08 October 2025
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In October 2025, our Inspectors announced their latest picks for the most outstanding hotels in the world — distinguishing more than 2,000 accommodations with between One and Three MICHELIN Keys. In Washington, D.C., five hotels earned One Key and two received Two Keys.
The Jefferson
As 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 Two-Key Jefferson, set downtown, 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.
Rosewood Washington, D.C.
For 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 another option: the Two-Key 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.
Pendry Washington DC – The Wharf
Physically, it’s not all that far from Capitol Hill, but in terms of its aesthetics and its atmosphere, the One-Key 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.
Eaton DC
This 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 One-Key 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.
Riggs Washington DC
It’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 the One-Key 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.
The Dupont Circle Hotel
It’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 One-Key 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.
The Hay-Adams Hotel
Though 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 One-Key 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.Top image: Riggs DC
