Marriott Marquis Washington DC [Master Thread]
 

Construction of new Washington Marriott Marquis starts October 2009 with projected completion in late 2013:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...080102225.html

Cool......................not that they will ever have any great, summer-in-DC-and-no-one-is-in-town deals, BUT at least it is something to look forward to.

Interesting that they refer to the Marquis as "Marriott's highest-end chain". I thought the Marquis was perhaps a tiny step up from a standard FS Marriott, geared almost exclusively towards convention-goers. I certainly would think Renaissance and JW are positioned higher in the brand strategy...

Not to mention Ritz Carlton.

Renaissance is positioned in the same category as MHRS however at a different segment of the market. JW is a brand extension - Marquis isn't really a brand extension, it's more of a segment within MHRS

So what you're saying, Socrates, is that the Marquis is Marriott's highest-end chain if you include it as part of MHRS/JW and equivalent to Renaissance?

And you're right about Ritz-Carlton, aaupgrade, but I was going to give the reporter a "pass" on that one since I figured maybe the Marriott PR folks who undoubtedly spoon-fed him his facts don't go out of their way to highlight the Marriott-Ritz tie.

Brave souls initiating construction of a mega-property as hotel occupancy levels across the nation plummet to their worst levels in decades. With little recovery in site.

As an aside, the Marquis branding mentioned in this thread is new to me--the only one I know is in NYC. And that property strikes me as little more than a HUGE regular Marriottt.

The giant Washington Marriott Marquis opened today.

Fun facts: the hotel extends 92' below ground, as well as 149' above ground; it's the 4,000th Marriott hotel; and it incorporates original barstools from the first Marriott business (Hot Shoppes, a soda fountain that was about 25 blocks NW).

Photo gallery:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...ery.html#item0

Smart business. Like Warren Buffett says, when people get scared, get greedy; when people get greedy, get scared. Finished when occupancy rates are the highest in years, and room rates are double what they were 5 years ago.

Except according to this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/busine...1f4_story.html

They've been trying to get this thing built for almost 25 years and 40% of the cost ended up being provided by public funding...

I think we're in agreement. Smart business to get tax dollars to pay 40% of associated cost... ^

Hmm, I think it was only 16 years. "The hotel, promised when the District broke ground on the convention center in 1998" <= from the article found at the link in post #1.

Getting back to more important things ;) When someone stays there please do an update on what the exec lounge situation is on the weekends. Thx!

Cheers.

I too would love to see that! Just booked a 1 br suite for 4th of July weekend on a BRG!

Yes, and those updates should be posted in the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-weekends.html thread where they would be on topic. This thread's topic is about the construction of the Washington JW Marriott Marquis as noted in post #1. Thanks. ;)

Well as noted above, some folk would like overall reports re: the property, not just a generic discussion of when was/is a good time to build (for any hotel chain). But if that's important to you we'll leave you to it. ;) For me it ranks right up there with how much do hotels get reimbursed by Marriott for stays. Answer is it doesn't matter/who cares.

Cheers.