[5] The hotel opened as the Wardman Park Inn[6] on November 23, 1918,[7] just days after the 1918 Armistice ended World War I.

The hotel was hugely successful due to the housing shortage caused by the growth of Washington, D.C., during World War I.

[8] It attracted prominent guests and tenants; foreign ambassadors, members of Congress, and Vice President Marshall took up residence.

At night, she would visit her lover, an embassy employee whom she had compromised, and steal secret documents, transport them back to the hotel, and photograph them in a lab she had set up in her room.

There was also a U.S. Post Office and shops in the basement, including a butcher, grocery store, and dry cleaner that was stocked even during World War II.

The first televised broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press took place in 1947 in the Wardman Tower, where host Lawrence Spivak lived.

[16] While construction was still underway, Sheraton sold an interest in the hotel to the John Hancock Life Insurance Company.

[19] In 1985, John Hancock bought out Sheraton's remaining interest in the hotel, but paid the chain to continue managing the property.

[27] On November 20, 2008, United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed and lost consciousness at the hotel while giving a speech to the Federalist Society.

[28] On March 29, 2010, Superior Court of the District of Columbia Judge Natalia Combs Greene granted partial summary judgment and a motion to dismiss.

A partial out-of-court settlement had already been reached by the parties giving JBG some limited ability to move forward on the condo project, but that agreement now seemed unnecessary given the court's ruling.

[31][32] After the collapse of the housing market during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, JBG decided to construct an apartment building on the vacant acreage rather than condominiums.

In June 2014, after the building was completed, but before it was leased, JBG sold The Woodley for $195 million, or $920,000 per unit, to TIAA-CREF, which set a record for the highest price-per-unit ever paid for a multifamily project in the D.C. metropolitan area.

[47] In August 2023, Carmel secured a $360 million loan from Wells Fargo for the redevelopment, with plans for two large residential towers to be built on the property.

[45] The Wardman Tower building was home to several politicians and other world public figures: The Marriott Wardman Park hosted many annual events including: The hotel was included in the rotation of cities in which the American Contract Bridge League holds North American Bridge Championship tournaments.

[52] In March 2017, Cvent, an event management company, ranked the Marriott Wardman Park at 87th in its annual list of the top U.S. hotels for meetings.