Choosing a hotel in Washington was not that easy. The Four Seasons would have been the logical choice, but I found the house in Washington rather unattractive. In the end, the presidential suite at the Rosewood and a suite at the Hay Adams were on the shortlist. In the end, it was the Hay Adams, GF liked it better.
The Hay Adams is one of the city's historic hotels, located practically directly opposite the White House.
From the outside, it is a very pretty house.

The lobby of the Hay Adams is stylish. The wood may not be to everyone's taste, but it fits perfectly with the historic character of the hotel. I find the lobby of the Willard more impressive, but it is still an interesting lobby.

The hallway was so middle-classly great.



Normally, I like to walk through the stairwell, but I didn't do that here.

Then we come to the suite.

I want to be honest, I was in a bad mood the whole time because of my choice. How could I let myself stay in this outdated place instead of the similarly priced Presidential Suite at the Rosewood? But let�s start with the floorplan.

The smell that greeted you when you opened the suite was as musty as the plan. You then stood facing the generous cupboard, with another closet next to it.



The living room didn't look too bad, but it was musty.








The bedroom was big enough, but I didn't think the bed was that great. Overall, the style was quite coherent, but it wasn't a joy to behold.







The view




My biggest problem was the bathroom. Technically totally outdated, with a bathtub without a hand shower. The toilet behind the shower was so narrow that it was difficult to use.



The best thing was the care products.

Oh yes, the �ultra-modern� shower head sprayed in all directions.

Well, I �only� paid a good $5000 for the 4 nights, so $1250 per night. It could have been worse.

But I was annoyed enough anyway.

In the evening we went to the hotel restaurant, La Fayette. The restaurant is classically and quite attractively furnished.






It wasn't particularly full, but there was a pianist playing anyway. The menu:


Seared Octopus - Crispy potato, heirloom cherry tomato, smoked paprika aioli


Fennel & Green Apple Soup

Mocktails


Seared Dover Sole - baby spinach, english peas, romanesco, lemon caper beurre blanc


Shiso-lime dorade - snow peas, grilled radicchio salad, orange, lemongrass sauce

Dessert menu

Tropical - exotic roulade, compressed mango, passionfruit cream, coconut sorbet


Pistachio Souffl� - orange marmelade, elderflower & olive ice cream

The bill

Sure, the food was not cheap, with the Dover Sole being particularly expensive. On the other hand, we have had more expensive meals and the quality was fine. Not Michelin-star level, but still good. I would call it old-fashioned in a positive way.

We had breakfast a la carte at La Fayette. The menu was actually quite nice. The breakfast itself was okay. A small problem was the staff, who spoke better Spanish than English. For example, if you ordered a special tea from the menu (there were quite a few unusual varieties from Dammannn), you would simply get a herbal tea instead of a �Nuit � Versailles� because the staff had no idea what you wanted. We complained (you pay for the credit after all) and after some back and forth and the arrival of better English-speaking staff, the right one came. Unfortunately, this happens several times, not too great. Here is a look at the menu:


Continental Breakfast:

Well, we've had more lavish meals than that.
I ordered French toast.

I've had better. Finally, the bill, which was relatively humane.

Lots of changes since I was first taken to the Hay-Adams House (as it was then called) in 1974. Back then, the hotel restaurant had the same dark wooden panelling as the lobby has today. The place itself was one of the snootiest restaurants you could find. The atmosphere was hushed and reverent, and many of the clientele were politicians, etc. I was taken there by a business colleague and his wife, and the prices and service were both out of sight (literally, in the case of his wife, who received a menu with no prices marked, a practice met with more often in those days than now).

We had an excellent meal. At the end of the main course, my friend's wife decided that she wanted to take a doggy-bag home with her, which highly embarrassed my friend, who told her that "you just don't do that in a place like this". Nevertheless she insisted, and back came the most immaculately presented doggy-bag, impeccably wrapped in silver foil and covered with ribbons, etc, which of course compounded his embarrassment. I have never forgotten it.

Great memories. The thing with the embarrassment seemed to quite common these times. I found these article:
https://restaurant-ingthroughhistory...he-doggie-bag/

How times have changed. I have recently been asked at restaurants in France whether I wanted a doggy bag. This would have been impossible 15 years ago.

First we went to the National Cathedral. It is a neo-Gothic building.





The entrance fee was exorbitant (15 $ per person), plus another 10 $ for parking. But you were allowed to take the elevator to the top of the tower.











The interior is also neo-Gothic, with several memorials.























The best known is perhaps President Wilson's funeral chapel.





The crypt

I'm actually impressed, for a building barely 100 years old they managed to make it look actually gothic cathedral

The style is very "Gothic", but everything looks very new. Recently, a lot of earthquake damage had to be repaired.

Beside the Cathedral lays the Bishop�s Garden. Nice place and entrance is free.

Next, I went to the Dumberton Oaks Museum and Gardens.

The gardens are actually the better known, but could only be visited with a guided tour. The next one was not available for a few hours. So I �only� visited the museum, admission was free. The first partI came to was the library.





The courtyard gallery






Music room








Byzantine Gallery







Pre-Columbian gallery




















A pretty museum, which is located a little way out of the city in a residential area. But it's worth the trip, and can easily be combined with a visit to the National Cathedral.

Last but not least, we visited Mount Vernon, the residence of George Washington. You start at the visitor center.


The tour started at the manor house.










There are timed tickets, but it was still incredibly crowded inside.

Farmhouses and slave quarters