Washington, DC

Washington, DC is shaped by symbolism. Monuments, museums, embassies, avenues and political institutions create a capital where American history and public life are expressed through architecture and ceremony.

Washington was chosen as the federal capital in 1790 and laid out by Pierre L’Enfant, whose diagonal avenues and circles still shape the city. The National Mall runs from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial, lined by the Smithsonian’s museums, most of them free, and the National Gallery of Art. The White House sits just to the north, behind Lafayette Square.

Beyond the monuments, the city is surprisingly residential. Georgetown, older than the capital itself, keeps its brick townhouses and canal; Dupont Circle and Massachusetts Avenue hold the mansions of Embassy Row; and the Kennedy Center overlooks the Potomac. Restaurants, galleries and a waterfront along the Anacostia have given the city a livelier life of its own.

Spring is the classic season. The National Cherry Blossom Festival, celebrating the trees given by Tokyo in 1912, colours the Tidal Basin from late March into April, and the gardens of Georgetown and Dumbarton Oaks follow. Autumn, from late September to November, is equally fine, with mild days and the new cultural season at the Kennedy Center.

Summer is hot and humid, but the Fourth of July brings concerts and fireworks on the Mall. Winter is cool and occasionally snowy, the quietest time for museums. Every four years, the presidential inauguration in January transforms the city, and when Congress is in session, the hotels fill with the business of government.

Washington’s best hotels stand close to power and history. The Hay-Adams looks across Lafayette Square to the White House; The St. Regis Washington, D.C. has received diplomats on 16th Street since 1926; Park Hyatt Washington sits in the West End; and Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC and Rosewood Washington, D.C. stand in Georgetown, near the C&O Canal and the Potomac.

LVXVRY books Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC through Four Seasons Preferred Partner, The St. Regis through Marriott STARS & Luminous and Park Hyatt Washington through Hyatt Privé — at the official hotel rate, with the privileges each programme attaches to the stay. For The Hay-Adams and Rosewood Washington, D.C., LVXVRY advises on and arranges the stay directly.