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Break-In News: The Watergate Hotel Closes for 'Dramatic' Renovation

Where: 2650 Virginia Avenue, NW [map], Washington , DC, United States, 23007

It's official: The Watergate Hotel closed last week for a $170 million renovation. Hotel Chatter reported in early June that a major renovation was in the works. At the time, details were nonexistent, except that the hotel's website was only taking renovations through June 30. The hotel ended up staying open through July 30.

Details remain sketchy. Michael Darby, principal of Monumental Realty, told The Washington Post that he plans to create a luxury hotel "probably higher-end than any other hotel in Washington." Probably? The website is more emphatic:

We are currently undergoing a dramatic renovation and will not be accepting guests again until late 2009. While we are creating the most luxurious hotel in Washington, we ask for your patience.

That sounds more like it.

Definitive plans include reducing the number of rooms and bringing in a new partner and operating partner. We tried to elicit more details from several avenues. Spa? Pool? Designer? No confirmations there -- yet. We haven't forgotten that Watergate reporter's mantra: Follow the money.

A little hotel history after the jump.

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