Marriott Switching Out Renaissance Brand At Downtown D.C., Reston Hotels

Two D.C.-area hotels, one existing and one under construction, revealed changes in their flags Thursday, both moving away from Marriott's Renaissance brand. 

Sunstone Hotel Investors revealed in its earnings release Thursday it reached an agreement with Marriott International to rebrand the Renaissance Washington D.C. hotel at 999 Ninth St. NW to the Westin Washington D.C. 

The rebranding, first reported by the Washington Business Journal, coincides with the launch of a $70M renovation of the 807-room hotel. Sunstone also announced it paid off its $107.9M mortgage on the hotel using the proceeds from the sale of another Renaissance hotel in Los Angeles. 

"Building on our previous success repositioning hotels in our portfolio to maximize value, we are very excited about the pending conversion of the Renaissance Washington DC to The Westin Washington DC," Sunstone CEO John Arabia said in the earnings release. 

Comstock Partners announced Thursday it reached an agreement with Marriott to bring the JW Marriott flag to the 250-room hotel at the Reston Station development, the first location in Virginia for the luxury brand. 

The developer had previously reached a deal with Marriott to bring the Renaissance brand to the hotel in early 2019. The hotel is part of a 26-story mixed-use project that also includes 90 condos. 

A Comstock spokesperson said the project has broken ground and is expected to deliver in 2024. 

"The JW is a premier brand that better fit the quality of project, condominiums and market moving forward," the spokesperson said. "As the project has evolved in design and scale, both parties agreed to move forward with the Four-Star concept." 

The Renaissance brand still has one hotel in the D.C. area, near Reagan National Airport in Arlington, plus it has one in Baltimore and one in Portsmouth, Virginia. 

Marriott didn't respond to a request for comment on the two brand pivots.