Watch enough political thrillers about Washington, D.C,, and you’re bound to develop a conspiratorial view of the city’s hotels: The young woman on the phone must be a major campaign strategist, those three suits are probably ex-Congressmen trading deals with a lobbyist, that solo guy in the corner of a dimly lit cocktail bar is bound to be interrupted—and probably blackmailed—by a Cabinet Secretary.
So when you approach the Dupont Circle—a squat, beige, unassuming building that’s been a hotel in one form or another for more than half a century—it’s hard not to wonder which foreign dignitaries might be lurking behind the glass-walled entrance.
Back in non-TV reality, the Dupont Circle’s newly renovated lobby is abuzz with nicely attired conventioneers, workers on laptops (likely checking Gmail, not sharing state secrets), and dolled-up 20-somethings meeting for happy hour. The fact that there are other good hotels in the hotel’s namesake neighborhood (Park Hyatt and Ritz-Carlton are also within blocks of Embassy Row) isn’t the point; here, a multi-million-dollar refurbishment has resulted in a stylish, unfussy setting that feels residential at its core, but in a chichi part of town where most of us could only dream of living. Although the hotel remained operational during the renovation, completing the majority of the work during slower periods, its facelift is so dramatic that it looks and feels entirely new.
More Americans are traveling to Washington, D.C., than ever before, and the hotel inventory has grown in stride, with corporate behemoths (Conrad) and international ventures (Eaton) alike planting roots in the U.S. capital. So it’s no surprise that the Doyle Collection, the Ireland-based, family-owned group that purchased the hotel in 1997, made a substantial investment in its sole American property (thus far), sprucing up the lobby, restaurants, bars, meeting spaces, and 327 rooms and suites in its signature glamorous, yet comfortable, way.
The lobby’s new look, which features low-slung furniture ripe for co-working, came courtesy of Clodagh, the New York City–based studio that has done work on East Miami, Six Senses Douro Valley, and other hospitality projects where earth tones, layered textures, and metallic accents are front and center. The firm is in the process of refreshing all of the rooms and suites in a similar manner, installing wood flooring where there was wall-to-wall carpeting, sweeping in Restoration Hardware furniture that wouldn’t look out of place in a swanky apartment, brushing in pops of soft purple, and outfitting balconies with wide, comfortable, weatherproof seating. When the 3,000-square-foot penthouse suite is finished, the spread will comprise two master bedrooms, a central living and dining area with a gas fireplace, and a heated wraparound terrace that offers tip-top views of the Washington Monument.
The ground-floor space that was once Bar Dupont lives on as Doyle, a mid-century-inspired cocktail bar—brass trim, walnut paneling, throwback cocktails like Vieux Carrrés—designed by Martin Brudnizki Design Studio, the firm behind The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel. Around the corner, past the reception desk and Doyle & Co, a charming little cafe with coffee and pastries, is The Pembroke, a restaurant that Brudnizki fitted with curved banquettes, blueish-gray armchairs, marble-topped tables, and brass lighting. Greenery and floor-to-ceiling windows give the space the feel of greenhouse; warm, expressive, and personalized service give it the feel of a members’ club.
But it’s in the little touches where the Dupont Circle really shines: the wood-tambour accent in the ninth-floor hallway, where every key is a suite; the dental kit hiding among the array of Malin + Goetz toiletries; the bento-box-style kids’ lunch menu that materializes ever-so-mercifully without delay.
And if there's one detail that's won us over, it's the small black towel embroidered with the word “Makeup.” It's not hard to imagine Olivia Pope using this thoughtful amenity to wipe off her smokey eye, then retreating to her private balcony—which sees as far as Georgetown University, the Washington National Cathedral, and Arlington, Virginia—to sip a red blend from the Languedoc and scheme about the seat of power below.
