
"In the late 1940s, the hotel pool was utilized by the 5th Marine Reserves who were taught how to swim with their clothes on. Images of Army Special Forces soldiers rappelling down the side of the Sheraton Park Hotel have also been located, taken during a training exercise on October 3, 1962.
The first televised broadcast of NBC
's Meet the Press took place in 1947 in the Wardman Tower, where host Lawrence Spivak was a resident. Other shows broadcast from the hotel include The Camel
News Caravan, The Today Show (Frank Blair segments), and the The Arthur Murray
Dance Program.
The Sheraton Corporation purchased the property in 1953 and renamed it the Sheraton-Park Hotel. Substantial additions were made to the property transforming it into a full-scale convention hotel, including the 1964 addition known as the Park Tower. In 1977 the main hotel building was demolished and replaced by a modern hotel and the entire property was renamed the Sheraton Washington Hotel. In 1998, following a protracted lawsuit against Sheraton by the hotel's then owners, John Hancock Insurance
and the Sumitomo Corporation
, Marriott International took over management of the property, renaming the hotel the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. In 1999, Thayer Hotel Investors of Annapolis, Md., purchased the Marriot Wardman Park. These investors hoped, in 2004, to sell the Hotel.
Attorney General
Michael Mukasey collapsed on November 20, 2008, while giving a speech to the Federalist Society
in Washington D.C. at the hotel. He lost consciousness but was talking when he was led away to George Washington University Hospital
.
is an example of the type of large, logistically complicated event that the hotel puts on. Additionally, the Hotel hosts the annual International Telecommunications Week (ITW) trade show and idea summit.
Marriott International
Marriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
property in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The hotel is located in the Woodley Park neighborhood at 2600 Woodley Road, NW and Connecticut Avenue
Connecticut Avenue (Washington, D.C.)
Connecticut Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., and suburban Montgomery County, Maryland. It is one of the diagonal avenues radiating from the White House, and the segment south of Florida Avenue was one of the original streets in Pierre Charles...
, NW, adjacent the Woodley Park station of the Washington Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
system.
The Wardman Park is the largest hotel in the capital, with 1,316 guest rooms, and 195000 square feet (18,116.1 m²) of total event space and 95000 square feet (8,825.8 m²) of exhibit space.
History
In 1918, developer Harry WardmanHarry Wardman
Harry Wardman was a real estate developer in Washington, D.C. during the early 20th century whose developments included landmark hotels, luxury apartment buildings, and many rowhouses.-Personal life:...
celebrated the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
by opening the five-million-dollar 1,000-room Wardman Park Hotel. In 1928, the main building was expanded with the opening of the annex, now known as the Wardman Tower and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
"Before the United States entry into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, espionage and intrigue enveloped the historic hotel with a beguiling British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
spy named Cynthia, who operated out of the premises as she spied on the French Vichy Embassy. Cloaked in the darkness of night, she would visit her lover, an embassy employee whom she had compromised, and steal top-secret documents, transporting them back to the hotel and photographing them in a lab she had set up in her room.
"In the late 1940s, the hotel pool was utilized by the 5th Marine Reserves who were taught how to swim with their clothes on. Images of Army Special Forces soldiers rappelling down the side of the Sheraton Park Hotel have also been located, taken during a training exercise on October 3, 1962.
The first televised broadcast of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Meet the Press took place in 1947 in the Wardman Tower, where host Lawrence Spivak was a resident. Other shows broadcast from the hotel include The Camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
News Caravan, The Today Show (Frank Blair segments), and the The Arthur Murray
Arthur Murray
Arthur Murray was a dance instructor and businessman, whose name is most often associated with the dance studio chain that bears his name....
Dance Program.
The Sheraton Corporation purchased the property in 1953 and renamed it the Sheraton-Park Hotel. Substantial additions were made to the property transforming it into a full-scale convention hotel, including the 1964 addition known as the Park Tower. In 1977 the main hotel building was demolished and replaced by a modern hotel and the entire property was renamed the Sheraton Washington Hotel. In 1998, following a protracted lawsuit against Sheraton by the hotel's then owners, John Hancock Insurance
John Hancock Insurance
John Hancock Financial is a loose term for a United States insurance company which existed, in various forms, from its founding on April 21, 1862, until its acquisition in 2004 by the Canadian insurance company Manulife Financial. It was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent patriot...
and the Sumitomo Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation is one of the largest worldwide trading company , and is a diversified corporation. Sumitomo is headquartered in the Harumi Island Triton Square Office Tower Y in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan...
, Marriott International took over management of the property, renaming the hotel the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. In 1999, Thayer Hotel Investors of Annapolis, Md., purchased the Marriot Wardman Park. These investors hoped, in 2004, to sell the Hotel.
Attorney General
United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
Michael Mukasey collapsed on November 20, 2008, while giving a speech to the Federalist Society
Federalist Society
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, most frequently called simply the Federalist Society, is an organization of conservatives seeking reform of the current American legal system in accordance with a textualist and/or originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution...
in Washington D.C. at the hotel. He lost consciousness but was talking when he was led away to George Washington University Hospital
George Washington University Hospital
The George Washington University Hospital is a hospital in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It opened on On August 23, 2002, with 371 beds in a 400,000 sq. ft. building, housing than $45 million of medical equipment and cost more than $96 million to construct...
.
Residents
The Wardman Tower building has been home to a number of politicians and other public figures, including three U.S. presidents:- Vice President Spiro AgnewSpiro AgnewSpiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
- Vice President Charles CurtisCharles CurtisCharles Curtis was a United States Representative, a longtime United States Senator from Kansas later chosen as Senate Majority Leader by his Republican colleagues, and the 31st Vice President of the United States...
- Actress Marlene DietrichMarlene DietrichMarlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
- Senator Bob DoleBob DoleRobert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
- President Dwight D. EisenhowerDwight D. EisenhowerDwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
- U.S. Attorney Paul M. Gagnon
- Senator Barry GoldwaterBarry GoldwaterBarry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...
- President Herbert HooverHerbert HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
- President Lyndon B. JohnsonLyndon B. JohnsonLyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
- Socialite Perle Mesta
- Senator Chuck RobbChuck RobbCharles Spittal "Chuck" Robb is an American politician. He served as the 64th Governor of Virginia from 1982 to 1986, and as a United States senator from 1989 until 2001. In 2004, he chaired the Iraq Intelligence Commission.-Early life:...
- Chief Justice Frederick M. Vinson
- Vice President Henry WallaceHenry A. WallaceHenry Agard Wallace was the 33rd Vice President of the United States , the Secretary of Agriculture , and the Secretary of Commerce . In the 1948 presidential election, Wallace was the nominee of the Progressive Party.-Early life:Henry A...
- Chief Justice Earl WarrenEarl WarrenEarl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...
- TWATwaThe Twa are any of several hunting peoples of Africa who live interdependently with agricultural Bantu populations, and generally hold a socially subordinate position: They provide the farming population with game in exchange for agricultural products....
President Jack Frye and wife, Helen
Events
As one of the largest event spaces in Washington DC, the Marriott Wardman Park hosts many events each year. The Conservative Political Action ConferenceConservative Political Action Conference
The Conservative Political Action Conference is an annual political conference attended by conservative activists and elected officials from across the United States....
is an example of the type of large, logistically complicated event that the hotel puts on. Additionally, the Hotel hosts the annual International Telecommunications Week (ITW) trade show and idea summit.