DESTINATIONS THE US |WASHINGTON DC


CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Abraham Lincoln statue inside Lincoln Memorial; International Spy Museum; National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institute


Where TO STAY


The Hay-Adams


This five-star hotel’s tagline says it’s the place “where


nothing is overlooked but the White House”. The service is all-encompassing, the rooms plush, the restaurant elegant, and the cool basement cocktail bar attracts locals as well as hotel guests. The location means that many important political figures have met, eaten and slept here. Rooms


the view from its top-floor wraparound balcony over Lafayette Square, I watch the Secret Service shift change on the roof of the White House, sniper rifles visible. It was a surreal reminder of where I was. My view extended beyond the White House too, all the way to the soaring marble obelisk of the Washington Monument and the domed Thomas Jefferson Memorial, while a glimpse of the Pentagon was visible on the other side of the Potomac River. This sprawling city panorama highlights the lack of


skyscrapers in Washington DC, which was built around a late-18th-century blueprint by French city planner Pierre Charles L’Enfant. The Height of Buildings Act stipulates that no building in the city may be taller than 130 feet (40 metres) on commercial streets, which gives Washington a European feel with wide boulevards, plenty of green space and grand classical-style buildings. “It’s a small city, but one that keeps evolving,” says


Sarah Deam, The Hay-Adams hotel’s sales and marketing director. “There’s a lot more here than people realise.”


MUSEUMS ON THE MALL This variety becomes clear while exploring the Smithsonian museums dotted around the central Mall, all of which are free to visit, though some require pre-booked time slots to guarantee entry. Within a couple of hours, I’d dipped in and out of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History.


30 19 SEPTEMBER 2024


33Washington is a small city, but one that keeps evolving. There’s a lot more here than people realise


I learnt about the history of slavery and walked


through a recreation of a segregated railcar; saw the spacesuit that Neil Armstrong wore for his moon landing, along with the camera that filmed it; and admired the enormous original Star Spangled Banner (each star spanning more than half a metre in diameter) followed by Judy Garland’s ruby-red slippers in The Wizard of Oz. The city itself is like an open-air museum too, and


a great way to see its highlights is on a Monuments and Memorials Sunset Tour by Big Bus Tours. On a two-hour drive as the sun is going down, I take in big hitters including the White House, the Martin Luther King Memorial, the Capitol Building and more, with a commentary filling in the stories behind each site. Wending our way through the historic neighbourhood of Georgetown, I learn about past inhabitants Liz Taylor and the Kennedys – according to our guide, it was the only place that Jackie Kennedy wanted to be. But there’s no substitute for seeing the buildings up close to appreciate their scale and architecture. A tour of the Capitol Building takes me into ²


start at £298 per night. hayadams.com


Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC


Built in 1839 as Washington’s General Post Office, this hotel’s original features are


complemented by playful details including a 1.5m-wide lion’s head above the beds and powder


room stylings in the bathrooms. In contrast, its restaurant, Dirty Habit, feels more modern with exposed brick and pop art. Clients will love the bikes


and Anthropologie accessories that can be borrowed. Rooms


start at £312 per night. monaco-dc.com


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURES: Shutterstock/Sergii Figurnyi, Paul Maguire; David Phelps/Ron Blunt; Kip Dawkins


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