Washington, D.C., is a perfect metropolis for a weekend getaway. Every block is dense with historical past, artwork, and tradition, sufficient to immediate hours-long, head-tipped-up strolls gawking at all of it. Lately, newly (re)developed neighborhoods just like the Navy Yard and the Wharf have emerged; right here, cutting-edge eating places and up to date inns have established themselves as native hubs for changemakers. Whether or not that is your first or fifteenth go to to the nation’s capital, whether or not you need timeless class or a rush of youthful power, Afar’s Resorts We Love listing of 14 of the most effective properties in Washington, D.C., will serve you nicely.
Canal Home of Georgetown, a Tribute Portfolio Lodge
- Neighborhood: Georgetown
- Why we find it irresistible: A calming neighborhood location that takes you away from the hustle and bustle of downtown
- Loyalty: Marriott Bonvoy
- From $352
- Ebook now
Set just a few steps from the historic Chesapeake and Ohio Canal in Georgetown, this latest member of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio opened in March 2025, and it provides a design-forward however extra inexpensive possibility than the Ritz-Carlton and Rosewood on the identical block. Public areas embody a library lounge, a non-public courtyard, and a bar serving drinks like barrel-aged sangria, whereas the C+O Lounge restaurant feels deeply rooted within the mid-Atlantic due to a menu that features apple cider waffles, Chesapeake crab cake Benedict, Allegheny venison steak, and pawpaw pudding.
The red-brick facade pays homage to the previous industrial buildings lining the canal, however the 107 visitor rooms, together with specialty suites and two hooked up townhouses, are decidedly extra urbane. Suppose lengthy, slinky marble desks, brass accents, globe lights, and playful fashionable artwork that honors space icons, reminiscent of Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
Conrad Washington D.C.
- Neighborhood: Downtown
- Why we find it irresistible: Its hovering atrium and eco-conscious habits
- Loyalty: Hilton Honors
- From $340
- Ebook now
The glossy Conrad—considered one of Afar’s greatest new inns of 2020—is the antithesis of a stuffy previous Beltway resort. Constructed as a part of the brand new CityCenterDC improvement, the Conrad was designed by Swiss agency Herzog & de Meuron. The resort has 360 serene visitor rooms and suites, all with floor-to-ceiling home windows, some with views of the Capitol dome. A central atrium fills the foyer with pure mild, and artwork installations encourage visitors to cease and replicate.
Sustainability can be entrance of thoughts on the Conrad. It achieved LEED Gold Certification with good decisions like a vegetated rooftop that filters and recycles rainwater, which is then used for the resort’s cooling towers and air con (an important in D.C.’s steamy summers). In the meantime, the third-floor terraces provide inexperienced areas for resort visitors and restaurant goers to calm down; the kitchens additionally accomplice with Builder’s Inc., a meals donation middle that accepts leftover packaged items, frozen meals, and ready-to-eat meals.
Dupont Circle Lodge
- Neighborhood: Dupont Circle
- Why we find it irresistible: Just lately renovated—and totally fashionable—public areas that appeal to the most effective and brightest
- Loyalty: I Favor (Most popular Resorts & Resorts)
- From $215
- Ebook now
Fortunes and friendships change rapidly in D.C., however the Dupont Circle Lodge has but to exit of favor. Set proper on the roundabout itself, the eponymous resort assumes a spot of pleasure. Inside, the positioning’s Martin Brudnizki–designed restaurant, The Pembroke—with its coral velvet banquettes, marble tables, and expansive out of doors terrace—has birthed a scene. Because of its location across the nook from Embassy Row, everybody from tony locals to visiting diplomats collect right here to get pleasure from its mid-Atlantic-inspired menu, whereas the walnut-and-brass-clad Doyle is a whiskey bar match for Eire (dwelling base of the Doyle Assortment).
The 327 glossy visitor rooms take comparable benefit of their environment, most with massive home windows overlooking the circle. Upstairs, Irish designer Clodagh (sure, she’s mononymous) refreshed the penthouse suites, the place areas for stress-free embody deep soaking tubs and personal terraces with solar loungers. Clodagh additionally redesigned the foyer, which has the feel and appear of a high-end condo, due to particulars like a comfortable hearth and a look-through bookcase with brass accents. Better of all, although, is the sensation of strolling out the entrance door within the morning and realizing that the capital is at your step.
Eaton D.C.
- Neighborhood: Downtown
- Why we find it irresistible: A socially acutely aware spot that connects like-minded vacationers
- Loyalty: Sensible by Langham
- From $167
- Ebook now
Based by third-generation hotelier Katherine Lo (her household runs the Hong Kong–primarily based Langham luxurious resort group), Eaton D.C. goals to carry collectively vacationers, locals, and members who share a like-minded sensibility—particularly, one centered on creativity, consciousness, and making change. As with Eaton’s Hong Kong location, the D.C. outpost fosters new concepts by offering non-public and communal working areas, areas designed to encourage connection and dialog, and an everyday calendar of programming (Tibetan sound therapeutic, Afrosoul yoga). Eaton Radio, the resort’s personal group radio station, is especially cool, with its underground music and speak exhibits.
These checking in amid all this buzz can select from 4 comfy room classes, from cabins to suites (all, conveniently, pet pleasant). All have a “international nomad” vibe, with colourful textile accents, Himalayan salt lamps, and pillow-top mattresses, together with Grown Alchemist bathtub merchandise, health-centric mini-bars, Bluetooth audio system, and report gamers. As soon as settled in, collect with others at Michele’s by chef Matt Baker, rooftop bar Wild Days, and speakeasy Allegory, which encompasses a mural by native artist Erik Thor Sandberg depicting the younger Ruby Bridges—one of many first Black kids to desegregate a Southern college within the Sixties.
Hay-Adams
- Neighborhood: Lafayette Sq.
- Why we find it irresistible: Basic Outdated World allure overlooking the White Home
- Loyalty: Leaders Membership (Main Resorts of the World)
- From $399
- Ebook now
Not everybody will get to reside throughout the road from the White Home. Earlier than the present Italian Renaissance–type resort was constructed in 1927, the prime actual property the place the Hay-Adams sits was occupied by the houses of two now-lesser-known American politicians: John Hay (private secretary to Abraham Lincoln, ambassador to the UK, and Secretary of State beneath each William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt) and Henry Adams (Harvard professor and great-grandson of John Adams). Their homes had been hubs of D.C. tradition for many years on the flip of the twentieth century, and so, when the Hay-Adams opened, it was solely logical that the resort would proceed that custom.
Everybody from Amelia Earhart to the Obamas has stayed in its good-looking old-world rooms: amongst them, 124 visitor rooms and 21 suites overlooking historic Lafayette Sq. and the White Home past. The resort is understood for its discreet and complete, no-questions-asked service. And don’t miss a drink at Off the File, a basement cocktail bar with a group of political cartoons and caricatures from legendary artists like Matt Wuerker, Kevin Kallaugher, and Ann Telnaes.
The Jefferson, DC
- Neighborhood: Downtown
- Why we find it irresistible: An old-world vibe with fashionable touches and a stunning foyer skylight
- From $490
- Ebook now
The Jefferson, DC began life as a Beaux-Arts condo block within the Twenties and was remodeled into the icon it’s right now after a 2009 overhaul. Regardless of its unassuming, if stately, exterior—which blends in with the opposite residential buildings alongside sixteenth Avenue—the interiors are decidedly extra majestic. Architects uncovered a foyer skylight, which had been hidden since World Warfare II, that now crowns the resort restaurant. The Greenhouse, because it’s appropriately referred to as, serves Virginia oysters with strawberry Prosecco mignonette, 24-hour-braised quick ribs, and truffled French onion soup beneath a puff-pastry dome.
The 99 rooms are polished with out feeling stuffy. However squint on the crown molding, gold-framed artworks, and durable furnishings, and you may nearly persuade your self you’re inside a visitor bed room on the White Home. Including to that feeling is the resort’s small assortment of framed paperwork signed by the third president himself.
Pendry Washington D.C.
- Neighborhood: The Wharf
- Why we find it irresistible: Household-friendly resort with a major location on the Potomac River
- From $335
- Ebook now
These touring with youngsters in D.C. ought to make the Wharf—and inside it, the Pendry—their base. As one of many metropolis’s latest lifestyle-focused neighborhoods, the Wharf is a walkable stretch of waterfront with marina entry and various eating places, bars, and actions to select from. Need s’mores kits from an on-site Airstream? An arcade and an Irish pub? Falafel and oysters and Cuban espresso and thin-crust pizza? Perhaps not unexpectedly, however sure! Discover them right here.
Bringing an additional dose of luxurious to the event was the Pendry, which opened in 2022 as the approach to life model’s seventh property. With 93 visitor rooms and 38 suites—and an out of doors (heated) pool, a uncommon amenity in D.C.—the Pendry seems like a refuge from the day’s sightseeing. The design is subtle minimalism, with image home windows in lots of rooms providing views out over the Potomac. Take pleasure in a salt-scrub-and-hot-stone therapeutic massage on the Spa Pendry, adopted by a cocktail on the moody Bar Pendry or a Japanese whiskey and snacks (nigiri, yaki puffs) on the rooftop Moonraker.
Riggs Washington DC
- Neighborhood: Penn Quarter
- Why we find it irresistible: Historical past-rich interiors and a pilgrimage-worthy cocktail lounge
- Loyalty: I Favor (Most popular Resorts & Resorts)
- From $280
- Ebook now
This transformation of the historic and stately Nationwide Financial institution into the Riggs resort is almost miraculous. The brand new entity manages to honor the grandeur of the Romanesque Revival constructing with out the chilliness issue that might have resulted from all these exhausting marble surfaces. As a substitute, the landmarked constructing retains some iconic financial institution fixtures like coffered and barrel-vaulted ceilings and modified teller home windows at reception, however leavens the whole lot with a contact of caprice: An extravagant floral show introduces shade, plush seating and theater-worthy curtains add texture, and the energetic sounds of silverware and laughter from the all-day Cafe Riggs break the solemn hush. The financial institution’s basement vault has been repurposed into a surprising cocktail bar, Silver Lyan, which prides itself on uncommon substances and considerate preparations. (Latest cocktails have included substances like “embalmed jackfruit,” “blood foam,” “rust vermouth,” and “pawpaw amazake.”)
Upstairs, visitor rooms characteristic stylishly hued smooth furnishings by Voutsa. 4 suites, named for 4 first women, are adorned with components that replicate their pursuits. As an illustration, you’ll discover a child grand piano within the suite named for music lover Louisa Adams, and a plethora of flower-print materials within the rooms devoted to Ida McKinley. The yin/yang play of the Riggs—the place smooth is juxtaposed with exhausting, fairly with austere, cool with heat—mirrors a metropolis the place impulses typically waver between heartfelt public service and chilly ambition.
Rosewood Washington, D.C.
- Neighborhood: Georgetown
- Why we find it irresistible: Stately townhouses within the coronary heart of a college ‘hood
- Loyalty: Rosewood Rewards
- From $700
- Ebook now
Georgetown is its personal world of federal-style structure and cobblestone streets, the place college college students huddle over free Wi-Fi in espresso outlets. A motorbike path runs alongside the C&O Canal, and alongside that path sits Rosewood Washington, D.C.—a Sixties red-brick workplace constructing reborn in 2013 as a resort, with 57 rooms, together with 12 suites and eight townhouses, a rooftop pool, and a health middle. The multi-story, 1,000-square-foot townhouses sleep as much as 4 (with connecting townhouses obtainable) and include all the trimmings of dwelling, however approach nicer: Bosch washer/dryer, Toto rest room and heated marble flooring, and day by day housekeeping and turndown service.
Rosewood took over in 2016, bringing its consideration to element—hand-upholstered furnishings, silk curtains, eclectic paintings in every room—and a dedication to native experiences. The resort’s tradition calendar consists of champagne and caviar dinners at Wolfgang Puck’s Lower restaurant and guided excursions in the course of the Nationwide Cherry Blossom Competition. In the meantime, Georgetown College’s predominant campus is a 10-minute stroll away.
Salamander Washington DC
- Neighborhood: Southwest
- Why we find it irresistible: A refreshed design and probably the greatest new eating places within the metropolis
- Loyalty: I Favor (Most popular Resorts & Resorts)
- From $400
- Ebook now
Virginia-based Salamander Resorts and Resorts is owned by BET cofounder Sheila Johnson, America’s first Black feminine billionaire, and the corporate expanded into D.C. in 2022 when it took over the previous Mandarin Oriental. A number of blocks south of the Nationwide Mall, overlooking the Tidal Basin, the constructing attracts on French neoclassical influences, with a rotunda that calls to thoughts the work of John Russell Pope, the architect behind the close by Jefferson Memorial.
In early 2025, the Salamander DC accomplished a property-wide renovation that has yielded subtle public areas, together with a brand new spa, and 373 reimagined visitor rooms with a pastel-leaning palette and smooth, curvy furnishings. On the entrance desk, behold the huge bas-relief set up by Artwork House NYC that depicts close by monuments, cherry blossoms, and horses to represent the brand new U.S. Park Police Horse Stables, which Johnson helped fund. Probably the most attention-grabbing area, nevertheless, is undoubtedly Dōgon, a brand new Afro-Caribbean restaurant by chef Kwame Onwuachi. The Prime Chef favourite attracts on his Nigerian, Jamaican, Trinidadian, and Creole background to make dishes reminiscent of Hoe crab, bone marrow with jerk BBQ lamb, and berbere-roasted rooster with jollof rice.
The St. Regis Washington, D.C.
- Neighborhood: Downtown
- Why we find it irresistible: A presidential previous and refreshed rooms
- Loyalty: Marriott Bonvoy
- From $405
- Ebook now
Initially opened because the Carlton Lodge in 1926 (earlier than changing into a St. Regis in 1999), this historic property has been a fixture among the many capital’s political elite for almost a century—ever since President Calvin Coolidge minimize the grand-opening ribbon. Ronald Reagan used to drop by to get his hair minimize by the resort barber, whereas Robert F. Kennedy referred to as its chocolate parfait his favourite dessert of all time. Befitting all these energy brokers, the St. Regis is appropriately grand, from the palatial foyer—with its Florentine gold ceiling and crystal chandeliers—to the fireplace-lit St. Regis Bar.
Regardless of its historic bona fides, the St. Regis is much from caught up to now. A 2024 refresh has left the 182 rooms and suites feeling ethereal and fashionable, due to a soothing palette of blues, grays, and golds and bogs with marble vanities. Devoted butlers for suite visitors means you’ll have entry to packing and unpacking providers, garment urgent, and occasional or tea after morning wake-up name.
Thompson Washington D.C.
- Neighborhood: Navy Yard
- Why we find it irresistible: These rooftop views and stylish industrial vibe
- Loyalty: World of Hyatt
- From $251
- Ebook now
The Thompson, which opened in early 2020, suits comfortably within the Navy Yard, a colonial-era neighborhood that’s having fun with a renaissance. Set inside home-run distance of Nationals Park baseball stadium, the resort provides views of each the Anacostia River and the town. Anticipate plenty of crisp navy-blue particulars and nautical curves on partitions and furnishings (the inside design hints on the neighborhood’s historical past as a port for transport and shipbuilding). You’ll additionally see components that replicate the realm’s industrial vibe, like lofty ceilings and tall, metal-paned home windows in visitor rooms and public areas.
The Rooftop on the Thompson has develop into the resort’s hallmark. Its floor-to-ceiling home windows and expansive out of doors terrace have made it a year-round go-to spot for sundowners overlooking the river. The venue additionally performs host to occasions like Breaking Sound, which showcases rising musical stars from across the metropolis.
Waldorf Astoria Washington DC
- Neighborhood: Downtown
- Why we find it irresistible: It’s not a Trump resort anymore!
- Loyalty: Hilton Honors
- From $771
- Ebook now
What a flip of tides for the previous Trump resort: Acquired by a Miami-based funding firm for $375 million in 2021, then leased to Hilton, the Outdated Put up Workplace Constructing is now a Waldorf Astoria. The Nineties Richardsonian Romanesque landmark nonetheless maintains its imposing clocktower, arches, and turrets, however gone are the omnipresent protestors; of their place are flocks of enterprise vacationers lingering over espresso and precise newspapers in Peacock Alley, a gilded grand atrium with tufted banquettes and soothing pure mild.
The 263 visitor rooms and suites are really luxurious, with softly lit chandeliers and ornate frames surrounding sink-in king-size beds. The on-site spa has six remedy rooms, a Himalayan salt remedy room, and a leisure space with secluded resting cocoons. All the things appears a bit extra peaceable round right here as of late.
Willard InterContinental Washington D.C.
- Neighborhood: Pershing Park
- Why we find it irresistible: Its 200-year legacy (and afternoon tea)
- Loyalty: IHG One Rewards
- From $307
- Ebook now
The Willard has fairly the historical past, relationship again to earlier than the American Civil Warfare, when it was Willard’s Metropolis Lodge and the house of sitting presidents (Franklin Pierce) and later vice presidents (Calvin Coolidge). As legend goes, President Ulysses S. Grant coined the phrase “lobbyist” right here, naming the hustlers who bothered him whereas he loved a cigar and brandy within the Willard’s foyer. In 1901, the brick constructing was torn down and changed with the Beaux-Arts–type resort that stands right now, the place it stays an icon on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations.
These days, the Willard InterContinental is much less the backup White Home and extra kid- and pet-friendly, with traditional rooms and suites in navy, ivory, and grey; a French brasserie; and a beautiful afternoon tea. The strong Youngsters’ Concierge program (ages 11 and beneath) provides youthful visitors the possibility to earn “Duck Bucks” to be redeemed at Le Café inside Café du Parc.
Prior reporting by Julia Cosgrove, Christian Mirasol, Ann Shields, Devorah Lev-Tov, and Sandra Ramani.
