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The Watergate Hotel: yours for just 600,000 pounds

The Watergate Hotel, the faded jewel in the Washington complex where nefarious deeds brought down President Richard Nixon, is to go under the auctioneer's hammer tomorrow.

Watergate has been closed since 2007. Its most recent owner first tussled with residents about plans to renovate it and finally ran out of money to do so. A 30-day repossession notice expired last week and an auctioneer in the capital said it would start taking offers at 10.15am.

As the Moon landing anniversary and the death of the television news anchor Walter Cronkite unleash a tide of reminiscences about the Nixon era, the bank that has seized the hotel is hoping bidders will see an opportunity to restore the tarnished symbol of that period. Perhaps for as little as $1m (£612,000), a buyer could get their hands on a 12-storey, 251-room Washington landmark, in the Foggy Bottom area of the city's north-west, overlooking the Potomac River.

Read entire article at Independent (UK)