We are very pleased to announce the Garaventa Lift Project of the Month for September, 2016 – the X3 Inclined Platform Lift installation at the famous Watergate Hotel in Washington, DC. After a $125 million, nine-year renovation, the hotel reopened recently.

“No need to break in,” its room key cards read—a nod to the infamous scandal of the Nixon administration that led to the president’s resignation. Originally designed by Italian architect Luigi Moretti in 1961 to look like a sail on the Potomac, the hotel has been vacant since 2007. Its current owners tapped Israeli designer Ron Arad and Italian designer Moroso to update the architecture and restore some of hotel’s original structures, like the staircase and indoor pool. Mad Men costume designer Janie Bryant designed the employee uniforms.

Thank you to Will Cromwell of Bedco Mobility in Baltimore for submitting the photos. The installation itself was more involved than what it might look like from the photos. The wall, you see, has a marble facade which will not bear any load. So the lift is actually attached to steel support posts behind the marble. The result is a clean-looking example of a custom-colored X3 Inclined Platform Lift installed at a pretty cool hotel. As proof of it’s coolness, the walls of the lobby bar are made from actual whisky bottles – nice.