Mandarin Oriental Washington D.C.

Steps from the National Mall, DC’s Mandarin Oriental stands on a promontory at the confluence of the Washington Channel and the Potomac Tidal Basin. While it’s slightly less central than some of the older hotels, there’s an immediate payoff in the form of spectacular views — rooms overlook the Mall and the Washington Monument on one side, with the Basin and Jefferson Memorial on the other. During the spring cherry blossom season, the scene along the water only becomes more spectacular.

Of course if you want to see the sights, you’ll find the easy access to the Mall’s memorials and museums to be anything but inconvenient; and if you’re on business, you’re a short cab or Metro ride from your destination.

The building blends classic Federalist architecture with Asian influences, and the rounded edges are apparently Feng Shui-mandated. Interiors are impressive, from the sprawling lobby, beneath a rotunda, to the curvaceous and expansive guest rooms, decorated in earth tones and pale greens, recalling the brick faces and oxidized copper accents of Washington’s historic buildings. Yet the overall style doesn’t let you forget the hotel’s Asian heritage — a bit of a surprise, and perhaps a refreshing one, for those used to the sometimes old-fashioned, all-American hotels of the nation’s capital.

Facilities, of course, are first-class, and the service is extraordinary in typical Mandarin style. The spa is one of the main attractions, itself as large as some hotels we’ve seen, offering every therapy yet devised in a surprisingly chic environment. All in all, a breath of fresh air for one of America’s most buttoned-up cities.