The dining room at Dōgon, helmed by Chef Kwame Onwuachi, at right with Salamander Collection founder & CEO Sheila Johnson. Photo credits: Naho Kubota & Scott Suchman |
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In partnership with Henderson Park, we have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community and travelers since we officially launched. As part of enhancing the arrival experience, we introduced Salamander’ s signature " Living Room " to the lobby, transforming it to be warmer and more welcoming, along with a completely transformed Lobby Lounge that overlooks the Grand Lawn and the Washington Marina. This area has truly become the living room of D. C., offering a compelling gathering place for locals and visitors.
HOTELS: The hotel subsequently has gone
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through a rather large-scale renovation that includes guest suites, public spaces and F & B outlets. What have been the biggest challenges and what are you most proud of about it? Devadas: Renovating a hotel is filled with opportunities and challenges. We didn’ t close the hotel during the enhancement period and our team worked to minimize any disruptions and maintain exceptional service. We made significant enhancements to our guest suites, public spaces and our food-and-beverage outlets, requiring meticulous planning and execution to ensure guests weren’ t disrupted.
We are specifically proud of two new additions. First, is
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the Salamander Spa. Though the former Mandarin spa was very well regarded, it had only eight treatment rooms and was restricted to one level. We converted a former office space on the lobby level and created a new reception area, relaxation tea lounge, nail studio, men’ s grooming salon and six additional treatment rooms— and then connected the floors with a grand staircase making us the only dual-story spa in D. C. Now, our upstairs focuses on aesthetics while downstairs is dedicated to body treatments and offers our enhanced steam and sauna facilities, as well as water-therapy experiences.
Second, our new restaurant called Dōgon by Kwame Onwuachi opened to critical
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acclaim, and just four months into operations, it’ s already rated second on Washingtonian’ s list of top restaurants in the region. The restaurant is a true partnership with Chef Kwame and was designed by Modellus Novus. The concept was inspired by D. C. surveyor Benjamin Banneker and his heritage to the West African Dogon tribe. The restaurant celebrates the cultures within D. C.’ s four quadrants and serves vibrant cuisine through an Afro- Caribbean lens drawing from Kwame’ s unique Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian and Creole background.
HOTELS: The January 20th Inauguration was a big time for the city and, logically, for the hotel. What was it like racing against the clock to
have the hotel ready in time for the days before and after it? Devadas: Our team worked exceptionally hard to prepare the hotel for the inauguration,
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42 hotelsmag. com May / June 2025 |