Watergate Hotel
 |
The Watergate complex in Washington, DC., with the Kennedy Center visible in the background. |
The
Watergate Hotel is a luxury
hotel in
northwest Washington, D.C., best known for being at the site of burglaries that led to the
Watergate scandal and the resignation of
President Richard Nixon. It is part of an office-apartment-hotel complex that opened in
1967.
The Watergate complex is a
superblock bounded on the north by Virginia Avenue, on the east by New Hampshire Avenue, on the south by F Street, and on the west by the
Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway. It is in the
Foggy Bottom neighborhood overlooking the
Potomac River, adjacent to the
Kennedy Center and the embassy of
Saudi Arabia. The nearest
Metro station is
Foggy Bottom-GWU.
|
The Watergate complex from the air |
The Watergate complex was developed by the
Italian firm Società Generale Immobiliare, which purchased the plot of land on the defunct
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in the early
1960s. The last
lock, which diverted water from the Potomac River into the Tidal Basin at flood tide, was known as the "water gate." Italian architect Luigi Moretti designed the six buildings on the site: a hotel, two office buildings, three apartment buildings and a retail center.
The Watergate Hotel is located at 2650 Virginia Avenue NW. It has 250 guest rooms and 146 suites. In
2004, the hotel was purchased by a company planning to turn it into luxury
co-ops.
The two Watergate Office Buildings are at 600 New Hampshire Avenue NW and 2600 Virginia Avenue NW. In 1972, the
Democratic National Committee had its headquarters on the sixth floor of the 11-story 2600 Virginia Avenue building. On May 28, 1972, a team of burglars working for Nixon's re-election campaign put wiretaps and took photos in and near the DNC chairman's office. The taps were monitored from Room 723 of the Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge hotel across the street at 2601 Virginia Avenue NW. (The hotel is now owned by
the George Washington University, although no longer used as a undergraduate dormitory.) During a second burglary on June 17, 1972 to replace a malfunctioning "bug" and collect more information, five burglars were arrested and the
Watergate scandal began to unfold.
The three Watergate Apartment buildings total some 600 residential units. Past occupants have included
Ruth Bader Ginsburg,
Bob and
Elizabeth Dole,
Monica Lewinsky,
Betty Currie, and
Paul O'Neill. Current
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice now lives in the Watergate.
There is a small (63,000 sq. ft. / 5900 m²) retail center which offers a
Safeway supermarket in the basement level and several upscale shops and restaurants at street level.
*
The Watergate Hotel official site
* Livingston, Mike. "
Watergate: The name that branded more than a building,"
Washington Business Journal,
June 14,
2002
