After years of renovation, the historic Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C., has been reimagined as a luxury hotel with the opulent Trump touch. The 118-year-old building will debut on Monday as the Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C.
The hotel, which is located between the Capitol Building and the White House, is offering a weekend package for anyone who wants to stay at the hotel when the next president – whoever he or she is – is inaugurated in January, at aTrumpian price: US$500,000. The hotel also has 263 guestrooms and suites with 16-foot ceilings and restored historic millwork.
The hotel includes a total of 38,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including the 13,200-square-foot Presidential Ballroom, the largest among D.C. luxury hotels. There’s also a 10,000-square-foot Spa by Ivanka Trump and Fitness Center, and D.C.’s first BLT Prime restaurant by Chef David Burke.
Hirsch Bedner Associates’ Betsy Hughes oversaw the design working alongside Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisitions of The Trump Organization Ivanka Trump.
The space is defined by a clock tower, columns, archways and metal trusswork that spans the lobby; the framework supports chandeliers over the public spaces. The lobby is slightly above street level and includes a reception area and bar in a nine-story atrium with glass skylights.
Seven of the guestrooms feature floor-to-ceiling skylights in the roof. The former postmaster’s offices have been converted into four luxury suites, the largest of which features restored wood-stained paneling, a fireplace and a reading nook in a turret. One suite is nestled in the clock tower with a large arched window that HBA designers created a mezzanine around to keep from blocking the window. A townhouse suite features multiple stories and a private entrance from Pennsylvania Avenue.
The European-style suites feature creams, silvers and soft blues with red and gold leaf trim along with crystal chandeliers. Canopied beds in the center of the bedrooms were designed that way to protect the restored walls. Upper floors offer views of the Capitol Building and Washington Monument.
Canvas Art Consultants, the art consultancy division of HBA, developed a guestroom and corridor art program that references various aspects of Washington, D.C., and the Old Post Office.
The main restaurant, BLT Prime by David Burke, is a two-story marble-clad box overlooking the lobby and is more contemporary in nature. There are two function rooms, one with navy velvet drapes and Empire-style bronze pendants and the other with painted millwork, cream silk draperies and crystal chandeliers. A conference space is located in an existing building on 11th Street and is the largest luxury ballroom in Washington, D.C., Donald Trump’s historic Mar-a-Lago.
