The Watergate: The Frumpiest Place in D.C.?
One last note about The Watergate: The hotel's not the only place that needs work—or lots and lots of work.
It's as if the building managers purposely preserved the complex's 1970s look, so people could feel like they were stepping into President Richard Nixon's crime scene.
The other day, the Reliable Source did a great job of describing the Watergate's faded glamour. But to believe it is to see it, and nowhere is frumpier than the "Watergate Shops."
Behold: The cracked, patched-up ground, the stained windows, and the retro signs.The fountain looks like it was purchased from a 1960s Disney resort hotel. The Safeway clearly has storage issues (note the towering boxes.) There's a statue that appears to be a cross between Michael Jackson, Ronald McDonald and an albino person.
"Don't you love that thing?" said a passerby, noting me eying said statue. "I thought it was a real person."
This statue does not look like a real person.
6:30 pm
Dear lord... looks awful. Hopefully it will someday be brought into the modern era. Probably not anytime soon though. From the outside, it looks like it needs a good powerwashing.
6:44 pm
wow, that era does not age well.
8:37 pm
You all have no taste, that looks great.
2:01 pm
You're both right. It's beautiful and terrible at the same time.
5:10 pm
This article has given me "Watergate Rage."
I know this is over 3 years old, but need to put this feeling out there:
I DO NOT want to see the Watergate "modernized" into something, akin to the "W" Hotel. Either restore it to its original glory or put it out of its misery and demolish it. There is enough 'temporary-contemporary' in D.C! The Watergate is a classic icon that should never be "modernized."
The fountain is wonderful - just restore... so what if you think it's "retro"? Do you think the 2,000 year old cathedrals of Europe are "retro-in-need-of-modernization" as well? How about the US Capitol... that's very "colonial" maybe that style needs to be more edgy instead of classic. How about the memorials? What can we do to make those more appealing to the younger generations? Maybe Lincoln can wear a IPod? The Watergate is a historical treasure, "retro" or not and it's "retro-ness" needs to be preserved.
Yes, the cracks and windows need to be permanently replaced and the whole complex needs a good power-washing.... hopefully some historical building society will do that. I'd rather see this building turned into a youth hostel or homeless shelter rather than have it turned into some swinging L.A. looking SLS-type hotel!
If someone restored this to what it looked like in its hayday, everyone would love it and think it was beautiful.