The luxury-class hotels occupying three of the corners at 24th and M streets NW are a product of the 1973 West End Plan's call for a mix of office and residential projects in order to breathe life into the area after office hours and for contemporary retail and entertainment facilities. Hotels qualified as residential uses and were viewed as more profitable than apartments. The three hotels epitomize the recent gentrification of the West End.
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed the Grand Hotel ( DW24.1) at the southeast corner and the Park Hyatt ( DW24.2) at the northeast corner. The Grand Hotel features a circular domed corner tower, a heavily rusticated stone base, and glass and steel marquee. The Park Hyatt's red and brick stone facade is highlighted with green copper roofs over glass canopies and green balconies. Vlastimil Koubek designed the Westin Hotel ( DW24.3) at the northwest corner; it is connected with an office block on the west, One Westin Center. The Westin's stone window pediments and a balustrade over the entrance canopy are accents in the tan brick and rusticated stone base. Its unusual U-shaped floor plan creates an appealing interior garden court off a glass-enclosed loggia.