Willard InterContinental Washington, Historic luxury hotel in Downtown Washington, United States.
The Willard InterContinental is a 12-story Beaux-Arts hotel at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, designed by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh and opened in 1901. Its light cream stone facade rises to a dark mansard roof, with a rounded corner carrying rows of rectangular windows and small stone balconies. A blue banner above the entrance reads "Willard" and "Oliver T. Carr".
Six small houses built by Colonel John Tayloe III in 1816 served as a hotel under several names before Henry Willard leased and combined them in 1847. The present 12-story Beaux-Arts building by Henry Janeway Hardenbergh opened in 1901. After closing in 1968 and sitting vacant, it reopened on August 20, 1986, following a restoration by the Oliver Carr Company and InterContinental.
The hotel's Round Robin Bar and Peacock Alley shops carry on a social tradition: Ulysses S. Grant drank whiskey and smoked cigars in the lobby, and the hotel credits his habit of receiving favor-seekers there with giving English the term "lobbying." A plaque on the Pennsylvania Avenue side marks the 1861 Peace Congress.
The hotel stands at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, two blocks east of the White House and two blocks west of Metro Center station. The Round Robin Bar, Peacock Alley shops and function rooms are inside the building, so allow time to move between them. The Pennsylvania Avenue side carries a plaque from the Virginia Civil War Commission.
The hotel's own lore credits its lobby with the word "lobbying": Ulysses S. Grant, who first stayed in 1852 as a lieutenant, drank whiskey and smoked cigars there, and favor-seekers approached him in the hall. The claim is folklore promoted by the hotel, not documented etymology.
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