New Owner Gives Omni $45M Overhaul

<H1> New Owner Gives Omni $45M Overhaul</H1><B>O</B>ne of Washington's best-known meeting hotels, the Omni Shoreham, will undergo a $45 million overhaul following the purchase of the Omni chain by TRT Holdings.

"We want to have a quality Omni in every major city so that a meeting planner can know what to expect no matter where he chooses to work with us," said Dennis Hulsing, senior vice president-sales and marketing for Omni.

Hulsing said that while Omni is starting from scratch in redoing the Shoreham, he hopes to start the renovation by Presidential inauguration time in early 1997.

The project entails three phases: the first involving all guest rooms, the second public spaces and the third meeting space. Work is expected to last about two years, Hulsing said.

Work on the meeting facilities is being put on hold until the last phase because they are in good condition, Hulsing said. "Another good thing about the Shoreham," said Hulsing, "is that because of its layout we can section off the hotel and don't need an overall closing."

While Omni will upgrade the hotel partly to attract individual travelers, "we will remain at heart a meeting hotel," Hulsing said. "We have over 100,000 square feet of meeting space in 30 rooms, and we consider ourselves the only downtown hotel that is like a resort because of the view overlooking Rock Creek, our tennis courts and our outdoor pool."

Hulsing said the meeting space would be updated but "not architecturally changed. We will leave the same amount of meeting space because we have other unused space we can employ to expand the health club and do some other things."

He said that Omni's new owners are willing to invest so much money in the Shoreham because of the strong meetings market in Washington. Omni has a national sales office in the city, and it will be located in the hotel once the renovation is complete. "When it's all done, this will be Omni's marquis property," Hulsing said.