National Harbor's Grand Hotel Hosts Its First Guests

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IT'S A WEEK OF BIG DEBUTS. While Nationals Park got most of the attention over the weekend, National Harbor — the $2 billion hotel-convention complex on the banks of the Potomac River in Prince George's County — is celebrating a big week as well: it's hosting its very first convention.

The gathering's at the Gaylord National, the largest non-casino hotel and convention center on the East Coast. According to spokeswoman Amie Gorrell, the hotel's first guests — an advance team from Saturn, the company inaugurating the building's convention space — checked in on Saturday.

Gorrell said the Saturn gathering is a "soft launch" for the complex — one that's closed to the public, so no peeping through the windows. The hotel's grand opening is scheduled for Friday, April 25.

While the Gaylord National is home to 2,000 rooms, an 18-story glass atrium and a 20,000-square-foot spa and fitness center, it isn't Metrorail accessible. And that's where the city of Alexandria, across the river in Virginia, hopes to come in.

Starting today, a free trolley will ferry passengers from the King Street Metrorail station to the waterfront at the east end of Old Town. From there, folks can hop a water taxi — which also begins operating today — to National Harbor, The Post's Kirstin Downey reports. The taxis are operated by a private firm, Potomac Riverboat Co., and a round-trip ticket costs $14.

The trolley is expected to run every 15 minutes and make 19 stops on its way down King Street, Downey reports. The water taxi will run every hour for now, with trips scheduled from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Each trip across the Potomac is expected to take about 20 minutes.

» "Tourism Hopes Riding On Alexandria Trolley" [WaPo]

Photo by Gerald Martineau/The Washington Post