By the 1960s, Washington, D.C.'s West End neighborhood was a decaying area of Victorian townhouses and abandoned light industrial sites.

[6] The common guest rooms were lavish, with silk wallpaper, furniture made of Honduran mahogany, and down mattresses and pillows.

[5] Each guest received a free monogrammed bathrobe, and each room was outfitted with a loofah and sponge, container full of cotton balls, and luxury bath gels and shampoo.

[8] The Regent was the most expensive hotel ever built in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area (when judged on a cost-per-room basis).

[9] Construction of the hotel helped complete a rapid transformation of the West End neighborhood that began in 1983.

[4] Benjamin Forgey, the architectural critic for The Washington Post, called its exterior design "striking".

As required by zoning regulations, an open space was maintained in front of the entrance, creating a miniature plaza.

[1] The corner of the building was further cut away here, and an eight-story cylinder topped by a copper dome erected over the entrance.

[4] The entrance itself was two stories high, featured a colonnade,[4] and had an Art Nouveau[5] glass and metal canopy which extended out over a part of the plaza in front of it.

But he was otherwise deeply impressed with the "nicely designed" balcony railings, window grates, and entrance canopy.

The exterior's use of color—deep red for balcony railings, cream for window trim, dark green for metalwork, gold for the flagpoles, vermilion for the awnings, and neutral tan for the middle section's bricks—was, he concluded, different, creative, and beautiful.

"The public spaces, especially, constitute a worthy addition to the list of extraordinary hotel interiors in Washington," he wrote.

From the entrance, an "elegant" flight of stairs led down to a lobby featuring a garden and to a double-colonnaded lounge.

[4] Public space details, such as structural columns sheathed in African sapele and bubinga wood[4] and Canadian mahogany paneling,[5] created a "softly luxurious" interior.

[4] He called the interior "a superbly urbane addition to the city, a bold and subtle design that manages without strain to recall past architecture without copying it.

She was far more impressed with the creativity in cooking and presentation at The Mayfair, which she considered among the best restaurants in Washington, D.C.[10] The Regent's main competitor was the 416-room Westin Hotel across the street.

The Regent primarily sought out the business traveler with an expense account or corporations or government agencies wishing to hold small meetings in a luxurious space.

[8] As part of the deal, Square 37 Partners agreed to split revenues with Crown Hotels, giving the management firm 70 percent of the profits.

The threat alarmed the hotel, which in August 1991 made a $150,000 "a good faith payment" on its $1.2 million debt to the city.

In August 1992, The Grand hired local cooking sensation Janet Terry as its new executive chef.

Although hired to cook modern American cuisine,[13] the hotel quickly demanded traditional fare like grilled steak, chicken, and seafood.

[9][16] Crown discovered in 1986 that there was a $50 million mortgage on the building which required a $200,000 a month payment to the Southmark Corporation of Dallas, Texas (a real estate investment trust).

Crown defaulted on the mortgage to Washo, and asked Square 37 partners to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy with it.

The question under bankruptcy law was whether Crown Hotels, as lessee, was entitled to a financial interest in The Grand.

Washo Financial hired a new management company, Sovereign Hotel Group, to run the business.

[27] A central seating area, "The Dock", was added to the lobby which provided access to electrical power, computers, and printers.