Category: archives

Mackey, Caroline. “Westin DC City Center Renovation.” Youtube, 29 Jul. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNynsp2yztc

This source is a three minute time lapse video of the interior renovations of the Westin Washington D.C. City Center. The video was posted in the summer of 2016 and was posted by the Corporate Administrator at Humphrey Rich Construction Group, Incorporated. The actual renovation, however, took place about two years prior in 2014. The video includes the dates of when different parts of the renovations are being completed, which helps me because it provides a very precise timeline of the interior renovations.

This source is helpful for my research because it provides a cool visual of the 2014 renovations of the Westin Washington D.C. City and it provides me with a very precise timeline of when those renovations were occurring. A lot about the 2014 interior renovation can be learned from this video because it actually shows the renovations taking place via a really cool time lapse.

Knight, Jerry. “M St. Luxury Hotel Planned.” The Washington Post, 17 Nov. 1979, http://proxyau.wrlc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/147094798?accountid=8285.

This is an article published in the Washington Post in 1979. It is about how Hilton International Co. is planning on building a new hotel on M Street by Thomas Circle. The hotel will have 400 rooms and cost about $40 million to build. In addition to the hotel there will also be a convention center built. The article also mentions how the construction of the hotel is part of a larger plan to gentrify the surrounding area.

This article will help me with my research because it provides with information about the construction of the hotel. Additionally, it shows me how the construction of hotel was part of a larger plan to gentrify Thomas Circle. This source is helpful because it provides context to my other Washington Post article by Bredemeier, which was written the same year as this article, because they both talk about the new projects that are to be built in Thomas Circle over the next couple of years.

Forgey, Benjamin. “Vista’s Showy Spaces.” The Washington Post, 19 Feb. 1983, http://proxyau.wrlc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/138087553?accountid=8285.

This article was published in the Washington Post in 1983 and is about the opening of the Vista International Hotel, a hotel in Thomas Circle. It explains how the new hotel does not really have that Washington D.C. feel and that it would fit in much better in other cities. The author notes that the architectures faced many challenges when building the hotel which is why it does not really have that stereotypical Washington D.C. feel.

This article is helpful for my research because it provides me with information about the construction process and information about the opening of the hotel. It helps fill in the gap in the hotels history from when they announced plans for construction to when the hotel actually opened its doors. It was hard to find information from that time so this article was really helpful for me when I was constructing a timeline of the hotel’s history.

Faiola, Anthony. “Hilton Partnership to Sell the Vista Hotel for $46 Million.” The Washington Post, 02 Nov.1996, http://proxyau.wrlc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1033942112?accountid=8285.

This article was published in the Washington Post in 1996 and is about how the Hilton International Co. sold the Vista International hotel for $46 Million to Interstate Hotel Company. With the change in ownership the hotel will also change its name from the Vista International Hotel to the Westin Washington D.C. City Center. According to the article, the new owners plan on spending $4.7 Million to renovate the property after the change in ownership is complete.

This source is helpful for my research because it provides information on a major event  in the history of the Westin Washington D.C. City Center. It not only provides me information about the change in ownership, but it also tells me about a renovation that the hotel went through in the late 1990s. I think that this source really helps fill in information in the hotel’s timeline because it provides with key information about what was happening to it in the late 90s.

Farhi, Paul. “Room 727 at the Vista in Big Demand.”The Washington Post, 24  Jan. 1990, http://proxyau.wrlc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/140140770?accountid=8285.

This source is an article from the Washington post that came out in 1990 and is about how the Vista International gets tons of requests from people wishing to stay in the same room that Marion Barry was busted in the week prior to this article coming out. According to the article, the hotel has gotten hundreds of requests, however, the hotel manager does not plan on honoring any of them because the Vista International Hotel wants things to settle down after the high profile bust.

This source is helpful for my research because it shows how the Vista International Hotel responded to the Marion Barry bust. It shows a different perspective on the story and it also shows how the public was reacting to the news that the mayor of Washington D.C. was caught doing crack. Additionally, it provides me with more information on the actual bust itself.

Bredemeier, Kenneth. “Convention Center Set off $400 Million Building Boom.” The Washington Post, 19 Dec. 1979, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/12/19/convention-center-to-set-off-400-million-building-boom/4948ea25-1bb5-4394-951e-042cd83587f9/?utm_term=.4be250b65a67.

This is an article from the Washington Post that came out in 1979. It is about how millions of dollars are going to be invested in Thomas Circle through the construction of hotels and a convention center over the next couple of years. It also talks about how this announcement significantly drove up property values in the area and that property values are accepted to continue to rise. Lastly, the article explains how the families living on the future construction sites will be relocated, which demonstrates how the area is starting to become gentrified.

This source is helpful for my research because it demonstrates the economic effect that the construction of the hotel had on its surrounding areas. I can use this source in combination with other sources that were written around the same time in order to create a complete picture of the effect that the hotel had on the area.