The world's first politically motivated hotel is coming soon to the nation's capital to serve as a safe haven for Democrats with an explicitly liberal mission.
Eaton Workshop, the hotel set to open in Washington, D.C. in late spring 2018, will broadcast a montage of news footage from the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections for guests to see when they first enter the building, Bloomberg reported Monday.
The custom-commissioned video art installation by AJ Schnack, shown on a series of vintage-style television screens, is built around one question: How did our country get where it is today?
The premise of Eaton Workshop, which has 209 rooms just north of the National Mall, is "built around liberal activism and civic engagement," and "the brand will weave a liberal philosophy into every aspect of the guest experience, some more obvious than others," according to Bloomberg.
One way this mission will be carried out is to host a TED talk-like series driven by a liberal agenda.
A "co-working space" will prioritize memberships for progressive startups, activists, and artists, while a wellness program will offer "inner-health-focused treatments" including Reiki and sound baths.
Founder Katherine Lo—the daughter of Ka Shui Lo, the creator and executive chairman of Hong Kong-based Langham Hospitality Group Ltd.—said the hotel's goal "isn't to bring together left and right," but to create "a diversity of fields and backgrounds as well as gender and ethnicity."
A second location is set to open in Hong Kong in 2018, with new constructions coming in San Francisco and Seattle no sooner than 2019.
Room rates at the D.C. location will be in the upper $200s.
"We're hoping that our hotel revenues will propel our creative projects," said Lo, who likened the Eaton Workshop to "a non-profit, but better."
The Eaton Workshop will likely be cast as the antithesis of the Trump International Hotel in D.C., though the Trump hotel is not meant to be political in nature.