Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel ready for Christmas

The Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel at 1 Bethesda Metro Center is ready for Christmas. LED accent lighting on the facade has been set to red and green Christmas colors. Meanwhile, Morton's Steakhouse in the hotel will be open for dinner on Christmas Day. Hours on December 25 will be 12:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

Agora "coming soon" to Bethesda Metro Center

Agora is "coming soon" to the ground floor of the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel, at 1 Bethesda Metro Center, according to signage posted outside the space. It is located where the former Daily Grill restaurant was. Agora will feature a mezze-style menu inspired by the traditional cuisines of Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon. Signature dishes will include flame-grilled kebabs, house-made künefe, and pistachio soufflé, alongside vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options. As the signage notes, the restaurant is expected to open next spring.

Assault at hotel in Bethesda

Montgomery County police were called to a hotel in downtown Bethesda late Friday afternoon, October 3, 2025, after someone reported having been the victim of a 2nd-degree assault there. The assault was reported at a hotel in the 8100 block of Wisconsin Avenue at 5:45 PM Friday. There are two hotels on that block of Wisconsin: The Bethesdan Hotel, and the American Inn.

Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel refreshing exterior (Photos)

The Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel at 1 Bethesda Metro Center is getting an exterior refresh. A crew worked from left to right on scaffolding to brighten the building's facade in recent days. You can see the clear difference as the dirt and grime give way to a bright white. The 380-room hotel opened forty years ago, when the Bethesda Metro Center development was built atop the new Bethesda Metro station that opened on August 25, 1984.

Agora Bethesda restaurant applies for liquor license

Agora Bethesda, the Eastern Mediterranean restaurant opening next spring in the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel at 1 Bethesda Metro Center, has applied for a liquor license from Montgomery County. A hearing on the request has been scheduled before the County Board of Liquor License Commissioners for October 2, 2025 at 9:00 AM. The kitchen at Agora Bethesda will be helmed by Executive Chef Ismet Sahin. It will feature a mezze-style menu inspired by the traditional cuisines of Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon. Signature dishes will include flame-grilled kebabs, house-made künefe, and pistachio soufflé, alongside vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.

Agora to open at Hyatt Regency Bethesda

The Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel at 1 Bethesda Metro Center has finally found a restaurant tenant to fill the Daily Grill space on the lobby level of the building. Agora Bethesda will be the latest location of the small, local chain of Eastern Mediterranean restaurants. It is expected to open in the spring of 2026.

"We are very excited to add another offering for our guests and clients in 2026," the hotel's general manager Katherina Kia said in a statement. "Agora is an established and reputable operator, and we look forward to a successful partnership at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda." 

The kitchen at Agora Bethesda will be helmed by Executive Chef Ismet Sahin. It will feature a mezze-style menu inspired by the traditional cuisines of Turkey, Greece, and Lebanon. Signature dishes will include flame-grilled kebabs, house-made künefe, and pistachio soufflé, alongside vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.

Hyatt Regency Bethesda is ready for Mardi Gras...are you? (Photos)

The Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel at 7400 Wisconsin Avenue is ready for Mardi Gras this Tuesday. Its customizable accent lighting is set for the New Orleans colors of purple and green. Are you ready for Mardi Gras in Bethesda? The downtown has lost its New Orleans cuisine restaurants, but you can still head to Barrel and Crow at 4867 Cordell Avenue for crab beignets, Spiced Shrimp and Grits or Andouille and Seafood Gumbo; to Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park for a po boy or their New Orleans-Style Shrimp and Grits; to Popeyes in White Flint; or to Kelly's Cajun Grill in the Dining Terrace food court at Westfield Montgomery Mall.

Marriott Bethesda Downtown hotel gets a Trump bump in room rates for inauguration

Once-conservative Marriott International may have transformed into one of the most progressive and liberal corporations in recent decades, but it's still prepared to get an economic boost from the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Room rates at the new Marriott Bethesda Downtown hotel at 7707 Woodmont Avenue have risen for the days surrounding Monday's inauguration ceremony. As you can see, rates for tonight through Saturday night are elevated, rising to $489 per night on the peak nights of Sunday and Monday. 

Marriott has tangled with Trump in recent years, vowing to cut off donations to Republican U.S. Senators who did not vote to certify the 2020 Presidential election, about seven months after Trump ordered Marriott to cease operations in Communist Cuba. But that didn't stop Trump from choosing to stay at a Marriott in beautiful downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the days right before the 2024 election.

Hyatt Regency Bethesda switches to Christmas mode

The Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel has gone into Christmas mode for the 2024 holiday season. LED accent lighting on the hotel facade has been switched to red and green Christmas colors. The lights were installed during a major renovation of the property in 2017, and can display a variety of colors and patterns. With the giant Christmas tree and ice skating rink at the Bethesda Metro Center now mere footnotes in Bethesda history, it's good that there is at least some sign of the holiday season for commuters and tourists using the Metro station.

Cherry Blossom pop-up lounge at Fialova in Bethesda

Fialova, the restaurant inside The Bethesdan Hotel at 8120 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda, is hosting a Cherry Blossom pop-up called Bloom from today through April 14, 2024. A special menu of Japanese and cherry blossom-themed cocktails and appetizers will be served. These include Suntory-glazed chicken wings, a Blossom 75 cocktail, and a Japanese whiskey flight. Reservations can be made online, where you can also see the full menu.

New restaurant plans fall through at Hyatt Regency Bethesda

Plans for a new Mexican restaurant, Los Ricos, to open this year at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda hotel appear to have fallen through. It had been expected to fill the former Daily Grill space by this summer. But construction never began, and coming-soon signage has now been removed at the hotel. Inside, the Daily Grill interior remains completely untouched. The opportunity for a new restaurant remains, but it apparently won't be Los Ricos.

AC Hotel Bethesda introduces leadership team

Chris Raines will be
General Manager of the 
AC Hotel Bethesda

The executive leadership team of the new AC Hotel Bethesda, expected to open next month at 4646 Montgomery Avenue, was introduced today by OTO Development, the firm that developed and will manage the Marriott-branded hotel. Chris Raines will be General Manager of the property; Maria Bardos, CGMP, will be Director of Sales; and Jim Barnett will serve as Director of Food & Beverage, his primary responsibility being the Corella Café & Lounge on the building's ground floor.

Raines currently serves on Marriott International's DMV Business Council as co-chairman, and as a board member of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District. He has previously been a general manager at an IHG hotel property in Arlington, where he also was active with the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. “I’ve always heard opening a hotel is the highlight of any hospitality career — and now I know it’s true,” Raines said in a statement.

Maria Bardos
Director of Sales

Bardos is a native of Montgomery County, and has worked at Marriott and Hyatt properties during her twenty-two year career in hospitality sales. “It’s easy to be passionate about a location you love,” she said. “I’m so excited to bring the AC brand to life in downtown Bethesda.”

Jim Barnett
Food & Beverage Director

Barnett also knows Bethesda well, having worked in Marriott hotels in our town, Philadelphia and Hershey, Pensylvania. He is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts, and is celebrating 21 years with Marriott International, which is opening its new headquarters a few blocks from the new AC Hotel this summer. “I’ve learned from some of the best Marriott minds in the company,” said Barnett, who twice earned the Leader of the Quarter title at Marriott International.

The 18-story, 220-room AC Hotel Bethesda is anticipated to open in mid-August, OTO Development said. Corella Café & Lounge will literally be front and center at the property, with prominent signage and patio seating on the Wisconsin Avenue side of the site. OTO Development currently operates around 70 hotels under the Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott brands.

New AC Hotel Bethesda signage at Avocet Tower (Photos)

More Marriott International news from downtown Bethesda. The company's second new downtown hotel, the AC Hotel Bethesda, is part of the Avocet Tower development at 7373 Wisconsin Avenue. While the hotel itself is at the rear of the development, new signage has been added to a column at the front of the Avocet Tower office building on the Wisconsin side of the property. The AC Hotels brand is Marriott's upscale, European-inspired lodging concept, centered around "purposeful design."

Corella Café and Lounge update in Bethesda (Photos)

I have several updates on the Corella Café and Lounge opening this summer at the new Avocet Tower/AC Hotel Bethesda development at 7373 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. First, there are now heat lamps in place on the outdoor patio outside the restaurant. Second, furniture is now in place inside the cafe's dining room.

Finally, there are a few more details about the restaurant. It will serve a grab-and-go breakfast menu with a full espresso bar, featuring locally-roasted coffees. Lunch service will be available at a Rotisserie Bar, which is visible in the interior photos, along with the larger full cocktail bar. Happy hour and dinner will also be served later in the day. Operating hours of the cafe will be 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM seven days a week.

AC Hotel Bethesda construction update (Photos)

More signage has been installed at the AC Hotel Bethesda at 4646 Montgomery Avenue in downtown Bethesda. Here is another sneak peek inside the lobby, as well. Part of the Marriott portfolio of hotel brands, the AC is scheduled to open by August 2022.

Corella Cafe sneak peek in Bethesda/AC Hotel + Avocet Tower update (Video + Photos)

The opening of the new AC Hotel Bethesda and the Corella Café & Lounge has been delayed until August, but today I have a sneak peek inside the future restaurant. You may recognize some of the interior features, such as the wiry hanging sculptures and bar area, from the renderings I posted last December. So far, it is looking exactly like those images, down to the accent lighting along the walls. Let's take a sneak peek inside, and a new walkaround of the public spaces and art installations outside the AC Hotel and the adjoining Avocet Tower, located at 7373 Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda.