The Jefferson, Washington, DC

Thanks to the dining habits of the White House’s current resident, the Jefferson has become known as “Washington’s second most prestigious address.” Throughout the 2012 campaign, President Obama held a series of fundraising dinners at the Jefferson and since his re-election, Obama has entertained legislators at Plume, the Jefferson‘s acclaimed restaurant.

Befitting its namesake, the nation’s third President, the 96-room luxury boutique hotel is a bastion of civility and refined design. Located in a splendid Beaux Arts structure, the Jefferson opened in 1923 as a luxury residential building before becoming a hotel in 1955. A top-to-bottom, two-year renovation was completed in August 2009, with the uncovering of the original 1923 skylight.

The spirit of Jefferson and his sublime taste in all matters related to a well-lived life is evident throughout the hotel. A library off the lobby is modeled on Jefferson’s own Book Room and is filled with leather-bound volumes. A sanctuary of civility with sitting nooks and plush reading chairs, the cozy room makes one yearn for a rainy day – and a bottle of Madeira, one of Jefferson’s favorite elixirs.

Antiques and artifacts of the Jeffersonian era are evident throughout the elegant hotel, coexisting in perfect harmony with the hotel’s modern-day amenities.  One has the sense that Jefferson is smiling with pride to see his own epoch so well represented in the modern world.

All guest rooms and suites at the Jefferson feature Porthault linens alongside Italian stonework, with high-tech amenities such as flat screen televisions and televisions imbedded into the bathroom’s vanity mirror. Wireless is complimentary as are telephone calls. Walk-in showers feature toiletries by Red Flower, which are formulated with herbs and botanicals once grown at Jefferson’s farms at Monticello.

The attention to period detail is so pervasive throughout the Jefferson‘s private and public spaces that it’s possible to feel that one is in perfect equipoise between the 18th and 21st centuries. As sophisticated as it is discreet and distinguished, the Jefferson is a paragon of Jeffersonian ideals.

 

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