Two Washington Hotels Break With Convention

The New York Times  -  ALL it counter-convention. Washington hotels have always catered to the bland tastes of conventioneers, but the capital now has an oasis of lodging hipness created by the Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group of San Francisco.

In two very different neighborhoods, both off the beaten track but in striking distance of museums and monuments, are the Topaz Hotel (1733 N Street NW, 202-393-3000) and the brand new Hotel Monaco (700 F Street NW, 202-628-7177). Both are filled with wild patterns, bold colors and a motley assortment of guests. But the two places couldn't be more different. The Topaz takes edginess over the edge. The Monaco, a dazzling debutante, coolly balances hipness with grandeur.   

The Rooms

The Topaz lobby is an overwhelming riot of color, starting with the doorman and reception staff, who greet guests wearing iridescent, flowing robes, scarves and outlandish hats in deep red and turquoise, a look that might best be described as punk Buddhist. Technopop blasts into the lobby from the Topaz Lounge, where the lighting changes from red to blue to yellow. After this introductory visual assault, the small Topaz rooms ($149 to $275) are positively dizzying. 

 

The beds are covered in stripes and paisley, with polka-dot headboards. The lampshades have harlequin black and white stripes. The rugs have huge, bright yellow snowflakes and then there are red chairs on top of them with a different yellow flower pattern. The walls are celadon with wide beige stripes. Causing a near fatal sensory overload of colors and patterns, there is a huge, round mirror in a sun-dial gold frame reflecting it all. 

 

The Topaz is self-consciously New Age, offering a packet of smooth stones in the rooms and promoting its ambience in newspaper advertisements as "calm and soothing." But between loud music and a decor that could have been designed by Beetlejuice, some guests will have doubts about how soothing a Topaz stay really is. Soothing reassurance does come from the big, down-filled bed, the most comfortable ever. This bed is perfect for sleeping or sipping latte while watching many hours of Sunday pundit shows, de rigueur for a weekend in the center of the political universe.

The rooms in the Monaco ($169 to $350 for single/double rooms; $825 to $995 for suites, with a $650 corporate rate) are much larger and far more luxurious. The large size of the rooms provides needed visual relief from the same basic design impulse of the Topaz to mix a variety of bright colors with many different patterns. With a classical facade, the Monaco occupies a historic building that covers an entire block.

The original building, a post office, was built in the 1800's by Robert Mills, who designed the Washington Monument, and Thomas U. Walter, who designed the cast-iron dome of the Capitol. Original coffered ceilings, beautiful moldings and marble floors have been restored to perfection. Respect has been paid to the old design, but the building has been dressed up with bright red lampshades hanging in the long corridors and brightly patterned rugs in the hallways. The walls in all the rooms are bright yellow, set off by cream molding. A white bust of Thomas Jefferson is perched on a mahogany armoire, which juxtaposes the old and new with humor and grace. The bathrooms are comfortable and roomy. The long windows and amazingly high ceilings in all the rooms are a wonderful change of pace from most hotels and many offer nice views.

Both hotels are pet friendly. The Topaz requires a $50 refundable deposit for pet sleepovers. The Monaco doesn't have an advance charge.

The Scene

The Topaz and Monaco are both lively night spots, attracting Washington's young politicos. The Topaz Lounge is a great place to get a drink and the bistro-style food, especially the excellent French fries, spring rolls and pork satay, is delicious. Cocktails in frosted martini glasses, especially the lemony Blondie, create a festive mood. The drag, once again, is the overdone decor, the zebra ottoman atop a cheetah print rug, and the blaring Euro technopop that grated by the time main courses arrived and caused a migraine by dessert.

The Monaco has a full-fledged restaurant, the Poste, with an attractive open kitchen and extremely solicitous staff. The dishes, from the rib eye steak to the halibut, were succulent and attractively presented. The wine list was first rate, without being overly long or pretentious. And, unlike the rest of the hotel, the color scheme is muted, lots of blond wood and stylish banquettes.

Each hotel dining area was packed on a Saturday night, with diners coming in as late as 9 or 10 — a nice change from the usually early closings of many downtown Washington restaurants. The guests were a mix of the young and the hip, with some older couples in the earlier dinner hours.

The Topaz does not have a gym, although guests can use the Y.M.C.A., a full service gym with pool a block away. The Monaco has a small workout room with new aerobic machines with flat screen video displays.

The Guests

With its modest room rates, the Topaz attracts tour groups and a diverse range of guests, from young couples to older out-of-towners looking for a deal and willing to try something different. During the week, hotel guests mingle with the crowds of young lobbyists and Capitol Hill aides who head straight to the Topaz Lounge for afterwork drinks.

The Monaco crowd was more affluent and seemed to include more people in town on business than pleasure. But the hotel is so new that it is hard to typecast its clientele.

The Environs

Because they are both off the tourist track, the Topaz and the Monaco offer nice introductions to genuine Washington neighborhoods full of good restaurants, stores and sights that aren't flooded with the usual crowds.

The Topaz is near Dupont Circle, a neighborhood full of young people, cool bars like the 18th Street Lounge (1212 18th Street NW) and the Dragonfly (1215 Connecticut Avenue NW) and good restaurants, like City Lights of China (1731 Connecticut Avenue NW), where Mick Jagger once munched on vegetarian dumplings. There are also some nice museums, especially the wonderful Phillips Collection (in a grand town house at 1600 21st Street NW), within walking distance.

The Monaco is in a recently gentrified neighborhood, which has been resurrected by the new sports arena, the MCI Center, across the street from the hotel. Washington's small but intriguing Chinatown is also a stroll away. The area is filled with stylish, new restaurants, including Butterfield Nine (600 14th Street, NW), Oceanaire (1201 F Street NW) and Tosca (1112 F Street NW). Nearby are the headquarters of the F.B.I. (9th and Pennsylvania NW), where tours attract large crowds, Ford's Theater (511 10th Street NW), and the house where Lincoln died, directly across the street from the theater.

ANA Harbour Grand Hotel Sydney Acquired by GIC RE for A$206.5 million, the Largest Amount Ever Paid for an Australian Hotel

NA Holding Pty Ltd has completed the sale of the ANA Harbour Grand Hotel Sydney (the ANA) to GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd (GIC RE). Sonnenblick-Goldman Company represented the seller.

“The sale price of $112 million (A$206.5 million) is the largest amount ever paid for an Australian hotel, and the deal is one of the largest property transactions of any type in Australia this year,” says Robert Stiles, Sonnenblick-Goldman’s San Francisco-based managing director and principal who oversees the firm's Asian practice. The deal surpassed the Westin Sydney sale, which was also purchased by GIC RE earlier this year.

The 36-story ANA is the largest five-star hotel in Australia, with 561 rooms, most of which have harbor views. The hotel has over 20,000 square feet of function space (including a 7,200-square foot grand ballroom that accommodates 900 people), and award-winning restaurants, retail shops and an underground car park. 

Situated in the historic “Rocks” precinct within the central business district, the ANA boasts a unique harbor-side location with a sweeping vista of the Sydney Harbour and its famous landmarks, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge. 
To ensure a smooth transition, the property will continue to bear the ANA brand and remain a member of ANA Hotels through a license agreement that includes a sales referral system.

The ANA transaction marks the latest purchase of a five-star hotel by GIC RE, which already owns other substantial assets in the Sydney area. In addition to the recently acquired Westin Sydney, they include an office tower at 175 Liverpool Street, the International Broadcasting Centre and a majority share of the Queen Victoria Building, through Ipoh Ltd. 

Dr. Seek Ngee Huat, president of GIC RE says, “We are very pleased to secure the ANA Hotel at this time and to have reached a mutually beneficial arrangement, in keeping the use of the ANA brand through a license agreement, until such time as we engage a new five-star hotel operator.”

Dr. Huat adds, “The purchase of the ANA Harbour Grand is a vote of confidence in the Australian hospitality market. This acquisition, together with the Westin Sydney, is a strong statement of our investment strategy to build up a portfolio of core hotel assets in the Asia-Pacific region. We continue to look for opportunities to invest or co-invest with like-minded partners in the hospitality real estate sector in the Asia Pacific region.” 

Commenting on the deal, Sydney-based Sonnenblick-Goldman managing director, John Smith, says, “The hotel drew strong interest and bids above market expectations from a broad cross section of Australian and international buyers. Investors were attracted by the hotel’s outstanding features and facilities, its strong trading performance and the vacant possession opportunity.

“Whilst some buyer interest initially focused on the possibility of a conversion of the hotel to apartments, the ANA’s potential for further profit growth as the Sydney hotel market begins to turn around during the next two years, delivered a compelling case for its continued operation as a five-star hotel. It is an astute purchase by GIC,” Mr. Smith continues. 

According to New York based managing director and principal Mark Gordon, “The global interest in this asset is yet another sign of the depth of investment interest for quality hotel assets in irreplaceable locations.”  With the closing of this transaction, Gordon notes that Sonnenblick-Goldman's International Lodging & Leisure Group is on track to complete more than $1.5 billion of hotel capital transactions in 2001-2002.

Hotel consultants Andersen Global Management Directions Japan and Horwath Asia Pacific Sydney were also advisers to ANA and managed the vendor due diligence process, in conjunction with lawyers Blake Dawson Waldron. 
GIC RE is a pre-eminent global real estate investment manager.  The firm manages a multi-billion dollar portfolio of direct and indirect property investments worldwide.  GIC RE is the real estate investment company of GIC, which manages the foreign reserves of Singapore.

Sonnenblick-Goldman Company is a leading independent real estate investment banking firm. Founded in 1893 to serve the financing needs of the real estate industry, Sonnenblick-Goldman Company provides a full range of real estate financial services including debt and equity placements, joint ventures, investment sales and real estate advisory services. Headquartered in New York, Sonnenblick-Goldman maintains offices in San Francisco, Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong. For more information, visit Sonnenblick-Goldman Company’s website at www.sonngold.com

UK Visitor numbers fail to pick up in July

e-Tid.com  - UK inbound tourism’s uncertain spring/summer continues, with July’s ‘BITOA Business Barometer’ showing visitor number down 4.68% on last year, a wider year-on-year gap than last month.

Visitor numbers had been improving post-11 until May’s figures revealed a 4.78% on May 2001. Numbers narrowed in June, albeit temporarily, to a 1.33% shortfall before July widened again to 4.68%.

Comparisons with 2001 need to take into account FMD, although the negative publicity overseas was on the wane at this stage. July 2001 was down 14.87% on 2000, the year which tourism professionals believe offers a more relevant comparison.

The year so far is 7.1% down on 2001. BITOA said that ‘it could be argued that without the very extensive overseas marketing campaign during the period the decline would almost certainly be worse.’

Forward bookings are 4.21% lower than 2001, with the year so far 3.98% short.

Novotel Hotel brand debuts in Japan

Accor's best-known hotel brand, Novotel, has made its debut in Japan when the former Koshien Miyako Hotel was rebranded to Novotel Koshien Osaka West following a major upgrade of all the hotel's rooms, function facilities and public areas.

The Novotel is a very strategic addition for Accor in Japan, giving a highly visible presence in the Kansai district. Osaka is Japan's second largest city with a day population of over eight million, and industry in the Osaka-Kobe belt - in which the Novotel is located - is one of Japan's most important economic engines.

The hotel is located minutes from Osaka CBD by train, with convenient access to both Kansai International and Osaka Itami airports, the Shinkansen bullet train, the newly opened Universal Studios Japan theme park and the famous port city of Kobe.

The Novotel will cater for a mix of business, conference and leisure guests. All 200 rooms and suites are spacious and offer superb views of the Rokko Mountains and Osaka Bay.

Business travellers can make use of executive floors and an executive lounge, and there are extensive meeting and function facilities, with eight separate banqueting rooms. A variety of restaurants offer a choice of Japanese, Chinese and International cuisines.

The Novotel Koshien Osaka West is also perfectly positioned for leisure travellers, with the most extensive health club featuring a large indoor swimming pool, gym, aerobics studio, jacuzzi and relaxation salon.

The hotel is adjacent to Koshien Stadium, home of the Tigers baseball team, and a short distance from the popular tourist attraction, Universal Studios.

Commenting on the launch of Novotel, Accor Managing Director for Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific and Japan, Michael Issenberg said: "This is an outstanding Novotel and a great addition to the global network. With the Novotel branding we are confident that the hotel will reach a wider international audience to complement its strong position in the Japanese domestic business and leisure markets."

The Novotel is Accor's fourth hotel in Japan. Accor operates a Sofitel in Tokyo and two Formule 1 hotels in Isesaki and Numazu.  

To celebrate the opening, the Novotel is offering a 40% discount off rack rate. The Novotel opening rate is Yen 11,250 (rack rate is Yen 18,370) single and Yen 15,000 (rack rate is Yen 25,740) double occupancy and includes daily buffet breakfast and 10% service charge, but 5% tax is excluded. 10% commissionable to travel agents. Valid till: 28 February, 2003 (conditions apply).