Washington, from Georgetown to Lafayette Square
Washington keeps its luxury discreet – a 1928 facade on Lafayette Square, townhouses on a Georgetown canal, a Romanesque post office on Pennsylvania Avenue that became a hotel.
The collection
5 hotels
Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC
Five-star · Georgetown
Four Seasons' first American hotel, opened in 1979 at the Georgetown end of Pennsylvania Avenue – Warhol and Botero on the walls, the city's only five-star for more than twenty years.
From $900 per night
Rosewood Washington, D.C.
Four-star · Georgetown
Fifty-five rooms and six Georgetown townhouses on the C&O Canal, with an infinity pool on the roof that looks down the Potomac.
From $800 per night
The Hay-Adams
Four-star · White House, Downtown & West End
The 1928 Italian Renaissance grand dame on Lafayette Square – the White House across the park, a bar called Off the Record downstairs.
From $500 per night
Waldorf Astoria Washington DC
Four-star · White House, Downtown & West End
The 1899 Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, a Waldorf Astoria since 2022 – sixteen-foot ceilings, a 270-foot clock tower and a spa in the old mailroom.
From $600 per night
The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.
Four-star · White House, Downtown & West End
A 300-key Ritz-Carlton in the West End since 2000, between Georgetown and Dupont Circle, with a 100,000-square-foot sports club through the door.
From $500 per night
Washington keeps its luxury discreet – a 1928 facade on Lafayette Square, townhouses on a Georgetown canal, a Romanesque post office on Pennsylvania Avenue that became a hotel. The city has exactly one five-star hotel, and has had the same one for more than twenty years; the addresses beside it hold four-star standing and earn their place on history, setting and service. We looked at every candidate from Georgetown to the Southwest waterfront and kept only those whose service holds up to the address. Five made the cut.
Georgetown
The oldest quarter of the city – Federal rowhouses, M Street's shops, the C&O Canal and the Potomac at the bottom of the hill – with two of the five hotels, one at the Pennsylvania Avenue end and one on the canal.
The neighborhoods
Georgetown
The oldest quarter of the city – Federal rowhouses, M Street's shops, the C&O Canal and the Potomac at the bottom of the hill – with two of the five hotels, one at the Pennsylvania Avenue end and one on the canal.
White House, Downtown & West End
Lafayette Square, Pennsylvania Avenue and the West End – three hotels within a walk of the White House, the Smithsonian museums on the Mall and the Kennedy Center.
Good to know
Which neighborhood should I stay in?
Georgetown holds two of the five – the Four Seasons at the Pennsylvania Avenue end and the Rosewood on the C&O Canal – with M Street's shops, the towpath and the Potomac on foot, and the monuments a short drive away. The other three sit closer to the seat of government: The Hay-Adams on Lafayette Square, facing the White House; the Waldorf Astoria in the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, two blocks from the Mall; and The Ritz-Carlton in the West End, between Georgetown and Dupont Circle. Choose Georgetown for the village and the river, downtown for the museums and the walk to everything.
When is the best season for Washington?
Late March into April, when the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin bloom, is the city at its most beautiful and its most crowded – book months ahead. Autumn is the quieter equal: clear days, cool evenings, the Mall without the tour groups. Summer is hot and humid, best taken slowly with a pool in the afternoon; winter is calm, and the museums are nearly yours.
Can I see the White House from the hotel?
From one of them, yes. The Hay-Adams stands directly across Lafayette Square from it: the Federal Suite has a private balcony overlooking the White House, the Lafayette Park View Suites face the square, and Top of the Hay, the rooftop, looks over the whole scene. The Rosewood's rooftop pool takes in the Washington Monument and the Potomac instead, and the Waldorf Astoria has the Old Post Office clock tower, 270 feet up and open to the public again since August 2026.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on any hotel's page to see rates and what is available, then book the room you want. A concierge is on hand throughout – to weigh Georgetown against Lafayette Square before you book, and to arrange dinners, museum visits and the rest of the stay once you have.
