A new hotel scheduled to open Wednesday pays particular homage to its home in Rockville.
Walk into the lobby of the Legacy Hotel & Meeting Centre and you’ll see black-and-white photos of the Rockville Congressional Airfield, which operated until the 1950s on the site of the new hotel. Go up to the guest room floors and each is themed with a different aspect of Montgomery, such as its industries, aviation history, flora, fauna and architecture.
The hotel is owned by the Cohen Cos. Inc., the 35-year-old Rockville development firm that has built numerous shopping centers and office parks in the Washington area. Executive Vice President Eric Siegel says the owners saw the hotel as an opportunity to highlight its hometown.
“One of the things that occurred to us is how rich Rockville’s history is,” he said. “This was an opportunity to celebrate Rockville’s history.”
Mr. Siegel said the owners have spent hundreds of hours researching Rockville’s history with Peerless Rockville, a local historical society, in order to creatively present it to guests.
Until recently, the hotel had been operated by the same owners as a Ramada Inn. As of Wednesday it will be an independent hotel associated with Preferred Hotels & Resorts — an independent hotel group that works with marketing and reservation systems.
“We wanted to be the anti-brand but still wanted to compete with the larger brands in the area,” Mr. Siegel said.
The Legacy Hotel, at 1775 Rockville Pike, has 162 guest rooms and 9,000 square feet of meeting space. It also has a Phillips Seafood upscale restaurant.
More hotel news …
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is continuing its expansion in the Washington area with a new hotel in Potomac.
Kimpton signed a letter of intent last week with Foulger-Pratt Development to open a hotel in Park Potomac, a condo-office-retail-hotel building. The hotel will be a 156-room complex with a spa, restaurant, bar and 6,000 square feet of meeting space.
“With Park Potomac, we expand our foothold in bringing urban sophistication to suburban markets,” said Mike Depatie, president and chief executive officer of Kimpton.
The San Francisco hotel company has aggressively pursued land in the Washington area. Washington recently tied San Francisco as Kimpton’s largest market when it opened its 10th local hotel in Alexandria in February.
Construction on the Potomac hotel is scheduled to start later this year; it should open in early 2011.
In other news …
• Another hotel celebrating an opening is the Westin Reston Heights. The JBG Co. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide opened the 191-room facility last week. The hotel is at 11750 Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston.
• Should we read anything into this? About 19,000 psychiatrists are in the nation’s capital this week for the American Psychiatric Association’s annual convention. The convention, which started Saturday, is expected to bring $17 million to the city.
• Retail & Hospitality appears Mondays. Send news to Jennifer Haberkorn at 202/636-4836 or jhaberkorn @washingtontimes.com.
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