The Most Famous & Historic Hotels in Washington DC, USA

This red-brick riverside address is strikingly sited on the banks of the Potomac in DC’s affluent, historic Georgetown area – home to prestigious universities, independent shops and restaurants. Its 57 rooms and suites are sophisticated, themed in grey, blue or white, with marble bathrooms – for full-on glamour, pick the Frank Sinatra Suite. Throughout look for salutes to Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the phone in this city. And slip down to the craft cocktail cellar then the small-plate dining concept The Alex Craft Cocktail Cellar & Speakeasy.

In a town filled with historic hotels, this boutique 1920s building namechecks founding father Thomas Jefferson. Rooms are traditional and comfy – the neutral vibe is lifted by floral outbreaks – and all have iPads; while Deluxe suites also have smart buttons to trigger housekeeping. Guests return for the antiques, marble and wood paneling, as much as for the Michelin-starred restaurant dishing grilled stone bass with Catalina sauce. Four blocks north of the White House, this is a peaceful neighborhood for culture-seekers: the National Geographic Society Museum is minutes away.

Essentially you’re staying in the 1839 General Post Office building in the Penn Quarter, less than a mile from The White House and the Smithsonian. Now, it has 184 vaulted-ceilinged rooms maxing out modern necessities: Frette linens, signature animal-print robes and yoga mats. Of course, plush period details remain. Do step out and explore the place: the jewel-box living space with emerald-green walls and hand-sculpted tables; and the all-day Dirty Habit restaurant for memorable dishes such as tuna tataki and aromatic truffle fries.

Buck the big old hotel trend at this Downtown Victorian mansion house, 10-minutes’ walk from the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Once it was home to a wealthy DC merchant, latterly it was a Chinese church; hence the look: traditional Victorian meets Asian meets modernism with polished Italian marble floors, warm woods and wrought-iron ceiling medallions; then a Chinese porch and a Shanghai roof. Rooms do similarly contemporary or Victoriana. In the period-style dining room, try the North American with a twist, say, truffle salt-roasted Atlantic salmon.