In Washington, D.C., power isn’t just exercised in government buildings — it’s whispered in hotel lobbies, exchanged over late-night cocktails, and felt in elegantly appointed suites. And while you can visit the city’s iconic landmarks of power like the White House and the Capitol, spending the night in one of the capital’s storied hotels offers a different kind of immersion.
These hotels don’t just accommodate tourists; they make you feel as though you’re in town on official business. Whether you choose a grand, classic hotel that exudes old-world discernment or a sleek, modern retreat offering a respite from the city’s nonstop negotiations, these are the places to stay in D.C.—with or without a motorcade.
Style: Old World elegance
Atmosphere: Upscale and international
Perfect for: Intimate stays and meals
A home-away-from-home for many visiting diplomats and dignitaries, the Jefferson does anything but open its guest book to the world. Indeed, guessing who is staying in the room next to you, or eating at the next table, is something of a parlor game at the hotel. The small flags adorning the perpetually waiting motorcades outside the hotel’s tony doors offer some clues, but you never quite know who is coming and going, and it’s that sense of state-secret level security that gives the hotel its appealing sense of intrigue. But it’s not just for heads of state, of course. The Beaux-Arts style building was constructed in 1923 and originally served as an apartment building. It was converted into the luxury hotel in the 1950s, the Jefferson’s classic, yet quiet, opulence, complete with marble floors, a book-filled library, Federal-style guest rooms, plush furnishings, and one of the city’s best kept secrets of a restaurant, has kept the hotel in fashionable business since then.
Style: D.C. of a different era
Atmosphere: Serious white House business with a splash of style
Perfect for: Mover and shakers, and wannabes
Unless you’re a guest of the President of the United States and spending the night at the White House or Blair House, the Hay-Adams is as close as you can get to feeling like a personal guest of the West Wing. Located just off Lafayette Park and within eyesight of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the Hay-Adams is a classic choice for guests who value their overnight proximity to the highest seat of power. The 1928 Italian Renaissance style building feels straight out of a different era – one when politics was a bit more friendly, perhaps – and feels largely unchanged since its opening. The dark-wood lobby and heavily ornamented rooms haven’t altered much in decades, and guests wouldn’t have it any other way. The fact that the Hay-Adams stays the same even as the White House changes every four years, is a steading and reassuring presence to those who stay here. Lobbyists, policy makers, White House staffers, and wannabes fill the basement-level bar, Off the Record, in the after work hours, and those with serious Washington business (sightseeing or otherwise) stay the night.
Style: Sleek contemporary
Atmosphere: Low-key and discrete
Perfect for: Access to Georgetown
People don’t seem to come to the Rosewood, Washington D.C. just once, but rather use it as their homebase when they’re passing through the nation’s capital. There’s a refined sense of familiarity here and the compact lobby feels more like entering an upmarket apartment building in the heart of Georgetown, than arriving at one of the city’s best hotels. That being said, the Rosewood is a place that’s easy to slip in and out of, without much fanfare and where one could, should they be so inclined, escape the prying eyes of journalists and paparazzi – or at least pretend to be. The hotel’s contemporary, multi-storied building sits attractively on the end of the C&O Canal. An annex of private suites stretch across eight adjoining 19th century former row homes – perhaps where some state secrets were traded over cocktails back in the day? The Rosewood’s restaurant, CUT by Wolfgang Puck, is popular for special occasions and is also the stage for many classic DC power meals.
Style: Bright and airy contemporary
Atmosphere: Relaxed and spa-like
Perfect for: Feeling a little removed from it all
Guests of the Salamander are so VIP that they have their own private walkway to one of the city’s most photographed spots: the Tidal Basin. Yet despite the hotel’s proximity to the iconic cherry blossoms, and the rest of the National Mall, at the Salamander you feel just a little bit away from it all. Located in a quiet alcove of the city, next to an apartment building and a long, thin park with view of the Capitol Building, the Salamander feels like a world of its own, one that isn’t trying to complete with the rest of the city because it knows it doesn’t have to, it has its own magnetic appeal. One of the newest hotels in the city, the Salander’s fresh, light interiors are far airier and brighter than any other hotel in the city, and its spa – the largest in the city – further distinguishes it as an urban sanctuary. Here is a place where power players come to relax, not just in their rooms, but at the restaurant, Dōgon, one of its hottest in town. The Afro-Caribbean menu and some of the hardest to book tables in the city and if you should be so lucky, you’ll be dining with movers and shakers, not just from DC’s world of politics, but from the upper echelons of the art and culture worlds.
Style: Opulent old-world
Atmosphere: Lively and historic
Perfect for: Playing tourist
Perhaps no other hotel in the city is as synonymous with history as the Willard. While Ulysses S. Grant served as the 18th President of the United States, he was known to sit in the hotel’s lobby, reading the newspaper and smoking a cigar. Granted it was a different time, and he didn’t travel with a small army of secret service, but Grant was notoriously barraged by people who came to the hotel’s lobby specifically to seek him out and ask favors. So much so, that legend has it, it was here that the term “lobbying” was coined. Little has changed about the hotel’s famous lobbying since those days, and sitting in the ornate space, between elaborate floral displays, makes for excellent people watching thanks to its prime location downtown for both those who have businesses of state and businesses of pleasure. Not just Grant, but indeed every president since his day has been a guest here, and you can see why. It’s both classically elegant and continuously modernized with large suites including one with its own oval-shaped room complete with mural of the White House’s rose garden. The lobby-level Round Robin bar is more popular with tourists more than dignitaries these days, but knowing that (allegedly) the first mint julep outside of Kentucky was served there, makes a visit feel special in its own right.
Hero Image: The Hay-Adams Hotel
