abandoned its plan to convert the tower into office space, and instead upgraded the hotel rooms in the eastern tower. In some cases, rooms were merged to create luxury suites. The change in renovation plans left the Mayflower with just 727 rooms, but added of meeting room space and a new restaurant. The hotel still attempted to narrow DeSales Street NW, proposing to use the extra space to build an enclosed outdoor café (something city laws did not permit). Even as the first renovations were ending, the Mayflower Hotel embarked on another major set of refurbishments and upgrades. This project, which began in 1981 and lasted three years, cost $65 million. The hotel remained open as the project moved forward in phases. In 1981, two floors were finally added to the eastern wing of the structure. The meeting rooms on the hotel's second floor and the Board Room were refurbished, and offices on the mezzanine were removed and the space restored to public use. The following year, 200 suites received major makeovers, including the installation of baths clad in Italian marble. The Presidential Restaurant was divided into two new banqueting halls, the East Room and the State Room, and the Grand Ballroom and the Chinese Room were renovated. The restoration of the lobby and upgrading of the hotel's restaurants occurred in 1983. Artisans and technicians helped to restore the bas-relief plaster moldings and brass fixtures, clean and restore the hotel's many crystal chandeliers, and apply new gold leaf to areas where the gilt had been damaged or removed. The renovations left the hotel with 721 guest rooms (about half rebuilt and restored) and two restaurants. The renovation uncovered many historic decorative elements which had been covered up over time. The skylight in the Presidential Room (formerly the Palm Court) was uncovered. When renovation of the former Palm Court began, two previously unknown murals by Edward Laning were discovered. The murals were dated by art experts to 1957, when the Palm Court was radically reconfigured into the Le Chatelaine restaurant. The murals, long and high, depicted Italian formal gardens. They were hidden behind a false wall when the restaurant was turned into meeting room space in early 1978. Discovered in storage were 24 fire-gilded 19th century service platters purchased from the estate of heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean in 1947. Stouffer, New World and Marriott Hotels After managing the hotel for ten