Dancing Fountains are a nightly show in the atrium of the Gaylord National Resort : © 2010 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com
The opening of the Gaylord National Resort changes everything about a family vacation in Washington DC, Families finally have a true family-friendly, four-Diamond full-service waterfront resort to find rest and respite after a
busy and exhausting day being immersed in the nation's capital, taking in the most magnificent museums and attractions the country has to offer.
So close and accessible to the downtown, it is sett on the Potomac River, with indoor pool, spa, arcade, dining, and it is so beautiful, you really feel yourself decompress from the intensity and the hubbub of the city.
The Gaylord is a centerpiece of the new 300-acre destination with five hotels, 20 shops, art galleries, a dozen restaurants, a marina (canoe, sailboat and bike rentals), the National Children's Museum Launch Zone (a precursor to the new National Children's Museum opening in 2011) and special events and festivals year-round (Gaylord's Christmas on the Potomac celebration features a spectacular ICE! event that draws hundreds of thousands).
There is so much to do and in such a pleasant environment that National Harbor has become a magnet for day-trippers and locals along with travelers. The development is so huge, there is a new ramp off of I 295 and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac River, was completely rebuilt and expanded from 4 to 12 lanes, plus a separated biking/pedestrian lane.
The Gaylord National takes the best elements from the Gaylord Resorts' flagship, the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, with its soaring (an understatement) atrium, wall and roof of glass, and spectacularly dramatic (yet
tasteful) interiors.
The Gaylord offers a stunning sense of place and respect for the destination, the mid-Atlantic where Washington, DC., Maryland and Virginia converge and so much of the nation's history is centered. The architecture draws on these elements - Colonial, Federalist, with scalloped colonnades reminiscent of the
monuments. Local artists were commissioned to create paintings reflecting history and nautical scenes.
You simply cannot believe your eyes when you first look into the atrium. You look first through it to the magnificent view to the Potomac River and then your eyes look down a level to two-story replicas of a Colonial-era mercantile shop and a Federalist-style farmhouse, richly detailed and authentic, with white-clapboard siding on the farmhouse, and red-brick masonry on the mercantile, stone finishes, shakes, shutters and shingles, porches, patios and courtyard spaces with lush landscaping and wrought iron gate.
Another focal point is an indoor water fountain which "performs" shows nightly, choreographed to lights, special effects and music, shooting as much as 50 feet up.
Thousands of plants and trees re-create a mid-Atlantic landscape, both inside and outside where there are magnificent gardens and another magnificent fountain with pleasant seating areas and walkways afford a spectacular setting beside the river, where there is a dock for the new water taxi service, and a promenade
along the water. The historically themed garden palette features a colonial garden, a tree-lined river walk promenade, 1,200 oak, cherry and chestnut trees, and more than 40,000 flowers.
And the quality of the craftsmanship and materials! That is one thing that struck me about Opryland Hotel, which is a massive, sprawling complex of 2,800 rooms (the resort is just reopening after suffering $250 million in damage from the spring 2010 floods) where the rates are geared more to an upper-middle market.
The Gaylord National, which has been earned a 4-Diamond rating from AAA, also is large - one of the biggest in the DC region - with 2,000 rooms, but it is high (20 stories), instead of wide, and actually gives the feeling of being more compact and "intimate" (if that is even possible). Here, too, the materials and craftsmanship are high quality - marble, granite, fine wood furnishings, detailing in the moldings, lush landscaping - but pricewise, it is moderate, and matched with Hilton, Hyatt and Westin, yet offers supreme quality and unmatched
service and amenities. Read more and see slideshow.
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