June 9, 2017

Hotel 1000's update will include a nod to the past: Warshal's bait and tackle shop

Images from Loews Hotels & Co. [enlarge]

A light fixture with over 250 hand-blown LED glass droplets will be installed in the lobby.

[enlarge]

Vanities, mirrors and wall coverings will be replaced in guest rooms.

Loews Hotels & Co. announced this week that it is starting a multimillion renovation of Hotel 1000, which it bought last year from Thayer Lodging Group and Provenance Hotels.

Improvements will be made to guest rooms, meeting space, the lobby and restaurant in an effort to keep the 120-room property at First Avenue and Madison Street competitive with other hotels in downtown Seattle.

A news release from Loews said: “The new look will create a luminous modern refinement throughout the hotel, while paying homage to the rich history of its location.”

A new focal point will be created in the lobby with a light fixture composed of over 250 hand-blown LED glass droplets. Loews calls it “an artistic representation of the rain in Seattle.”

Loews also is lightening up the lobby by replacing dark finishes with white finishes and opening up the walls. The front desk will be redone in cold-rolled steel and white marble.

Guest rooms will be refinished with soft grays, rich greens and a hint of rose. Vanities, mirrors and wall coverings will be replaced.

Some elements will be retained, such as bathtubs that fill from the ceiling and electric shades that lower for privacy on the glass walls between the bathrooms and sleeping areas.

The restaurant remodel will hark back to 1936, when the site housed Warshal's Sporting Goods, which had a bait and tackle shop. Seattle's fishing industry will be reflected in elements ranging from portraits of fishermen to wavy shelves. Rustic finishes such as white-washed wood, metal and white brick will reflect the simplicity of fishing boats.

The meeting space and ballroom areas will take inspiration from Puget Sound and the ferry boats that ply its waters. A glass-beaded wall covering in the foyer will be a glittering interpretation of the sound on a sunny day.

Simeone Deary Design Group of Chicago is the designer. Swinerton Builders of Bellevue is the general contractor for the public spaces and Land-Ron Inc. of Orlando, Florida, is renovating the guest rooms.

Work will be done in phases by floor, and is expected to be finished in September.

The DJC last year reported that New York-based Loews paid $83.5 million for the property, which it recently renamed Loews Hotel 1000. The 24-story building opened in 2006 and has 47 condos on the upper floors.