Watergate Hotel's $125 Million Renovation Embraces Its Past

“We’ve never been a stranger to slander, to the spotlight, to scandals, to controversy.” That’s the introduction in a promotional video (below) that gives a hint of what’s to come in the $125 million renovation of The Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C.

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser applauded the renovation, in a “topping off” ceremony at the Watergate Hotel Thursday. “The sound you hear is D.C. residents — I hope– working,” the Washington Post reported her as saying. The hotel has provided 350 construction jobs and will provide hotel jobs once renovation is completed. The hotel has been closed for a dozen years.

Located at 2650 Virginia Ave., the hotel is perched on the banks of the Potomac River in DC’s Foggy Bottom neighborhood. The iconic DC landmark is best known for its role in the Watergate scandal that toppled President Richard Nixon.

The headquarters of the Democratic National Committee, then located on the sixth floor of the Watergate Hotel and Office Building, was burglarized in 1972. An investigation into the burglary revealed high officials in the Nixon White House had ordered the break-in and tried to cover up their involvement.

Rather than brush the scandal under the rug, the plan for the new Watergate Hotel is to embrace its past and all of the cultural cues that were part of that era. All signs point to the hoteliers going for a vibe similar to the Rat Pat era; think the retro sounds of Brazil 66 or the popular TV show “Mad Men.” In fact employees at the new hotel will wear uniforms designed by the costume designer for the AMC show, according to a US News & World Report and other media.

When the renovated hotel (not the iconic exterior designed by Italian architect Luigi Moretti) reopens in late summer, you’ll find a whiskey bar, a 12th-floor roof deck and a cigar lounge.

The owners of the hotel are Jacques Cohen and wife Rakel Cohen, of Euro Capital Properties.

PHOTO: The Watergate Hotel, photo from previous real estate listing