Story

The AC Hotel/Residence Inn by Marriott Reston project is a 16-story, 267-key dual-brand hotel built over top of an existing 5-story below grade shared parking structure in the Reston Town Center expansion. The project includes 34,000 SF of retail, 11,000 SF of meeting space including a ballroom, a spa-style indoor pool and fitness facility, a full-service restaurant, and a rooftop bar and lounge. The project was designed to be the centerpiece of the Reston Town Center expansion. Fronting a public plaza and located adjacent to the Metro station, the goal was to provide a midsize hotel with meeting space to support the adjacent office towers, and retail space on the ground floor to activate the streetscape and engage the local community. One focus of the project was to provide a variety of different environments for guests. Being a dual-branded hotel, this hotel features a greater variety of room offerings to serve a broad traveler base. In addition, each public floor of the hotel provides different outdoor spaces, including street dining, occupiable roof terraces, outdoor space for yoga and wellness initiatives, and a large terrace for the rooftop bar. All these outdoor spaces overlook an extensive green roof system, further enhancing the experience of a green environment. Construction of the AC Hotel/Residence Inn by Marriott Reston was originally supposed to start around the time COVID-19 hit, but the start of the pandemic put a hold on all hospitality projects. Once the project was allowed to begin construction, the main challenge was building on top of a podium constructed by others, with the larger complex of Reston Town Center being already operational. This meant the team had to coordinate with a larger group of stakeholders, and increased communication was paramount to the success of the project. Additionally, the confirmation of the different hotel brands came after the structural grid of the project was already in place. This meant that the design team had to ensure that the room size and design requirements of both hotel brands were met, despite the structural columns already in place. Despite the initial delays and challenges of the project, the hotel celebrated its Grand Opening in January 2025. The design and function of the project met the goal of establishing a centerpiece for the Reston Town Center expansion and driving hotel guests and community alike to not just the hotel, but the development as a whole.