This old-world hotel is said to be a favorite of attorneys visiting the nation's capital, and it's not hard to see why. Furnishings look as though they would be right at home in the lobby and offices of a venerable law firm.
Service strives always to be personal, with staff calling you by name and going out of their way to please. (My colleague tells the story of a brief business trip on which the airlines lost his suitcase; the hotel offered to have Brooks Brothers open early so he could purchase a suit for his meetings.) While I arrived luggage intact, I can say the service I experienced was warmly professional.
Families and Pets Can Feel At Home at the Jefferson
As a Loews Hotel, the Jefferson also welcomes families, children and pets through corporate programs. Evidence of this is as close as the room service menu, with special sections for pets (served with Evian), kids (think cookies and ice cream) and a "Home Sweet Loews" menu with comfort food such as chicken pot pie and a banana split. The standard menu features selections from the restaurant downstairs.
Other homelike touches include freshly baked cookies each evening, complimentary in the lobby, starting September 6 and running through November. The "Election Cookie Poll" pits Laura Bush's oatmeal chocolate chunk recipe against Teresa Heinz Kerry's controversy-laden pumpkin spice cookies. Historically, the winner of the cookie bake-off predicts the winner of the presidential race. Politics aside, anything involving chocolate is considered a favorite when I'm voting.
Townhouse Room at the Jefferson
My room, #324, was a "Townhouse" room, quite stately and large, with a four-poster bed, heavy tasseled curtains and John James Audubon prints. Two striped wingedback chairs with ottomans flanked a roomy side table, and a narrow cherry armoire held the television, minibar, VCR, stereo and CD player. A lamplit entryway and separate closet gave the room a distinctly residential feel.
The marble bathroom, with twin gilded mirrors and a 19th-century portrait, was well stocked with Bloom amenities; a separate basket with spa-like goodies such as aromatherapy lotions and a pedicure kit was available in the room for an extra charge per use. Bathroom fixtures were aged brass and porcelain, and the bathtub area did show some signs of wear, with missing caulk and a section of the ceiling that needed repainting.
Rooms in the main building are on a slightly less grand scale (but still roomy) with smaller furniture of the same traditional cherry style. Rooms facing south on upper floors look out toward the Washington Monument.
The Jefferson Restaurant
The Jefferson Restaurant is small and intimate, with a few tables in private "nooks" perfect for a marriage proposal or a secret conversation among diplomats. Executive Chef Andrew Saba seeks out fresh local ingredients, and guests can taste the difference. I was lucky enough to stay at the hotel during the Copper River salmon season, and Saba's roasted version was sublime atop a Mediterranean vegetable medley of eggplant, olives and tomatoes, finished with a light saffron sauce. (Visiting cats also get treated with the salmon when ordering from room service.)
Brunch was also a treat, with a beautiful presentation of fresh berries and sliced fruit followed by an open-faced omelets sprinkled liberally with goat cheese. Brunch includes dessert, and the menu matches the one at dinner; the Warm Chocolate, Banana and Bread Pudding is the favorite, although I personally can vouch for the Chocolate Purse (filled with a light chocolate mousse and finished with raspberry sauce).
The restaurant's warm color scheme is complemented by 18th century portraits of native Americans, the same portraits that hung in the White House behind Clinton when he denied the Monica Lewinsky affair. It gives the mysterious look in the figures' eyes an interesting new meaning.
History and Tradition at the Jefferson
Elevators are wood-paneled, and the dark red, cozy lounge is one of the few cigar bars in the capital. The Jefferson also serves a traditional high tea each afternoon. Linger in the lobby and lounge to see original documents signed by Thomas Jefferson himself; the papers are handsomely framed and hung on walls throughout the common areas so anyone can take a closer look.
