The D.C. area’s largest hotel, the Gaylord National Resort at National Harbor, will reopen July 1, 16 months after the COVID-19 pandemic closed it in March 2020.
Hotel owner Ryman Hospitality Properties lost more than a year of convention and conference business but used the time to give the nearly 2,000-room hotel a reboot.
Ryman is completing a $64 million guest room renovation, including the resort’s 110 suites.
“Gaylord National’s reopening represents a significant milestone for our company as we get closer to a much-anticipated return to group travel. After accelerating a previously planned rooms’ renovation and repositioning our food and beverage offerings over the last year, we are ready to welcome guests back to the most spectacular resort on the East Coast,” said Colin V. Reed, chairman and CEO of Ryman Hospitality.
With business travel still a long way from returning to normal, there has been little demand for Gaylord’s more than 600,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space. The hotel is the largest nongaming resort and convention center on the East Coast.
The hotel laid off more than 2,000 employees last year. A Gaylord spokesman declined to comment on how many employees will be brought back, but issued this statement regarding COVID-19 reopening plans and capacity limits:
We are partnering closely with the local health authorities to align our enhanced protocols, including any capacity restrictions within our expansive resort and multiple meeting spaces, with the most up-to-date medical guidelines and in accordance with Marriott’s Commitment to Clean.”
The seven other hotels at National Harbor, including the MGM National Harbor, are currently all open.
