The Jefferson

The Jefferson

At The Jefferson in Washington, a doorman holds open a door steps from Dupont Circle, and the guest walking past the hotel's private collection of rare books and historic artifacts already knows this is an independent landmark, not a chain outpost. Ninety-nine rooms are spread across eight floors, each individually decorated, and several carry something few hotels near the National Mall offer: a working indoor fireplace alongside a flat-screen television with premium channels and a stocked minibar. Breakfast is cooked to order, weekdays from seven to eleven and weekends from eight to one, served in the Greenhouse under its skylight, with three restaurants and a bar in total. Business meetings fit into 689 square feet of space split across eight rooms, better suited to a small executive gathering than a full conference. Families get a playroom, dogs are welcome for a 50-dollar deposit, and a gym, massage room and on-call doctor cover the practical side. Staff speak English, French, German and Spanish, and the concierge handles everything from laundry to tour bookings. This suits a traveler who wants Washington's monuments and museums, the National Geographic Museum among them, within walking distance, and who would rather spend an evening with a rare book from the library than in a hotel bar downstairs. It does not suit anyone wanting resort-scale facilities or anonymity; ninety-nine rooms across eight floors is intimate by design. By the time she is back from dinner at the Greenhouse, the fireplace in her room is still going. An independent landmark near Dupont Circle with 99 individually decorated rooms, some with working fireplaces, and a private collection of rare books rather than a lobby screen. Dogs stay for a 50-dollar deposit, breakfast runs cooked-to-order into weekend afternoons, and meetings fit eight small function rooms, not a ballroom.