If you can't nab an invitation to stay at the White House, the Hay-Adams Hotel across the street is your next best bet. It provides unmatched location, top-flight accommodations and an elegance and charm that typify turn-of-the 20th century Washington.
The Hay-Adams is seeped in history. In 1884, President Lincoln's private secretary, John Hay, and his friend Henry Adams, grandson of an author of the Declaration of Independence, bought adjoining lots facing Lafayette Square. Adams asked architect Henry Hobson Richardson to design two Romanesque homes for the site. For many years both homes were at the center of Washington social life; Teddy Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge were among the guests.
The property was bought by noted Washington developer Harry Wardman in 1927 and became known as the Hay-Adams House. Architect Mirhan Mesrobian designed the apartment-style hotel in Italian Renaissance style, topped off with Doric, Ionic and Corinthian touches. Early ads boasted that the Hay-Adams House would "provide for the socially elite as well as men and women who loom large in the Country's life." After opening in 1928, guests included personalities like Charles Lindbergh, Ethel Barrymore and Sinclair Lewis. The hotel has changed hands over the years, but has retained its reputation as one of the capital's premier hotels catering to discerning guests.
Details matter at the Hay-Adams -- from hand-carved ceilings in the lobby, to antique sunflower doorknobs on guest room doors. Interiors are beautifully done with vintage four-poster beds and Chinese-carved tables. Tiered curtains in sumptuous fabrics adorn windows. Some rooms have balconies from which to enjoy one-of-a-kind views of the White House or St. John's Church. Floral taffeta bedspreads in discreet patterns and matching dust ruffles decorate the beds. Some beds have a step to help prop you onto the plumped-up mattresses. French wallpaper graces the walls; fireplaces and live plants complete the cozy picture. You'll feel as if you're in a friend's elegant guest room. Bathrooms are more contemporary, adorned with beige marble and full-length mirrors.
An attentive staff caters to your every whim, but a caretaker from the great beyond is also said to be roaming the hotel. Henry Adams's wife reputedly haunts the hotel's fourth floor -- a clever PR touch to authenticate your stay at this slice of Washington history.
-- Angela Walker
