Renaissance Revival resort and convention hotel at the edge of Rock Creek Park, designed by Joseph H. Abel and opened October 30, 1930 — best known for the Ghost Suite (formerly Suite 870), tied to a maid who died in the Doherty family apartment.
2500 Calvert Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$$
Full-service luxury resort and convention hotel pricing. The Ghost Suite (formerly Suite 870) is bookable on request.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Full-service modern hotel with elevators and accessible rooms
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1930 · Joseph H. Abel Renaissance Revival Design · Inaugural Ball Host Every 20th-Century U.S. President · Beatles Visit (1964) · Ghost Suite (Formerly Suite 870) Marketed by Hotel
The Omni Shoreham was constructed beginning in 1929 and held its grand opening on October 30, 1930. It was designed in the Renaissance Revival style by architect Joseph H. Abel and developed by Harry M. Bralove. The building replaced the earlier 1887 Shoreham Hotel (originally built by Vice President Levi P. Morton near the White House), which was demolished in 1929.
The Shoreham was conceived as a resort and convention hotel — its position one block west of Connecticut Avenue and overlooking Rock Creek Park gave it a setting unusual among DC hotels of the era. It has hosted inaugural balls for every U.S. President of the 20th century and was a key DC venue for visiting heads of state, dignitaries, and entertainers (including the Beatles in 1964).
Henry L. Doherty, founder of the Cities Service Company (later CITGO), was a minority financial partner in the Shoreham at its opening. Shortly after the hotel opened, Doherty moved his family and household staff into the eighth-floor penthouse apartment. Wikipedia documents that the family's maid, Juliette Brown, died during the night shortly after the move-in. Per the Wikipedia record, Doherty's daughter Helen lived past age 50 and died in Denmark — not in the Shoreham apartment as some ghost-tradition accounts suggest. The Doherty family eventually moved out, and the apartment remained unoccupied for nearly 50 years before being renovated into a hotel suite (Suite 870) and later marketed as the Ghost Suite.
Sources
The Omni Shoreham markets Suite 870 as the Ghost Suite, and the hotel's haunting tradition is centered there. The historical anchor is the death of the Doherty family's live-in maid, Juliette Brown, who according to Wikipedia died during the night shortly after the family moved into the eighth-floor apartment. Ghost-tour sources (Ghosts of DC; NBC4 Washington) embellish this with the additional claim that Doherty's wife Grace and his daughter Helen later also died in the apartment — but the Wikipedia record contradicts at least the Helen claim (Helen died in Denmark, past age 50).
After the Doherty family moved out, the apartment was sealed off for nearly 50 years. When the space was renovated and reopened as Suite 870, guests in adjoining rooms and staff began describing faint voices, cold breezes, doors slamming, televisions and lights switching on and off, furniture moved out of place, and unattended housekeeping carts moving on their own. Many of these incidents are reported around 4 a.m. — the approximate time of Brown's death.
The hotel itself acknowledges the haunting; NBC4 Washington and Ghosts of DC have produced multiple features. The Ghost Suite is bookable.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Book a room at the 1930 resort hotel that has hosted inaugural balls for every 20th-century U.S. President. The Ghost Suite (eighth-floor penthouse, formerly Suite 870) is bookable on request — staff are familiar with the haunting tradition and the well-documented early-1930s deaths in the Doherty family apartment.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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