Hotel Harrington closes Tuesday
Crime, costs continue to push businesses out of the District
A city under siege - so much so businesses are now leaving the District and crime seems to be a major factor. In the past 24 hours, we’ve told you about a restaurant and a bakery closing up shop due to an increase in cost and crime. And one of D.C.’s oldest hotels says it's closing next month but did not say why exactly. FOX 5's Jacqueline Matter has the story.
WASHINGTON - Hotel Harrington and Harry’s bar in downtown D.C. are closing Tuesday.
Hotel Harrington, touted as "Washington's Tourist Hotel," is closing on December 12, FOX 5 has learned. Hotel employees were told about the closure in November at a staff meeting.
Harry's Pub, located in the hotel, will also be closing sometime before December 12.
No reason has been given for the closure.
The hotel site was assessed at $25.4 million for 2024, including $23.3 million for land value alone, according to D.C. property records.
The historic hotel opened in 1914 and was the oldest continuously operating hotel in the city. From 1945 to 1962, WTTG (the District's first television station) operated out of the upper floors of the hotel. Following the end of prohibition, the hotel opened the Pink Elephant Cocktail Lounge, which eventually became Harry's Pub, named after the first owner of the hotel.
The hotel and Harry's became a hot spot for far-right groups who flocked to D.C. for demonstrations around 2020. The bar, in fact, closed ahead of the January 6 Capitol riots. Ahead of January 6, Harry’s had been the scene of an investigation by police responding to complaints of COVID-19 restriction violations and violent confrontations between protesters outside the bar's walls.