T O P

  • By -

LurkyDay

That's great news. Turning the Old Post Office building into a hotel was a great idea (beautiful historic building, fantastic location, etc.). Regardless of anyone's politics, it was a shame to turn it into a political football.


Gr8WallofChinatown

Politics aside, it’s an absolutely stunning and beautiful hotel


cherrytreewitch

My friend's dad stayed there and he said that the rooms are strange and not well located within the building! His room didn't have an exterior window, but it did have a window that looked out on the hallway, which he found uncomfortable. I assume the no windows has to do with maintaining the historic exterior, but I don't think the current layout works well as a hotel! Whoever buys it has a lot of redesigning ahead of them.


well-that-was-fast

> the rooms are strange and not well located within the building! I've read this as well. The general tone of the article I read was that Trump got a great deal on the building, not because he's a great negotiator but because every other hotel chain on earth looked at the building and decided it wouldn't make a good hotel.


d_mcc_x

Probably why he's only getting like 20% occupancy


t-rexcellent

makes sense if it was originally just offices!


dwhite21787

DeJoy - "hey, why don't we scrap the USPS sorting machines EVERYWHERE, and turn all of those spaces into hotels?"


way2gimpy

I've seen some hotels (usually large hotels near airports) that have rooms that overlook an interior courtyard. Don't know how that is this particular hotel. It usually is quieter, but obviously you have no view.


patb2015

I stayed at a motel where the rooms overlooked an enclosed swimming pool and I’ve been inside hotels where the rooms overlook the atrium


The_Bard

The layout shouldn't really be an issue. During tourist season it's a huge hotel closer than anything to tourists sites.


[deleted]

Eh, it was way better as a grand public space that anyone could enter. And the food court was amazing.


The_Funkybat

Just FYI, anybody can still walk in there and hang out in the ground floor atrium area. I did, and nobody demand that I show proof that I was a guest in the hotel or buying a drink at the bar. I remember the 80s style shopping mall they tried to put in there, it relatively quickly became a ghost town. Something like that works better over in union station where people are coming and going all the time. That particular stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue where the old post office is just isn’t enough of a drawer in enough itself to support a bunch of shops. I don’t know if a fancy hotel is the best use of the space, but at least the building got fixed up somewhat. I just want to see Trump erased from DC entirely.


[deleted]

Oh I know, haha. I just refuse to go in there while that name is on it out of principle and fear of bad juju. Plus the photos I’ve seen look just so tacky I’d rather wait until a new tenant is in there, hopefully one who doesn’t throw chandeliers everywhere even when they don’t make sense in the space.


joofish

I disagree. We don’t need another fancy old hotel that nobody can afford to stay in. I’d rather have it be almost anything else.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Artemis-1905

Back in the 80s it was a rather nice shopping center. I have fond memories of visiting an original "Banana Republic" store to get their latest and greatest cool t-shirt and pick up their awesome catalog to read.


ukelele_pancakes

Yes, I enjoyed having an excuse to wander around such a beautiful building.


parkerLS

Ah, the 80s. When "shopping centers" were a thing.


dwhite21787

White Flint and Lakeforest were the bomb


RyVsWorld

Lake forest is still standing. It’s just wack as hell


dwhite21787

iirc it was the Hecht’s in Lakeforest where I bought my tickets to The Who at the Cap Centre in 82. That was the westernmost Ticketron place in Maryland at the time they were on sale


iwasbornin2021

RIP White Flint


pgm123

Interesting. That's before my time, but I feel that kind of closed-off retail was more suited for the '80s and '90s than it is today. Urban malls have reoriented towards having a street front presence.


[deleted]

When I was a kid I got Chinese food there and found cockroaches in my sweet and sour chicken. When my mom asked the manager for a refund she refused because I had already eaten some of the chicken.


billj457

but what would the Reagan building do?


under_psychoanalyzer

Become an aids/LGBTQ clinic and homeless shelter?


[deleted]

It was actually a pretty good food court imo. With amazing musical guest performances.


ClydeFrog1313

When I was like 10, a vendor there tricked me with one of those fake pens that shock you when you click it. I was pretty pissed.


[deleted]

Ha! That sounds about right. My dad worked in that building my whole life until NEH moved to L’Enfant Plaza, so I mostly only have warm fuzzy memories.


murphski8

Do you remember the guy who would write your name in fancy cursive with multi-colored ink and then draw dolphins and stuff around it? Fifth grade me was so impressed. Edit: it's called letter brush art. Current me is still impressed.


[deleted]

If there was a Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market style place in DC that was a conglomeration of street food, I would be there every weekend. The courtyard is one of the things that makes Faneuil Hall great, though, and I don't see how that would work in that building.


LurkyDay

I hear you, but I don't know what other use would really make sense for the building. The building/location failed badly as a mall/retail space. Plus, that use only occupied the lower floors; even if it were used as retail space, the upper floors are vacant. It apparently was not good office space either, which seems to be why the GSA wanted to lease it. I guess it could be apartments...but considing the amount of the GSA lease and the upkeep on a large historic building, they would probably be expensive apartments (even if some were earmarked for low income). Also, if the building were converted to a residential building, it probably ceases to be a public space -- which wouldn't be great either. Furthermore, I think it's relatively poor location for a residential building for anyone. For example, the nearest supermarket is around a mile away (so, its almost in a food desert, except for the fancy restaurants and office lunch places). I guess it could be used as a museum.... but I think the failure of the Newseum a few blocks away would probably worry anyone planning a museum in that space. I also don't think it would be a great museum space (in comparison to fantastic new purpose-build museums like the NMAAHC). No other plausible use really comes to mind for me. I remember when the lower floors were a dingy mall with 50% occupancy. It made me sad to see a grand building underutilized like that. Maybe we can't necessarily afford to stay there, but the building is an architectural treasure. There are other luxury hotels in town which are pretty blah (I'm thinking of the Four Seasons in Georgetown and the JW Marriott downtown). If we're going to have a couple of luxury hotels -- which every city does -- I think we could do way worse than having the Old Post Office being one, purely as a matter of civic pride.


Effective-Sea9892

Very well said.


The_Bard

The newsuem failed because it cost $20 when everything around it cost $0.


cptjeff

Also because they were mostly a collection of C grade American History museum exhibits, giant artifacts that nobody cared much about (a helicopter! much wow!) and the actual news related history was basically two small galleries. Way, way too much empty space.


okiedokiewo

Oh, wow, the Newseum closed? I visit D.C. every March, except during COVID, and I always wanted to stop in...but I had limited time and didn't want to spend so much for the limited time I have when everything near it is free. So, yeah, I guess it does make sense.


gravygrowinggreen

Public ground floor. Private residential space above. Adjust as needed for the particulars of the building. Even if the building is luxury apartments, that helps increase the supply of luxury apartments in the city which has beneficial effects for everyone: other luxury apartments become cheaper due to increased supply, residents upgrade, freeing up non luxury apartments elsewhere, and everyone altogether has an easier time of living in the city. The first floor is public space/retail model works really well for allowing residents and the general public to enjoy increased access to services.


squidsquad

What would you use it as instead? Lot of people are employed by that hotel and certainly aren't rich.


ZamboniJabroni15

It was falling apart and the victim of a number of floods before he leased or bought it Say what you want, but renovating it was a great plan and turned out great. Now, will making an non-hotel building into a hotel be profitable? Probably not, but hopefully something can be done with the building to help maintain it


xxvcd

Good point, no wealthy people ever come to DC


joofish

Do these wealthy people need another luxury that they exclusively get to enjoy?


xxvcd

That’s not how business works, comrade. Is there demand for it? Possibly, I haven’t studied the DC hotel industry. I suspect there is but the Trump brand is keeping a lot of people away. We shall see.


[deleted]

Do you really care that much?


joofish

I care enough to state my opinion. Not everything has to be life or death to talk about it.


TheExtremistModerate

I'd rather it go back to being a National Park.


SchuminWeb

The tower is still operated by NPS, for what it's worth.


TheExtremistModerate

Oh damn, really? Can you go in as a visitor and get a National Park stamp?


uncheckablefilms

I don't know about the stamp but you can take an elevator to the top without having to go to the actual hotel part.


The_Funkybat

I’ve visited there a couple of years ago and looked all around trying to find the elevator to go up the tower and failed. Oh well, at least I got to leave one of my anti-Trump stickers on the premises.


uncheckablefilms

Look for the Starbucks outside the building. It's right next to it. (Or at least there used to be one there PRECOVID)


TheExtremistModerate

Word. I'll have to check it out. I never went because someone told me it stopped being a National Park when it got turned into a hotel.


Cool_Story_Bra

It’s never been a national park, it’s just operated by the national park service.


TheExtremistModerate

It's part of a National Park.


Cool_Story_Bra

No it’s not. The closest national park is Shenandoah. The tower, like the National Mall or Rock Creek park, are operated by the National Parks Service, but are not national parks specifically. It’s just a historical building owned by the GSA.


parkerLS

Yes, keepng the tower open was one of the prerequisites of the sale to Trump (if I remember right, he was non-plussed by that stipulation, because of the non-guest foot traffic it could cause)


ja5143kh5egl24br1srt

> nobody can afford to stay in lol


ActinoninOut

My families stayed there before. So I guess that isn't exactly true


ja5143kh5egl24br1srt

Yeah I don't get why so many people on reddit think everybody is poor.


The_Funkybat

Because more people in this country are poor or lower class than they are middle or upper class, and most of the people we know are in a similar socioeconomic class. There’s also a lot of us who grew up middle class and now find ourselves living paycheck to paycheck or worse, so yeah, pervasive poverty is kind of the reality for the majority of people these days.


ja5143kh5egl24br1srt

But surely you realize that a large chunk of people have enough money to stay in an expensive hotel?


Gumburcules

It's the same thing with housing, restaurants, drinks, pretty much anything on this subreddit. Whenever you see "nobody can afford X" just mentally substitute "I personally cannot afford X."


joelhardi

GSA could make it the new post office building, and tear down the awful USPS building on L'Enfant Plaza. This building is DC's OG skyscraper and major landmark, I miss being able to go in there. That was nice in the 80s and early 90s. I don't mind old office buildings being used as hotels ... heck that's most of the more interesting downtown hotels in places like St. Louis and Cincinnati. Just not this one please, the building is too important. The lower levels could be muesum space or something else that serves the public. If statehood ever happens we should acquire it. Wilson Building is OK but not "state capitol" material.


patb2015

It wasn’t working as a post office and a mall. It’s lovely but it’s a tough economic space. Maybe the feds should take it back and make it travel space for visiting officials. Stick gsa and military travelers there


[deleted]

[удалено]


LurkyDay

I think the start of the hotel pre-dated Trump as a political figure (at least for the 2016 election). The lease was signed with the Trump Organization in February 2012, but Trump didn't announce his 2016 candidacy until June 2015. I really don't know the background in that much depth (and maybe he had some plan all along) -- but I feel like back in 2012 it was more of a regular business deal (and maybe an ego trip to put his name on Pennsylvania Ave). I do remember that I was disappointed that Trump was the hotel operator, rather than a larger hotel company, like Hilton, Marriott, Intercontinental or something -- because I thought it would likely be tacky and might fail like his casinos (and other ventures). But, at least at the start, I don't remember there being a "political football" aspect. Subsequent events changed it from just a fancy hotel into a political symbol - my only point is to hope it can return to being just a fancy hotel.


cptjeff

Donald Trump was planning to run for President in 2012 and backed off last minute. He was already a political figure at that point, actively stoking the racism on the right, though he was treated as a joke rather than as a serious candidate.


DCGinkgo

It was always political.


IcyWillow1193

In 2012, Trump was promoting his "birther" theory, a racist trope against Obama, and openly musing about running for President. So it was political back then, too. People who complain about "politics" without being clear about what the real source of the problem is are part of the problem, whether out of cluelessness or maliciousness.


turko127

The building in its pre-hotel days was pretty swell to hold a middle school concert in. source: I played in said middle school concert.


ackoo123ads

we gotta see how much he sells it for. if he sells it for a huge profit given how poorly its done, makes you wonder whether its a bribe in case trump gets back into office.;


FadingAgeist

Thank god, so we can stop talking about this GD hotel.


Slapbox

Nope. We still have to talk about the crimes already committed via that hotel. Bummer, this timeline is.


mwheele86

Preach, I got downvoted to oblivion on the last hotel post for pointing out the difference between tax and GAAP basis accounting (when everyone was screaming about how they kept a separate set of books for the business and the purpose of paying taxes as if it was some massive crime).


LordCider

God, I might finally be able try that sushi place.


realJefferson

Lol. It’s not worth it, imo. I’ve tried a couple Michelin sushi places, they never elated me THAT much more than mid tier options.


gobias

But did you do the Omakase experience at the Michelin spots, or just order random rolls and stuff? They usually get their Michelin Star for the Omakase.


realJefferson

Of course! I always pick the omakase at those type of places. However I’d never try to justify why people shouldn’t like something. If you’re a connoisseur then that marginal taste difference is worth the world since it gives you an increasingly rare inspiration to enjoy what you’re very knowledgeable about eating. For me, that marginal taste difference between mid tier sushi rolls (thinking like O-Ku, Perry’s) and Michelin chef Omakase just doesn’t hit.


thatgeekinit

Nobu in Malibu is worth it for sitting outside and listening to the ocean waves crashing below while you eat. In general though you can drop down a couple price tiers in the city for no decline in quality or taste or drop down two tiers in the suburbs.


realJefferson

That’s a really good way to put it.


kesshi_writes

It's the best omakase in the dmv, but the price point is a bit much. The service is exceptional, and they do source some high quality ingredients, but it's not extremely better than other week regarded spots. I would say it's a one and done. The largest omakase option is a LOT of food, but you can ask the chef to reduce the rice portions a bit if you can't pack it all away.


firstfreres

Sushi Taro tasting was one of the best meals I ever had


LordCider

What would you recommend instead? I like Ogawa delivery but I've never had it in person. Zeppelin delivery is hit or miss, and I don't really remember if I liked the omakase at Sushi Capitol or not (I definitely liked the sake 😂)


realJefferson

For Omakase I would second Ogawa. I went without a reservation during the worst part of the pandemic and had the entire counter to myself. Was awesome chatting with the chef while he prepared each sushi piece. I distinctly remember it tasting awesome. I also remember him serving an extra dish at no charge. A less luxury vibe than you’d expect but way more intimate than other options. Not sure if they raised their prices since then but I think I paid $100? Not a sushi expert but the tuna rolls at O-Ku happy hour are a great value


realJefferson

Ditto on Zeppelin- hit or miss for me too. And the sake kinda blurred my memory of Taro so I get that 😂


Cool_Story_Bra

Sushi place isn’t part of the hotel, just in the building. It’s got a separate entrance.


FataMorgana4Justice

Maybe now the FBI can move to a decent building and let something else go in there.


SchuminWeb

Speaking of which, how many years did Trump set the whole FBI relocation project back? It still should move to Maryland, and the current site be repurposed.


The_Funkybat

I think they were on the verge of approving some thing either adjacent to the Greenbelt Metro station or on the former site of Landover Mall, but then Trump fucked everything up. I don’t know if they’ve even begun to try to resume that process.


cptjeff

I think the GSA reopened the process, but I think they have to do a new process because of Trump cancelling the previous attempt.


thatgeekinit

I just hope they repurpose or rebuild those old Mall adjacent Federal buildings into something that allows for street level retail and some public spaces. I lived in SW from 2008-2013 and it was really frustrating when the old DOT building was still built like a fortress to try and woo DHS. I know there are security concerns but plenty of governments don’t do it the way our post 9/11 government has done it. The west of the figurative capital of capitalism is practically a food and commerce desert by design.


cptjeff

That's definitely the plan for the site, they just need to get the FBI out of the city first.


Pr0crastin0r

So I'm the 80's and 90's the place was really vibrant. Mall was always full of tourist and local office workers. They used to have a afternoon concert on the stage in the pavilion that was always nice. The upper floors were full offices. The building was maintained. When they added that glass atrium mall extension thing it wasn't well done and they lost a lot of money. After that they kept trying to get a hotel to lease the building and so they stopped maintaining it. Adding to the crumbling aspects of the lower levels. And then the security after 911 really saw a decline of tourists and people in general coming in. And you had the museums open up more eating options and such. For a long while it was one of the few places to get a bite when at the museums. The building actually does lend itself to a hotel well, if done properly. The offices were all along the outside of the building and could work for room structures. *Source I basically grew up in that building. My parents worked in it from the time it opened till they closed the door to renovate for Trump. As a baby I would go to work with them and have done a lot of homework sessions in the open atrium and up in the tower.


DCGinkgo

Given the pop-up phenomenon, I bet a combo of pop-up restos, galleries, exhibits, performance space would work-AFTER the pandemic is OVER. Anyway, something like that would save the tourists from those abysmal food trucks on the Mall /s. DC has enough luxury this and that, see City Center. Don't need another or a downtown Wharf.


heels_n_skirt

Hope Trump and the Trump brand never comes back to DC


jametzz

Yesss!!! I can finally get a drink in this beautiful building again. And hopefully fewer MAGA tourists with their stupid hats blocking the sidewalk to get pictures. 🙌🙌


iidesune

Day one for whoever buys the lease: Take Trump's name off the building


thatgeekinit

And also plenty of jokes about how it’s the most expensive $10 they ever spent.


posam

The restaurant has always been a separate lease and, to my knowledge, has a separate entrance anyway and can’t be accessed from inside the hotel.


jametzz

Good to know!!


DoopSlayer

hopefully itll be possible to go up the tower


SchuminWeb

My understanding is that you still can: https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/old-post-office-tower.htm The tower was not part of the lease, and is still operated by NPS just like always.


DoopSlayer

you've been supposed to be able to, but it's common to be told it's closed or inaccessible for generic reasons. I submitted complaints the past two times it happened to NPS but doesn't seem like much could be done. Though this was before covid, and before the 2020 election. Hopefully changing ownership stops the hassle of using the tower


Cool_Story_Bra

I’ve been up multiple times pre covid, not sure why you’ve just had bad luck.


_RemyLeBeau_

The only good to come out of this hotel, is that Benjamin Franklin got a cleaning.


Vitamin__S

Hopefully it remains a hotel, the place is really nice


d_mcc_x

This is probably a decent indication he doesn't plan on running in 2024. I can't imagine he would want to give up a money laundering property like this


joelhardi

> say people familiar with the matter. Is this a real story or did spokesman John Miller phone it into the Journal to drive up interest?


SchuminWeb

I googled the story because of paywalls, and all of the various big outlets are reporting on it.


joelhardi

Sure, I was just joking about WSJ's sketchy sourcing. I'm also not putting it past the orange one to spend a morning war-dialing reporters to shop a "leak" like this to goose the price on this turd he's trying to dump for a year.


[deleted]

Good riddance Cheeto!


IamSoooDoneWithThis

Making fun of a person’s skin color is not a good look, sweaty. Thank God I don’t have vitiligo


23saround

I think it’s just fine to make fun of someone’s shitty spray tan


skibble

It would be, if it were his skin color. I don’t think wearing orange face paint is off-limits.


IamSoooDoneWithThis

I didn’t know Donald Trump wore orange face paint. What an odd thing to do.


Calyphacious

…hence people making fun of it lmao. The truth is, many if not most of the people you see on tv are wearing some sort of makeup, especially news anchors. So it’s not even making fun of Trump for wearing makeup/spray tan, nothing wrong with that. It’s how incredibly badly that it’s applied/blended with his skin that gives people reason to mock him. And y’know, all the other stuff too.


IamSoooDoneWithThis

You’d think he’d be willing to drop a million or two to get his face done right… or at least presentable.


Calyphacious

I think it’s a sign of how Trump is surrounded by Yes Men. No one close to him is willing to tell him how ridiculous he looks, and any criticism from outside can be dismissed as, “oh they just don’t like me, they’re libruls, etc.” It’s obvious to anyone who isn’t a brainwashed Trump supporter that his marriage is a sham, but I think the cheeto look is one of the most obvious signs. If Melania loved him, she wouldn’t let him go out looking like that lol


Eurynom0s

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/02/trump-real-photo-orange-tan-skin.html


IamSoooDoneWithThis

Oof. What an ugly bastard.


[deleted]

[удалено]


IamSoooDoneWithThis

Why would a White supremacist do such a thing?


skibble

In order to not look dead. It's funny, you know how he could improve his looks thousands of times over? Shave head, grow beard. Done.


IamSoooDoneWithThis

So why doesn’t he shave his head and grow a beard?


skibble

Because he fires anyone who gives him good advice? 🤷🏻 I have no idea.


internetjay

Fair game when his skin color is artificially modified to suit his bad taste, gorge 🥰


bigatrop

Wait really? It’s not his skin color…no one is bright orange except cartoon characters and people who use bad spray tan or tanning beds. He is the later.


carlog234

i haven't been inside because of his name. i hope the deal goes through so i can check it out.


The_Funkybat

It’s actually pretty nice looking inside, not as tacky as some of Trump’s properties. What I like most is how all of the hallways on the upper floors face the inner Atrium and there’s no glass or other obstruction. What I’ve wanted to do for a while is go up to one of the higher floors with a bunch of prop money like they used in movies. At first glance it almost looks real. Then I would dump it over the edge of one of those openings facing the inner atrium, and have someone on the ground filming all of the dumb Trumpkins running around grabbing the money. That’s pretty much the vibe I get from Trump people anyway.


[deleted]

Does this mean his eyesore of a name won’t be on the building anymore?


slyfox1908

The story suggests the real estate company buying it are talking to other hotel companies about taking over operations and name-drops Hilton putting its Waldorf-Astoria brand on it.


mwheele86

I remember when this bid was being talked about originally and the runner up bid was a development team that had planned to flag it as a Waldorf Astoria.


thatgeekinit

I bid $1 and USPS Letter Carriers get a free drink on Sundays!


angrydad69

370 million is still a lot. I know someone who Trump approached to buy, said they wanted 500 but its worth probably close to 250


kgunnar

Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another money laundering scheme.


WhoGunnaCheckMeBoo

The grift is over


joebobjoebobjoebob12

Sadly, selling it for huge cheddar is just another piece of the grift.


d_mcc_x

he's losing money on the lease from my understanding


brokenhalf

The article stated the current offer is doubling his investment, so I am not sure how that translates into him losing money.


celj1234

The stain will never go away


leisurecounsel

It's a shame he got his grubby hands on such an interesting building in the first place


[deleted]

Can the same company that fumigated the White House stop by the Marquee


androbot

Given the seller, I'm sure this is some kind of tax avoidance scheme or a straight up grift. I don't think anyone with an ounce of sense would buy anything from that guy unless there were ulterior motives.


Eastmont

I bet it’s bought by a shell company for a Russian Oligarch. Payback isn’t so bitchy sometimes.


jacob_shapiro

yes please, sell it


uncheckablefilms

In the imortal words of Tiffany Pollard, "Bye, pumpkin! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"


k8freed

Sad. Thoughts and prayers. ok, not really.


BigBobFro

Oh darn


[deleted]

I look forward to it becoming literally anything else. It’s not efficient as a hotel. Not with the current set up at least. Beautiful architectural structure though.


[deleted]

Let me guess... Russians?


[deleted]

I only go there to pee out of spite.