WASHINGTON, D.C.
With a location near the site where Willard and Alice Marriott launched a worldwide international hospitality company from their nine-seat root beer stand in 1927, D.C.'s long-awaited convention headquarters hotel —Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C.—has opened for business.
The property is attached by underground concourse to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, which opened in 2003.
Meetings industry people say the new $520 million,1,175-room hotel brings the nation's capital into full-on competition with other U.S. top-tier meetings destinations. They also believe it gives Marriott a solid hometown advantage for booking meetings business.
Marriott International's headquarters is in the national capital region. The company also controls the area's other large convention property, the 2,000-room Gaylord National Resort & Conference Center with 470,000 square feet of function spaces on the Potomac River in Maryland, as well as many smaller properties throughout the national capital area.
The new Marquis is also changing the meetings market mix for D.C., according to Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination D.C..
"Not only can we remain more competitive with the new hotel, but we can also host larger citywide events," says Ferguson. "Because it's attached to the convention center we can layer conventions in the center - one with exhibit space in the center, and another with exhibit space in the hotel."
Ferguson said national and international associations will remain a major market for the capital because many have their headquarters in D.C. near seats of power and influence. But the new Marquis is also bringing in corporate meetings as never before such as Microsoft, which has a July meeting booked into the new hotel.
Bill Wallace, the Marquis' director of sales and marketing said many conference groups already on the new hotel's meetings roster could not previously be accommodated in the nation's capital.
"People want to buy new and they also like the fact that in effect, they can have everything under one roof," says Wallace. "A good example of these bookings is American Dental Association coming in 2015 with 30,000 attendees." Wallace said there's a variety of groups which have already contracted the Marquis, including corporates, fraternal groups, national associations, and faith groups.
The Marriott Marquis Washington is located only blocks from the National Mall and its several museum and monument attractions, as well as the Capitol and U.S. Congress office buildings.
The new billion-dollar CityCenter D.C. mixed-use development that is rising on the site of the city's former convention center is just two blocks from the Marquis' door. It is adding new restaurants, retail, office and residential spaces to center city.
Also new on the downtown scene two blocks from the Marquis is a 200-room Cambria Suites which Ferguson said is a welcomed addition to the meetings facility portfolio with its different room rate level.
"Coming soon - hopefully in 2015 - directly behind and across the street from the Marquis will be a Marriott Residence Inn and Courtyard by Marriott that will both have under 200 guest rooms each. These limited service properties enhance the city's room portfolio, Ferguson said, with their varied rate tiers."
As the Marquis brand's fifth hotel (others are in New York, San Francisco, San Diego, and Atlanta), Marriott Marquis Washington reflects its brand's signature of over 1,000 guest rooms, expansive meeting facilities, multiple restaurants and grand, open public spaces.
D.C.'s newest hotel has a natural light-filled atrium lobby with vegetation and the commanding 56-foot sculpture "The Birth of the American Flag" by Baltimore's Rodney Carroll that is a grand gathering space for guests and attendees. The hotel's southeast corner incorporates the historic Samuel Gompers AFL-CIO headquarters brick facade which now offers an outdoor rooftop event venue for about 120, an 8,000 square-foot health club and at street level, The Dignitary, the clubbish upscale lounge with dark wood surroundings and red leather chairs. High Velocity is the sports bar lounge choice, also on the main level.
M Club Lounge, a new Marriott concierge concept, is on the 12th floor, and offers a place to work, relax and connect. Marriott Rewards Gold and Platinum Elite members automatically enjoy access, plus one guest, as part of their elite status. All other guests may gain access for an additional charge.
Within the new property's 105,000 square feet of function spaces are three ballrooms: one with 30,600 square feet, and two 10,800-square-foot ballrooms.
As the new Marquis takes its place on the D.C. lodging and meetings scene, some speculate about the "Marriott effect" on local rates for guest rooms and meeting spaces.
It was two years ago that Marriott International signed a deal to run four Gaylord Entertainment hotels, including the Gaylord National. At that time, veteran industry analyst Bjorn Hanson, a professor at New York University's Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management, told the Associated Press that the Marriott deal could allow the company to create a two-tier model in which Marriott might recommend Gaylord National to budget-conscious meetings planners, while the Marquis could be offered as the higher-end luxury product. Hanson said Marriott might increase revenue by erasing redundancies in the marketing, account and sales operations.
"Marriott's revenue management models will allow it to raise prices, but that is in response to demand, not just an aggressive pricing policy," Hanson said.
—Ruth A. Hill
Ruth A. Hill, a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus, had the opportunity to tour the new property in April 2014.
