5 Reasons Why Washington D.C.'s Interior Design Leader Counts on Sisal Rugs

Visit Washington D.C. or New York City and you are likely to see the work of Akseizer Design Group (ADG). They are responsible for designing some of the most upscale multi-family, hospitality, condominium, commercial and high-end residential properties across the East Coast and throughout North America.

ADG counts on Sisal Rugs Direct to set the foundation for many of their projects, especially in the hospitality sector. Their most recent assignment using a Sisal Rugs Direct product was the Hotel Hive,  Washington, D.C.’s first micro hotel concept. The rooms within this innovative hotel are designed to be elegantly efficient - like honeycombs (hence the name) with comfortable and compact, yet beautiful, spaces.

“The materials we used to design the rooms had to be very, very special; they could not be something that was just average,” explains Jeff Akseizer, owner of ADG.

They’ve also used Sisal Rugs Direct’s indoor/outdoor rugs at the historic White Moose Inn in rural Virginia. ADG was charged with giving the inn a clean, tailored, timeless look, so they installed the rugs wall-to-wall in the guest rooms. Today, says Jeff, the number-one question guests ask the front desk is, “Where did you get your carpet?”

Sisal Rugs Direct’s indoor/outdoor sisal rugs are one of ADG’s go-to floor covering choices, says Jeff, because:

1. They’re durable. “One of the challenges we face is how to make a room look as good on day 10,000 as on day 1,” says Jeff. “With typical mushy hotel carpets, a maid can pass over them with a vacuum a few times, or a wet towel is left on the floor, and they’ll  quickly show wear. By contrast, Sisal Rugs Direct indoor/outdoor rugs will look brilliant from the moment you install them to several years later.”

It’s why Jeff uses indoor/outdoor rugs in his own home when he entertains.

“If someone spills red wine, it’s no big deal,” he explains, “I can just grab some paper towels, soak it up and move on with the evening. I’m not scrubbing some rare Alpaca-based wool rug worth $20,000. It takes the pressure off both the guests and myself.”

2. They feel fresh. “One of the things I always hear about sisal is that people aren’t going to like how it feels on their feet,” says Jeff. “We’ve proven that wrong time and time again. People prefer something clean and fresh. When you walk around on shaggy carpets in boutique hotels, it isn’t clean and fresh. Who wants to be reminded that someone else was in the room 24 hours ago?”

3. They’re stress-free. “One of the biggest complaints hotels receive,” he explains, “is how difficult it is for people to move their luggage. The thicker the carpet, the greater the resistance.”

The flat weave of sisal rugs eliminates this issue by allowing wheeled luggage to roll smoothly across the floor.

4. The colors are ideal for interior design.  Jeff explains that the first step in an interior design plan is to make sure the largest object in the room acts as a base to complement the rest of the design scheme. Typically that’s the floor, so designers often start there and work upward.

“It’s not an easy task and designers can spend hours ruminating on it,” notes Jeff. “What’s nice about Sisal Rugs Direct is that many of their rug colors work with a large range of complementary colors in both warm and cool tones.”

5. They look like a million bucks (but they definitely aren’t). “Sisal Rugs Direct product looks as expensive, authentic, luxurious and amazing as any rug you can find in the high-brand, retail-design centers,” points out Jeff. “I’ve put these rugs in show homes worth millions and millions of dollars. Without a doubt, everyone asks where we got them.”

When Jeff reveals his source and their cost “their eyeballs pop out,” he laughs. “The cost of a Sisal Rugs Direct rug is close to the tax you would pay for any item from a design center.”

But the primary reason Jeff turns to Sisal Rugs Direct is their service.

“They’re very responsive. Colin Jones (the marketing director for Sisal Rugs Direct) knows how to do good business. Our pace is very, very fast and we often can’t wait 3 to 5 days for a quote,” says Jeff. “Colin, however, can often get a rug to us in that timeframe instead of making us wait two, three, four, eight or even 16 weeks. And when we can provide something as wonderful as this product in our clients’ spaces as quickly as we can, it really helps. Colin understands this process and is always willing to accommodate. That’s why I’m loyal to Sisal Rugs Direct 100%.”

Experience what Jeff is talking about for yourself. Peruse our enormous selection of rug choices, and then play with our custom-design tool. See how perfectly, and affordably, a Sisal Rugs Direct product can fit into your space.

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​Foggy Bottom may now have the city’s cheapest craft cocktails — and hotel rooms →

Washington Business Journal By Rebecca Cooper

In a world where people don’t even bat an eye at $14 cocktails, a drink made with local booze that costs less than $8 is nothing to scoff at.

The shockingly affordable local cocktails at the just-opened Hotel Hive in Foggy Bottom are one of many surprises at the microhotel, which checked in its first guests Thursday in time for inauguration. The venue also kicked off its opening with a 200-pizza giveaway from &pizza, which is running the food and beverage operation in the hotel.

The 83-room hotel from developer Jim Abdo of Abdo Development has been nearly three years in the works, as the company converted the no-frills Allen Lee Hotel at F Street and Virginia Avenue NW into a hip spot that owners Jim and his wife, Mai Abdo, hope everyone will be buzzing about.

The hotel opened quietly Thursday, with the management, Modus Hotels, releasing half of the rooms for online reservations earlier in the month. They were all booked within 12 hours, many of them at rates below $200 per night, a feat for inauguration weekend.

The sleek rooms — all of which have their own bathrooms, unlike the Allen Lee, which had communal restrooms — are tucked into every nook and cranny of the building, including into the octagonal tower at the front, which makes for an ultra-bright room with sweeping views. Mai Abdo did the design for the property, with assistance from Akseizer Design Group. (You can see some of the "before" pictures here).

Decked out in mostly white, the rooms, which top out at 250 square feet, have high ceilings with exposed beams and original brick, pulling from the building’s bones. A high-tech system allows guests to control all the window shades at once, as well as the lighting and climate control.

Hotel Hive’s logo, which combines to form a honeycomb look, is integrated subtly throughout the design — on the carpet in the hallways, on the front door — and work by local artists adorns the interior of the elevator shaft, visible through the elevator’s glass walls.

&pizza has been on board almost from the beginning, since Jim Abdo had his first taste of the brand’s signature oblong pies on H Street NE. As part of the partnership, the local fast-casual chain will not only run a location of the pizza joint off the hotel’s lobby, but will also operate the Hive Bar, an on-site bar and lounge.

The Hive Bar will also offer &pizzas to order, including a daily special only available in the lounge, and breakfast pizzas to give the hotel a three-meal-a-day option. There are three breakfast options: an avocado toast, a cinnamon toast with ricotta and banana and an “all-American” with egg, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, onions, shredded mozzarella and, the pièce de résistance, tater tots.

The bar is also the coffee stop for the hotel, with coffee available from Vigilante Coffee in Hyattsville, as well as cold-pressed juices from local juicer Jrink.

It was &pizza founder Michael Lastoria’s idea to do the local cocktail program in the bar, highlighting D.C. distilleries Republic Restoratives, New Columbia and Cotton & Reed, as well as Virginia rye producer Catoctin Creek. The only nonlocal spirit is Tequila Cabeza, a product of Mexico and produced by a New York distiller.

“This is a way to showcase an aspect of Washington, D.C., that we’re so proud of,” Lastoria said. The &pizza crew has been learning the ropes of running a full-service bar in addition to a fast-casual pizza place at its Chinatown location, where it opened &bar on the second floor last year.

“It was a way for us to dip our toes in the water and prepare and work through what our bar program looks like,” Lastoria said.

To start out, the Hive Bar will essentially offer a “three-month happy hour,” Jim Abdo said. Six signature cocktails, including a bourbon Manhattan, a rum daiquiri, a gin mule and others, will cost just $7.27 — less than half the regular $14 cocktail price around the District these days.

After three months, they’ll reassess pricing, though the goal is to keep it as affordable as possible in order to be in line with the hotel itself. (Rooms at the Hive after inauguration weekend start at $84 per night.)

“It’s a big financial commitment for both of us, but is our goal to flip the switch and triple the price in three months? Hell no,” said Abdo. “Look at our tag line: ‘buzz more, spend less.’”

Abdo Hospitality and &pizza are partners in the restaurant and bar part of the hotel business, and the plan for future Hotel Hives is interwoven with &pizza. They haven’t decided where, but Abdo and Lastoria are already eyeing several other cities where the concept could work.