Marriott Motor Hotel – Washington, DC

Marriott Motor Hotel
Twin Bridges
Washington, D.C.
Located on the Potomac River, overlooking the Capitol and convenient to all attractions. Only 5 minutes from downtown Washington and the National Airport. 500 beautiful rooms, Persian Ballroom, Fairfield Inn restaurant and Sirloin and Saddle Steak Room.

This lovely vintage postcard was mailed from Washington DC at 4:30PM on August 16, 1962 using a green 1 cent Washington stamp. It was mailed to Netta Bell Shenberger, 1010 Mt. Rose Ave, York, PA.

Hi
I’m staying here a few days. Its beautiful here.
Marian S.

(see also Jack Frost Villas in Miami Beach, mailed to Netta B. Shenberger)

The Marriott Motor Hotel, also known as the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel, has its own wiki. The hotel opened in 1957 and was demolished in 1990.

From wiki: “At its opening, the motel comprised 365 rooms, each with two double beds and a black and white television set. Originally designed as a classic motel with six two-story buildings with exterior entrances, within a few years a 100-room addition of a 5-story tower was added with space for restaurants, meeting rooms, and a rooftop lounge. A new lobby was added, along with a swimming pool that could be converted to an ice rink in the winter. Original rates were $8 per night plus $1 for each person, with a maximum charge of $12. Check-in was outside so the clerk could see how many were in the guests’ car. Clerks would then escort the guests to their room by bicycle.”

Here’s an article on the closing of the hotel. And this photoblog has great photos of the land where the Marriott used to stand. One of the fantastic things about collecting postcards: Netta B (and, likely Marian S.) are long dead. The building pictured in the postcard fell more than 20 years ago. But this small card, this ephemeron, has lasted to point to evidence of the small shared exchange from so many years ago.