Hotel Monaco Washington
Encyclopedia
Boutique hotel
Boutique hotel is a term popularized in North America and the United Kingdom to describe intimate, usually luxurious or unique hotel environments. Boutique hotels differentiate themselves from larger chain/branded hotels and motels by providing personalized accommodation and services / facilities...
at the corner of 7th
7th Street (Washington, D.C.)
There are four north-south arteries in Washington, D.C. named Seventh Street that are differentiated by the quadrants of the city in which they are located. Historically, 7th Street has been a main north-south road in Washington, being the main route for travelers and farmers coming into the city...
and F Streets Northwest in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Hotel Monaco is one of 10 Kimpton
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurant Group
The Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group Inc. is an American hotel and restaurant company. Founded in 1981 by William Kimpton and led by Chief Executive Officer Michael Depatie, it is the largest chain of boutique hotels in the United States. The company's headquarters are in San Francisco,...
hotel properties in the Washington Metropolitan Area
Washington Metropolitan Area
The Washington Metropolitan Area is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The area includes all of the federal district and parts of the U.S...
and is located across the street from the National Portrait Gallery
National Portrait Gallery (United States)
The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in Washington, D.C., administered by the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of famous individual Americans.-Building:...
and the Verizon Center
Verizon Center
Verizon Center is a sports and entertainment arena in Washington, D.C., USA, named after telecommunications sponsor Verizon Communications, and has been nicknamed the "Phone Booth" because of its association with telecommunications companies...
. The hotel opened in the summer of 2002 and was named one of the 80 best new hotels in the world in 2003 by Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler is a US magazine published by Condé Nast. It has its origins in a mailing sent out by the Diners Club club beginning in 1953, listing locations that would take the card. It began taking advertising in 1955. In order to attract more advertisers, it became a full-fledged magazine,...
. In September 2010, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the Monaco Washington DC hotel for $74.0 million.
Architecture
The Hotel Monaco is located inside the neoclassicalNeoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
General Post Office
General Post Office (Washington, D.C.)
The General Post Office, also known as the Tariff Commission Building, is a building in Washington, D.C. that is currently used as the Hotel Monaco.-History:Robert Mills designed the General Post Office, completed in 1842.Thomas U...
building, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
constructed in 1839 that was the first all-marble building in Washington and patterned after the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
Temple of Jupiter. The hotel, listed on the Historic Hotels of America
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
, occupies an entire city block between 7th and 8th, and E and F streets. The four-story building is separated by a courtyard. One half of the structure was designed by Robert Mills
Robert Mills (architect)
Robert Mills , most famously known for designing the Washington Monument, is sometimes called the first native born American to become a professional architect, though Charles Bulfinch perhaps has a clearer claim to this honor...
, designer of the Washington Monument
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington...
, while the other half was designed by Thomas U. Walter
Thomas U. Walter
Thomas Ustick Walter of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was an American architect, the dean of American architecture between the 1820 death of Benjamin Latrobe and the emergence of H.H. Richardson in the 1870s...
, one of the architects for the United States Capitol
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
.
Kimpton began a $32 million dollar renovation on the General Post Office Building in 2000 after an agreement with the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
to lease the building for 60 years. The main post office area was transformed into the hotel lobby and the mail-sorting pavilion became the restaurant.
Room design
The hotel rooms feature vaulted 12-18 ft (3.7-5.5 m) ceilings and long windows. The color scheme of each room is eclectic. The drapes are charcoal and white patterned, the walls are yellow, lounge chairs are periwinklePeriwinkle (color)
Periwinkle is a color in the blue family. Its name is derived from the lesser periwinkle or myrtle herb which bears flowers of the same color....
blue, chandeliers are lime green, and damask
Damask
Damask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...
pillows are a mixture of orange and red. A bust
Bust (sculpture)
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, the third President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
and a good friend of Robert Mills, sits on top of a neoclassic armoire in each room. In addition to standard rooms and suites, the hotel features "Tall Rooms" with 18-foot ceilings, 96-inch (244 cm) beds, and raised showerheads. First floor rooms are mostly below ground with only small windows near the ceiling letting in sunlight. The second through fourth floor exterior rooms face the city, while the interior rooms face the courtyard and restaurant. Each guest is given a complimentary goldfish at check-in which hotel staff feed and maintain during the guest's stay.
Restaurant
Hotel Monaco's restaurant, Poste Moderne Brasserie, is a 174-seat AmericanCuisine of the United States
American cuisine is a style of food preparation originating from the United States of America. European colonization of the Americas yielded the introduction of a number of ingredients and cooking styles to the latter...
restaurant and bar with an entrance in the hotel lobby and a second entrance on 8th Street that was once a carriageway passage for horses and buggies
Horse and buggy
A horse and buggy or horse and carriage refers to a light, simple, two-person carriage of the late 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, drawn usually by one or sometimes by two horses...
. Poste features an outdoor terrace for dining during the spring and summer months.