It’s fitting, given Washington D.C.’s French heritage, that one of its top hotels would be a Sofitel. As the name may suggest, this fine 1920s Art Deco building is just off Lafayette Square, which is also bordered by the White House; it’s hard to imagine a more prestigious location, or one that’s more photogenically typical of the District of Columbia.

With interiors by Pierre-Yves Rochon and a multilingual French-accented staff, the Sofitel’s Continental atmosphere goes deeper than just the surface. Art Deco is a style that renovates well — these rooms feel classic but not old-fashioned, and are modern where it matters, namely the duvet-topped king beds and the plasma-screen televisions, and marble bathrooms with separate tubs and showers.

In terms of luxuries, the Sofitel Lafayette Square measures up well against the District’s other high-end hotels. The business desk and the fitness center are available round the clock, as is room service — visiting Europeans need not bother acclimating to Eastern Standard Time. And in this town, the fashionable crowd isn’t put off by five-star formality; you’ll find there’s plenty of life in the Sofitel’s cocktail bar and in Ici, its French bistro.