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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Foggy Bottom micro-hotel construction makes major process

The developer who has renovated the Allen Lee Hotel said he plans for it to reopen this summer or fall. File photo by Anne McBride | Hatchet Photographer
The developer who has renovated the Allen Lee Hotel said he plans for it to reopen this summer or fall. File photo by Anne McBride | Hatchet Photographer
D.C.’s first micro-hotel is closer to opening, the Washingtonian reported.

Hotel Hive, located in Foggy Bottom on F Street and Virginia Ave. NW, is set to open in the late summer or early fall, according to the Washingtonian. The hotel has 83 rooms averaging 250 square feet. 

For the past two years, developer Jim Abdo has been renovating the historic Allen Lee Hotel, which he bought for $3.6 million in 2004.

Abdo told the Washingtonian that he “relished the opportunity to ‘build a brand'” with the old hotel, and had admired it for its location near GW and the State Department.

Hotel Hive will have a main floor cocktail lounge operated by Michael Lastoria, co-founder of &Pizza. The hotel will also have a rooftop deck for visitors, Abdo told the Washingtonian.

The Foggy Bottom and West End Advisory Neighborhood Commission originally refused to give the renovated hotel a liquor license, which they later granted. The Allen Lee Hotel will be able to serve alcohol between 8 a.m and 11 p.m. on weekdays and until 12 a.m. on weekends on its sidewalk cafe, with different hours on the rooftop terrace and the courtyard terrace.

With a focus on younger guests, the hotel’s smaller rooms also mean lower prices, with nightly rates ranging from $125 to $150, and although there will be a traditional check-in desk, guests will be able to bypass it and check in with their smartphones, according to the Washingtonian.

Wherever possible, original brick and wood will remain exposed, and there will be an all-glass elevator, each level featuring different murals by local artists, Abdo said.

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