| James C. Sakes |
Navy Pilot, Hotelier
2010
James C. Sakes, 85, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who later worked for Holiday Inn then managed the Kennedy Warren apartment
house in Northwest Washington, died Dec. 29 at his home in the District. He had complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also
known as Lou Gehrig's disease
.
Cmdr. Sakes served in the Navy for 20 years before working for Holiday Inn from 1963 to 1983, opening and managing hotels in the U.S.
and overseas. He managed hotels in Sarasota, Fla., and Minneapolis, was district manager of Holiday Inn properties in Morocco then took
control of the Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg in 1976.
The seven-room presidential suite there, which was built in 1972 to lure celebrity guests who performed at the Shady Grove Music Fair,
rented for $1,400 per night, which was staggering for a room that overlooked a Sam's Club discount warehouse.
The "world's most expensive hotel room," as it was billed, had 24-hour chauffeur and maid service, Chippendale furniture, gold-plated
dolphin fixtures in the bathroom, a $ 3,700 Chinese rug, a circular bed that could tilt and rotate and a headboard with built-in taps of scotch
and water, bourbon and soda, and martinis.
"It was ornate. . . . It was kind of overwhelming, you might say, for a motel facility," Cmdr. Sakes told The Washington Post in 2002. "It had all
those furnishings, and it had that big tub." Stars such as Cher, Rock Hudson, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, Perry
Como, Redd Foxx, Liberace, Joan Rivers and Imelda Marcos were guests, but no members of the world's royalty.
"No, we didn't have any of that," Cmdr. Sakes said. "Why would they come to Gaithersburg?"
Born in Washington, James Constantine Sakellariades graduated from Eastern High School in 1943 and enlisted in the Navy. He became a
naval aviator and flew in a fighter-bomber squadron. He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and five Air Medals while participating in
25 wartime missions, two of them over Tokyo.
After the war ended, he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in hotel administration. He stayed on active duty until 1963, then
switched to the Navy Reserve for 20 more years while working as a hotelier. He left the Holiday Inn organization in 1983 and began
managing the Kennedy Warren for the next five years.
A son, Matthew Sakes, died in 1984.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Betty Jane Sakes of Washington; a son, Gregory Sakes of Arlington; and two grandsons.
-- Patricia Sullivan, Post
2010
James C. Sakes, 85, a retired Navy lieutenant commander who later worked for Holiday Inn then managed the Kennedy Warren apartment
house in Northwest Washington, died Dec. 29 at his home in the District. He had complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also
known as Lou Gehrig's disease
.
Cmdr. Sakes served in the Navy for 20 years before working for Holiday Inn from 1963 to 1983, opening and managing hotels in the U.S.
and overseas. He managed hotels in Sarasota, Fla., and Minneapolis, was district manager of Holiday Inn properties in Morocco then took
control of the Holiday Inn in Gaithersburg in 1976.
The seven-room presidential suite there, which was built in 1972 to lure celebrity guests who performed at the Shady Grove Music Fair,
rented for $1,400 per night, which was staggering for a room that overlooked a Sam's Club discount warehouse.
The "world's most expensive hotel room," as it was billed, had 24-hour chauffeur and maid service, Chippendale furniture, gold-plated
dolphin fixtures in the bathroom, a $ 3,700 Chinese rug, a circular bed that could tilt and rotate and a headboard with built-in taps of scotch
and water, bourbon and soda, and martinis.
"It was ornate. . . . It was kind of overwhelming, you might say, for a motel facility," Cmdr. Sakes told The Washington Post in 2002. "It had all
those furnishings, and it had that big tub." Stars such as Cher, Rock Hudson, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, Perry
Como, Redd Foxx, Liberace, Joan Rivers and Imelda Marcos were guests, but no members of the world's royalty.
"No, we didn't have any of that," Cmdr. Sakes said. "Why would they come to Gaithersburg?"
Born in Washington, James Constantine Sakellariades graduated from Eastern High School in 1943 and enlisted in the Navy. He became a
naval aviator and flew in a fighter-bomber squadron. He received two Distinguished Flying Crosses and five Air Medals while participating in
25 wartime missions, two of them over Tokyo.
After the war ended, he graduated from Cornell University with a degree in hotel administration. He stayed on active duty until 1963, then
switched to the Navy Reserve for 20 more years while working as a hotelier. He left the Holiday Inn organization in 1983 and began
managing the Kennedy Warren for the next five years.
A son, Matthew Sakes, died in 1984.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Betty Jane Sakes of Washington; a son, Gregory Sakes of Arlington; and two grandsons.
-- Patricia Sullivan, Post