A week after opening in Tysons, WhyHotel is planning a second ‘hospitality living’ space in DC

Less than a month after it announced its first “Hospitality Living” location in Tysons, Virginia, alternative lodging company WhyHotel now has plans for a second location in D.C.’s West End.

The company’s services at the new 2500 Penn building, located at the intersection of 25th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, are being operated in partnership with the Bernstein Management Corporation.

Like the Tysons spot, it will combine long-term living with the assets of a hotel, but as the amenities are location-based, it will differ from the Rise and Bolden Apartments in The Boro. This time, instead of dog-walking and laundry services, the space will host a wine garden and restaurant concept. It will also flex between long-term stays and hotel uses, according to the NoMa company. The 2500 Penn location will begin accepting stays this month, with an official opening later in the summer.

The hospitality living model, which is WhyHotel’s term for its long-term rental-meets-hotel framework, is designed for “choice renters,” a.k.a. people who could afford a home but enjoy the flexibility of rentals.

“It is clear that the pandemic has accelerated the shift to flex-use spaces in hospitality, presenting us with a unique opportunity to move up our timeline for bringing innovative and flexible experiences to  the market,” said WhyHotel CEO Jason Fudin, in a statement. “A cornerstone of our mission at WhyHotel is providing guests with an experience that they’re able to customize to their unique needs, and Hospitality Living is our evolution of that commitment.”

WhyHotel, which was a 2019 RealLIST Startups honoree, has seen a strong 2021 following major layoffs last year. Fudin previously told Technical.ly that the company was shifting into a new focus on permanent residences on top of its pop-up hotel offerings.

“There’s a very large opportunity to permanently infuse hospitality into a multifamily building,” Fudin told Technical.ly last month. “We call that business hospitality living.”

Since the first quarter of 2021, it has already announced two pop-ups in Miami and D.C., plus the Hospitality Living facilities, and it has rehired some of the staff laid off last year.