Archer Hotel Old Town Alexandria

Alexandria’s Lorien Hotel & Spa simply knows how to take care of its guests. Yes, they’ve got a central location in charming Old Town Alexandria, just a couple of blocks from the subway into downtown DC, there’s a perfectly inviting and understated modern interior design behind the building’s attractive brick facade, and rooms come with all the comforts you’d expect of a showpiece DC-area hotel. But in the end it’s their dedication to good old-fashioned hospitality that really sets them apart.

To stay at Lorien is to live, at least for a short while, in a world run by people eager to see to your every last comfort, each action they take some small, thoughtful gesture until there are so many such gestures that it adds up to something like an entire language of taking-care. Not an easy sleeper? Here are some of the things the staff at Lorien can bring to your room to help out with that: a soothing sleep mask, some reading material (with a clip-on light), a Belgian chocolate to satisfy your sweet tooth, a selection of snore-reducing products to help you (or your noisy bedmate) breathe easier, a humidifier, a heating pad, or a hot water bottle to warm the bed. And that’s before you’ve even added anything to your tab. Shake a few dollars from your wallet and room service will be on its way with some milk and a warm plate of cookies. There are at least a dozen other examples of small things they’ll do to make your stay an easy one (genuinely work-ready desks, a friendly welcome for your pet, free wine every afternoon…) but space only permits so much gushing.

Anyway, there are some bold strokes to go along with all the little gestures. The two restaurants by one of the DC area’s top chefs are genuine local hangouts, especially the Brado Tasting Room, where an extensive Belgian beer list is paired with European-style bar snacks like charcuterie, mussels, or a savory tart from the wood-burning oven. And the spa, the only one at any of Alexandria’s hotels, turns out to be a stunner — immaculate and expansive, with the same dedication to easy living that’s in evidence everywhere else in the hotel.

How to get there: Lorien Hotel & Spa is located 2 blocks from the King Street Metro Station in Old Town Alexandria. It takes approximately 25 minutes to reach Washington DC by Metro. The hotel is half a mile from the Alexandria Amtrak station and 3 miles from Reagan National Airport.