I do!

So first off was the Aloft National Harbor – I’ve written a lot about the National Harbor development, and it’s just so interesting to me to see the creation of almost a mini-town rise up from nothing but empty ground (I know, I probably just put myself on the environmentalists hate list – sorry!).

The aloft in National Harbor isn’t due to open until next year, but there still was considerable work done on the exterior and you could clearly see the aloft swish. I really like this development because while it fits in very well with the National Harbor design, it also still has the aloft signature elements such as the swish and window decorations.

 
aloft National Harbor

 
Rendering of the aloft National Harbor

aloft National Harbor from the waterfront

Next was the aloft North Charleston. This aloft can be watched 24/7 via a construction cam that is located near the construction trailer – but there is nothing like actually being there in person, and it was interesting to view for the first time the actual aloft prototype. The building outside may be a little boring – mainly a white finish, but the inside will definitely make up for it. After viewing it in person, I wish Starwood did something with the colors – maybe put in some darker colors along with the white, but hey – all that matters is what’s on the inside, so I cant complain much about that.

This aloft is scheduled to open on September 4th, and is well on its way as you can see from these pictures. Unfortunately we arrived there just as it was getting dark so the pictures are not as clear as I had wanted.

Finally is the aloft Philadelphia Airport that’s being built on Starwood’s property at the Philadelphia Airport. This property is very interesting because its a decent parcel of land that is owned by Starwood Hotels, and currently is occupied the Sheraton Suites, and Four Points by Sheraton, and then the aloft that is currently being constructed. Starwood owns and operates the hotels on this land, and I don’t see Starwood divesting themselves of this property anytime soon as part of their move to being mainly a brand owner over the past few years. Additionally there is a fourth piece of land that can still be developed – perhaps an Element?

These pictures were taken with my cell phone, so that’s why the quality is not exactly up to par.

 
aloft Philadelphia exterior

 
aloft Philadelphia entrance canopy

 
aloft Philadelphia entrance sign

There are two other aloft’s scheduled to open that I frequently drive past – but construction has not started on them yet. The one located on Route 1 in Woodbridge, NJ and also the one located in Mount Laurel, NJ which ironically is directly across the street from the new Westin Mount Laurel.

It’s a very exciting time for Starwood and aloft. It’s taken a little longer than we all have hoped to open the first locations, but they are well on their way to launching a very exciting new hotel brand!

andrew@alconic-inc.com

I have to admit – I am very impressed!

We parked in the parking garage (free for the first 2 hours!) and went into the Gaylord National – I’ve been in some big hotels before – but none that actually felt as big as this one. After you walk into the lobby, which is the size of a Las Vegas hotel lobby, you can go right into the 18 story atrium – the centerpiece of the Gaylord National property.

The feeling of being in a big hotel property usually is achieved by seeing the size of the lobby, or the number of buttons on the elevator but what makes the Gaylord National feel so big is the wall of hotel rooms which surround you when you walk into the atrium. Walking into this atrium almost makes you feel like you are in the biosphere 2 – if it wasn’t for the wall of glass on one end, and the glass ceiling 18 stories up, it feels like a small self-contained city. The floor of the atrium a few small buildings, making the old-fashioned town-feel even more real, as well as some beautifully manicured gardens and grounds (and this is still inside!)

View of the hotel/atrium.

Outside of Gaylord National

Courtyard Area inside the Atrium

We visited on April 11th – two weeks prior to their official grand opening, yet about a month after their soft opening, so some components were still not finished – one of the entrances onto the outside grounds was still being constructed, and then the grounds outside were still off-limits due to landscaping. But we still managed to walk outside and through the rest of the development and I have to admit – I was very surprised by the amount of construction still occurring. It seems to me that except for the Hampton Inn & Suites and the Gaylord National itself, all the remaining storefronts, hotels and businesses are still under construction. The only other place that looked like it was to be ready for business in less than a month was the Westin – but even that I was unsure about. I have to add – there clearly is a lot of work still to be completed as you can tell by the photo below, but the aloft National Harbor is clearly coming to life. As I drove onto the property you can see the signature aloft swish facing the main road. I’ll have more about that and the aloft Charleston in another post.

The main street into National Harbor

Since the centerpiece of the National Harbor project is the Statue “The Awakening” I had to visit that. After getting to the waterfront, it’s clear how National Harbor is not only a conference/business destination, but also as the ability to be a local destination. The setup of the docks, the restaurants and storefronts which will be level with the docks (technically 1 story below the main access road and Gaylord National).

The Pier on the Waterfront

The Awakening

The Awakening

The Waterfront Area.

National Harbor is a place that I would love to live – close access to two major cities (Washington DC and Alexandria, VA) yet all the comforts of home right outside of your doorstep as well. Nightly entertainment on the docks and waterfront area, as well as the security of knowing that it will never be a deserted area – even at 2AM in the morning. Hotel guests, and conventioneers will also not have to worry about going too far to eat or to talk or meet when they visit the property. If there is one annoyance about attending a convention just outside of the center of a major city, its the tease of being so close to the action, events, places to go, yet not close enough where you can walk right outside of the convention hotel and find almost everything you’d need.

National Harbor does not have that issue.

Something else which I found interesting is how only about half of the entire National Harbor property is currently being developed – the entire portion of cleared areas to the East of the property is all slated for future development – having nothing to do with the current economic situation, but just Phase 2. In Phase 2 you will see more of what you currently have – as well as much more commercial office space and residential living space, but for now, National Harbor is still a unique and very well designed mixed-use development.

Props go out to the Peterson Companies for taking a huge gamble on this development – and making it a clear success.

andrew@alconic-inc.com

National Harbor

Last week I wrote about Starwood Hotel’s development pipeline extending with two hotels within the National Harbor development – an aloft, and a Westin. The Westin which should be opening in a few months with the aloft opening in early 2009. In the article I was surprised that Gaylord would allow another hotel brand into their development – but I was corrected earlier today by a representative from National Harbor’s PR team. He pointed me to National Harbor’s website, and I realized that there is more to National Harbor than the Gaylord Convention Center and Hotel. If you have not been to National Harbor’s website – take a look – its very well put together and offers a lot of concrete information on the project, background information, renderings, etc. The renderings are especially interesting because when a project is being developed there is not much information on what the buildings will look like except for a few shots – but National Harbor’s site has pictures of every building currently being constructed, floor plans, and what will be in the building. Very useful when trying to get an understanding of what the project is made up of.

Aloft National Harbor

Westin National Harbor

In addition, they have a progress website that shows the progress (Id assume its updated every month or so) on each one of the buildings that are currently being built in this phase.

National Harbor is a community within itself – complete with a name “National Harbor, MD” and Zip Code (20745) which is being shared with Oxon Hill. National Harbor is being built by the Peterson Companies, one of the largest mixed use developers in the Fairfax, VA/Washington DC area, although this is the largest product that they have tackled to date.

National Harbor, when completed, will consist of over 7.3 million square feet of hotel, retail, restaurant, convention center, residential, and office space – all on undeveloped land – no eminent domain needed here! In addition to the Gaylord National complex – the anchor of the development which will contain 2,000 hotel rooms and an 18 story atrium within the convention center space, 6 other hotels will complete the development, Starwood’s Westin & aloft, a Residence Inn, Hampton Inn, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, and another still unannounced hotel. National Harbor will have 4 piers – enabling visitors or convention hosts to bring boats directly up to the property – a huge selling point for the convention sales dept, and it will also contain 2 marinas for typical docking needs.

The purpose of the National Harbor project is mainly to attract businesses – via the office space and convention center space, as that is what most of the development is going after (at least right now), but with the residential components currently being built and on the drawing board, its also being promoted as an alternative to living just outside the main business centers of the area – Fairfax, Alexandria, Washington DC, etc.

For those who decide to call National Harbor home, there will be plenty to do – they are having nightly light shows, and one of the components will be a movie theater.

This project excites me because I love master planned, mixed-use projects. I think there is something to be said for things that are pre-planned, and designed around a common theme for a common purpose, especially real estate when you are trying to build up a large area very quickly. A lot of people feel that planned communities are a bad idea, that they conjure up an image of standards which have to be met, and the inability to grow or expand outside the community bounds. I think the National Harbor project will succeed because of a number of things in its favor – it is in a great location, a very important metropolitan area of the United States, it fulfills a niche that hasn’t been completely filled before (a large conference facility in Washington DC) and it has a great mix of buildings – office, retail, residential, hotel, entertainment, restaurants, open/park space which will allow a much wider variety of people to utilize its services.

I think it also shows a lot of persistence by the Peterson Companies – they have owned the property for almost 10 years before they even broke ground (purchased it in 1996) and they were finally able to do what most other people had tried, but never finished. Not only that, but the National Harbor that you see now is only about 1/3 or 1/2 of the entire project – there is more to be announced at a later date.

I’ll be keeping an eye on the National Harbor project – I’m very interested to see the finished results and the reception it receives within the community.

andrew@alconic-inc.com

I frequently check Starwood Hotels & Resorts “New Hotel” link at the bottom of www.starwoodhotels.com to see if there are any new notable hotels opening in Starwood’s portfolio. Usually this page doesn’t give too many hints or previously unknown information but not only that, it’s usually outdated and except for it being organized by country – it has absolutely no other organization to it – two Florida hotels may be next to a hotel in Washington State, which is next to a hotel scheduled to open in Colorado – 8 months ago.

A few weeks back, I checked the page, and to my surprise Starwood greatly improved its presentation – and provided some information on locations that I was previously unaware of, it finally includes alofts & elements, and is organized alphabetically by state, and then city.

Thank you Starwood for the re-design!

Here’s are some future Starwood Hotel locations which I found to be worth noting, in no particular order:

• The first “official” acknowledgment of the W Boston Hotel & Residences – prior to this, Starwood had always been tight lipped about the W they have been planning in Boston.
• The W Puerto Rico is going to be called W Retreat & Spa, Vieques – I must have missed this press release, because I always thought the W in Puerto Rico was to be in San Juan – instead, it’s a complete renovation of the Martineau Bay Resort, currently an unbranded Starwood managed resort.
• An aloft is going to be built in Woodbridge, NJ – nothing special to most people – but it’s the closest aloft to where I live!
• The Westin National Harbor is opening in Maryland in April – this Westin will be on the grounds of what is currently the largest construction project in the Washington DC area – the Gaylord National & National Harbor. This is news because I wasn’t aware that Gaylord Entertainment was allowing other hotel brands to be built within the project besides their own. UPDATE: I was alerted by a reader that Gaylord National is only a component of the National Harbor development. National Harbor is its own community, which will have 6 different Hotel Accommodations available upon completion.
• An aloft is scheduled to open just down the street from the Westin National Harbor in April 2009 (also within the National Harbor project).
• The W Scottsdale is scheduled to open in March of this year, this is the first time I have seen a firm date. It looks like it’s going to be an awesome W property. From the rendering on the website, it looks as though the pool is over the entrance to the parking garage, and even sticks out past the edge of the building a bit.
• Not one, but two alofts are scheduled to open in New York City – one in Long Island City, and another in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn location is the one that has been rumored to be a W, but it turns out that it’s going to be an aloft and Sheraton in one building, all three are due to open April/March 2009. An aloft/Sheraton is an interesting combination because up until now, alofts have always been built with elements. Supposedly the aloft/Sheraton is supposed to have a residential component – but it’s still unclear if that’s the case.
• There are 4 Le Meridien’s in the pipeline – one which already opened in Cambridge, MA, and then three other locations in Philadelphia, Tempe, AZ and Dallas, TX. Looks like Starwood is just starting to get the engine warmed up with LeMeridien’s expansion in America.

I know for a fact that there are a number of additional locations which have not yet made the list, due I’m sure to contracts not being finalized, but nonetheless I’m very happy to see Starwood’s hotel pipeline so full for the next few years, and I have not even taken into consideration Starwood’s worldwide expansion!

andrew@alconic-inc.com