On April 24, 2024, the MICHELIN Guide announced its very first Key hotels in the United States — a brand new distinction recognizing the most outstanding hotels in the country. We're thrilled to report that, in Washington D.C., seven hotels earned at least One Key.
And while hotels in the capital have historically skewed towards the traditional, our seven Key hotels run the gamut of styles. Among the newest and hippest, the Eaton DC sports a boho aesthetic and a firm commitment to a progressive ethos — this hotel, set downtown on K Street, is a launchpad for progress, where rotating art exhibits fill the first floor and activists and political groups make use of its radio station, screening room, and co-working space.
Representing the more traditional luxury hotels, the Hay Adams has been an institution — set in a monumental Italian Renaissance building just across from the White House — since 1928. Here, the feeling is of old-world elegance.
Between the Eaton and the Hay Adams, we find the rest of our Key hotels somewhere in the stylistic middle. For waterfront views try the Pendry, with its modernist, Parisian-influenced aesthetic set on the Potomac in the city’s Southwest Waterfront. Or head to Georgetown and the Rosewood, where vistas from the rooftop bar overlook the C&O Canal.
Other highlights: the Dupont Circle Hotel, one of the only hotels privileged enough to set up in Dupont Circle, with its sophisticated restaurant and a swanky cocktail bar. The Jefferson, another option downtown, has the Quill, an upscale cocktail bar and lounge in its historic building dating back to 1923. At the Riggs, in the city’s Penn Quarter, there’s both an enchanting cafe and a subterranean bar.
You can hardly go wrong. Below, explore the map of every Key hotel in Washington D.C. And scroll down to learn more each accommodation.
The Seven MICHELIN Key Hotels in DC:
The Jefferson - 2 Keys
DowntownAs the capital city of the United States it’s only natural that Washington D.C. should be home to a fair number of grand, historic luxury hotels. Not all of them are quite as old-world as they seem, though. The Jefferson certainly has all the opulence and historical atmosphere you’d expect from one of the original grand dames, and the fact that it’s mostly the result of a 2009 renovation is neither here nor there.
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Pendry Washington DC – The Wharf - 1 Key
Southwest WaterfrontPhysically, it’s not all that far from Capitol Hill, but in terms of its aesthetics and its atmosphere, the Pendry Washington DC - The Wharf presents a completely different side of the nation’s capital. It’s clear from a glance at its ultra-modern façade that this is no ordinary luxury hotel, and its setting on the waterfront lends it an escapist aspect as well. This, of course, is the sort of thing you can expect from Pendry’s parent company, Montage, a hotel group that’s practically synonymous with luxe-but-hip destination-driven resorts.
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Eaton DC - 1 Key
DowntownThis isn’t just the hippest hotel in Washington, but one of the most impressive boutique hotels in America, and it’s thanks in large part to the fact that its founder, Katharine Lo, isn’t given to half-measures. She’s the Hong Kong–born, Yale-educated daughter of the chairman of the Langham group, so the basics of high-end hospitality are second nature. What makes the Eaton special is everything else, from its unapologetically bohemian interiors to its even more unapologetically outspoken social-justice ethos — a rarity for D.C., this is a hotel that feels free to wear its politics on its sleeve.
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Riggs Washington DC - 1 Key
Penn QuarterIt’s not every day a 19th-century Romanesque Revival bank building in Washington’s Penn Quarter district reopens as a hotel, especially one as stylish as Riggs. It’s another sign of a new era for the nation’s capital — there’s more character here than in all of D.C.’s hotels circa 2000 put together. It starts with the well-preserved bones of the stately old bank, but this is no mere restoration — they’ve taken liberties, using the city’s history as their inspiration, and the result adds a welcome note of playfulness to the elegance you expect from a Washington D.C. luxury hotel.
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The Dupont Circle Hotel - 1 Key
Dupont CircleIt’s surrounded by embassies, and it’s a safe bet that quite a few of its guests are international travelers. As such they probably feel more or less at home in the Dupont’s contemporary, urbane interiors. Rooms lack for no comfort, and they’re not just stylish but functional as well, with full-sized work desks and Eames Management chairs. And there’s an ultra-high-end hotel within the hotel: Level Nine is a floor of enormous, lavish suites, served by its own private elevator.
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The Hay-Adams Hotel - 1 Key
The MallThough today’s White House may not be the universally respected institution that it was in less partisan times, just across the street is another Washington D.C. fixture that’s lost none of its luster. The Hay-Adams Hotel is a 1928 Italian Renaissance monument, one whose privacy and discretion are near-legendary, and whose location, with the White House and the National Mall as a backdrop, is one-of-a-kind. Constant attention has kept it looking as opulent as can be, while constant technological improvements mean that, beneath its old-world elegance, the Hay-Adams is a thoroughly modern luxury hotel.
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Rosewood Washington, D.C. - 2 Keys
GeorgetownFor visitors to Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood, high-end accommodations have long been provided by the usual suspects — namely the Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton, and a few other reliable luxury brands. For an experience that’s smaller in scale, but similarly high in standards, there’s a newer option: Rosewood Washington D.C., on the banks of the C&O Canal, whose 55 rooms, 12 suites, and six townhouses show the influence of modern boutique-hotel hospitality, adapted for a luxury-hotel clientele.
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Top image: Riggs DC
