The Ven at Embassy Row, Washington, D.C., a Tribute Portfolio Hotel is a hotel owned by Lowe Enterprises located at 2015 Massachusetts Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The hotel, a Modernist structure which opened in 1970 as The Embassy Row Hotel, is in the Embassy Row neighborhood of the city, and takes its name from the area. The hotel is considered a "landmark" in the city.Douglas, Danielle. "Embassy Row Owner Wants Mortgage Extended." The Washington Post. July 24, 2011. Accessed 2013-11-21.
Construction and early reception The Embassy Row Hotel was financed and constructed by Dr. Cyrus Katzen, a local dental surgeon who became a multi-millionaire by investing heavily in real estate.Katzen, a Russian immigrant born in 1918, brokered the deals that led to the creation of the vast Tysons Corner Mall; the condominiums, apartments, office buildings, hotels, and shopping malls that are the integrated Crystal City neighborhood; much of high-rise downtown Rosslyn; and the Culmore Shopping Center around which the neighborhood of Culmore, Virginia grew. He donated more than $30 million to local universities, helping to found the Katzen Arts Center at American University and the Katzen Cancer Research Center at George Washington University Medical School. See: Accessed 2013-11-21. Other investors included securities lawyer G. Bradford Cook, former hotel manager Klaus P. Reincke, and three anonymous investors from Nashville, Tennessee.
At the time, the 2000 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW consisted of two- and three-story Victorian townhouses and mansions, many of them the homes or former homes of very wealthy and politically prominent people. A zoning exemption allowed the nine-story hotel to be built there.
The structure opened on December 15, 1970. Alice Roosevelt Longworth, 86-year-old daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt and wife of former Speaker of the House Nicholas Longworth, cut the ceremonial ribbon. Accompanying her were Walter Washington, Mayor of the District of Columbia, and Guillermo Sevilla Sacasa, Nicaraguan ambassador to the United States and dean of the diplomatic corps. (Roosevelt occupied a mansion next door to the hotel, and lived there until her death.)"Cutting the Ribbon at a New Hotel." The Washington Post. December 16, 1970. Sculptor Victor Lamkay contributed sculpture for the lobby,McMahan, Virgil E. The Artists of Washington, D.C., 1796-1996. Washington, D.C.: The Artists of Washington, 1995, p. 127.
Aesthetic reception The Modernist structure was deeply criticized by The Washington Post architecture critic Wolf Von Eckardt. He called it "bland", "uncharming", and "a triumph of Middle America—the assertion of nouveau riche, middle-brow culture that is all at once touching, camp and distressing."Von Eckardt, Wolf. "Embassy Row." The Washington Post. January 2, 1971. Katzen, a neighbor of Von Eckardt's, famously wrote a long letter to The Washington Post taking issue with factual errors and personal attacks in Von Eckardt's architectural review. Katzen offered (tongue in cheek) his dental services, writing, "I would be glad to see him in my capacity as a dentist and extract his foot from his mouth at his earliest convenience." Von Eckardt had Katzen's letter published in full in The Washington Post.Von Eckardt, Wolf. "Embassy Row's Neighborly Row." The Washington Post. January 16, 1971.
Its architectural reputation did not improve over time. Professor of architecture Roger K. Lewis called it a "latter day architectural lapse" in 1986.Lewis, Roger K. "The Noble Buildings of Embassy Row." The Washington Post. May 31, 1986.
Operational history
Early operations General Hotels Corp. was the first company to manage the hotel."General Hotels Names 3 Managers." The Washington Post. December 9, 1970. In January 1972, the hotel saw a spectacular theft when a thief stole $10,000 in jewelry from the room of Jeanette Rockefeller, wife of Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller (and heir to the Rockefeller family fortune)."Gems Worth Thousands Lost to Thief." The Washington Post. January 23, 1972.
The Embassy Row Hotel was the location of a major political scandal that erupted in 1978. U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge and his then-administrative assistant, Daniel Minchew, began diverting campaign funds to Talmadge's personal use in 1973. Transfers of cash usually occurred when Minchew withdrew funds from campaign bank accounts and delivered the cash to Talmadge in his Senate office. On only a single occasion did Minchew deliver cash elsewhere, and that occurred at The Embassy Row Hotel in November 1974 after Talmadge gave a speech there.Minchew, Daniel. Investigation of Senator Herman E. Talmadge: Report of the Select Committee on Ethics, United States Senate, to Accompany S. Res. 249, Together With Additional Views. Select Committee on Ethics. U.S. Senate. 95th Cong., 2d sess. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980, p. 713-714; Pound, Edward T. "Secret Talmadge Bank Account Revealed." Daytona Beach Morning Journal. August 27, 1978, accessed 2013-11-21. Talmadge was found guilty of diverting funds, and censured by the Senate on October 11, 1979.Ayres Jr., B. Drummond. "Senate Denounces Talmadge, 81 to 15, Over His Finances." New York Times. October 12, 1979.
In 1979, the hotel was the site of secret negotiations regarding a major act of political terrorism. On September 21, 1976, former Chilean ambassador Orlando Letelier was killed by a car bomb on September 21, 1976, on Sheridan Circle—just a hundred yards from the Embassy Row Hotel. Two Chileans, the current and the former head of the Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA, the Chilean secret police), and an American in the employ of DINA were accused of the crime. A DINA agent, Capt. Armando Fernandez Larios, offered to testify against the conspirators if the United States dropped extradition proceedings against him. Negotiations over the agent's testimony and extradition occurred at the Embassy Row Hotel, although no agreement was ever reached.Robinson, Timothy S. "Extradition Deal for Chilean Bomb-Murder Suspect Said Rejected by the U.S." The Washington Post. October 23, 1979. All three conspirators were later found guilty.
Ownership change and the 1981-1982 strike The first major change in the hotel's ownership came in 1981. Since its opening, the hotel had never done good business, and often lost money. In 1980, the loss was more than $1 million. In September 1981, a consortium of 20 wealthy Republican Party (GOP) donors purchased The Embassy Row for $14 million with a goal of making it a high-end luxury hotel catering specifically to GOP politicians, donors, and others.Newell, David. "A Republican Setback in Hotelkeeping." New York Times. April 25, 1982. Accessed 2013-11-21. Singer, Mark. Funny Money. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004, p. 108; Teeley, Sandra Evans. "20 Republicans Buy Embassy Row Hotel." The Washington Post. September 26, 1981. The consortium consisted mostly of individuals involved in the Oklahoma oil drilling and petroleum refining business, including J.D. Allen, Robert A. Hefner III, Steve Jernigan, Virgil Tilly, and Lew O. Ward.Fossett, Judy. "Strike Pits Haves, Have-Nots." Daily Oklahoman. April 25, 1982. The consortium was led by G. Bradford Cook and Joe M. Rogers, a former Republican National Committee Finance Committee chairman. The consortium intended to give the hotel a new name, Hotel Trianon, and give it a $3 million French Baroque renovation.
The renovation was delayed for two reasons. First, occupancy rates at the hotel dropped to lows not seen since World War II. Second, the hotel suffered a debilitating strike. The hotel withdrew from the Hotel Association of Washington, D.C.'s master contract in October 1981, a move which angered the association and signalled management's intent to negotiate a separate contract. The hotel staff union, Local 25 HERE, struck on November 17"HERE Local 25, Embassy Row Settle Eight-Month Strike." Retail/Services Labor Report. July 19, 1982, p. 165. when the hotel owners demanded 90 days to review all staff and fire whomever they chose without cause, due process, or notice. Management also sought cuts in pension and health care benefits. Occupancy rates dropped to just 50 percent, 20 percent lower than the city-wide average and well below the break-even point. Third, financing for the hotel purchase and renovation came under fire by labor unions and others in Tennessee. The hotel was purchased with a $9.8 million loan from Security Federal Savings and Loan in Nashville. The single loan represented 60 percent of the commercial loan business of the savings and loan association (S&L) and its only out-of-state loan—which led to questions about whether undue influence was applied to the S&L to make the loan, and whether it imperiled the S&L's financial stability. The consortium said that the strike had delayed the renovation two months and the hotel would likely lose $1.5 million in 1982, but that nevertheless the renovation would proceed.
The renovation did not proceed, and the strike continued. Losses were so high that the consortium now lacked the means to finance the upgrades. Lincoln Hotels, a subsidiary of Lincoln Property Company, purchased a 10 percent interest in The Embassy Row Hotel for an undisclosed sum in May 1982. "Lincoln Hotels New Investor, Manager for Embassy Row." The Washington Post. May 3, 1982. The company also took over management of the property, and said it would renovate the structure in an attempt to turn The Embassy Row into a five-star hotel.
Lincoln Hotels quickly negotiated an end to the strike. The eight-month strike ended on July 12, 1982, when the Embassy Row Hotel signed a new contract with Local 25. The Republican-led consortium won nothing: The new agreement was nearly identical to the hotel association's master contract (with very minor changes).
1983 renovation The hotel finally underwent a $5 million renovation in 1983 to turn it into a luxury hotel. The newly renovated hotel was rededicated in late April 1983.Gamarekian, Barbara. "New Hotels Emphasize the Amenities." New York Times. May 6, 1983. Alejandro Orfila, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, performed the ribbon-cutting. Ann Grey, an interior decorator known for her work on deluxe hotels in the United States, redesigned the hotel interior."Embassy Row: Planners Can Expect Top Level of Service." Association Management. August 1984, p. 66. Many of the hotel's small rooms were enlarged and 28 suites created.Eisen, Jack. "A New Embassy Row Hotel." The Washington Post. April 29, 1983. Other changes included offering a free, full breakfast to all guests, offering luxury bath and toilet items, putting television sets into armoires rather than hanging them from brackets on the walls, and adding an herb garden on the roof for the restaurant's use. Le Consulat was closed, and a new restaurant named La Reserve opened with a lower-priced menu.Richman, Phyllis C. "La Reserve In the Embassy Row Hotel." The Washington Post. July 10, 1983.
The Embassy Row Hotel received a four-star rating after the renovation.Burgess, John. "McGovern Turns Hotelier." The Washington Post. October 7, 1988. A "royal/presidential" suite was added to the top floor by combining several rooms. Within the year, it hosted Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (who requested that a private dining room be added to the suite) and Italian Prime Minister Bettino Craxi (who had a hotline to Rome installed in the suite).Conroy, Sarah Booth. "The Suite Stakes." The Washington Post. November 13, 1984. That same year, the Federal City Club (a private club for wealthy men and women) leased space within the hotel while it searched for a permanent home."Federal City Club Finds Home at Embassy Row." The Washington Post. February 27, 1984.