It’s hard to believe that when Laura and Raymond Saba, owners of the Embassy Circle Guest House, first purchased the 106-year old property in 2003, the building was at risk of collapsing.

The tired mansion had suffered fire damage and had been empty and abandon for close to twenty years.

Fast forward after an extensive 3½ year and costly “labor of love” renovation project that concluded in 2007, when the couple proudly opened their second bed & breakfast inn, the other being the Woodley Park Guest House.

The Embassy Circle definitely gives its guests the feeling that they are staying at the home of good friends, as you are made to feel welcomed and as part of the family. Within minutes of arriving, I had met several of the guests, most visiting from overseas.

The public areas include a comfortable living room and formal dining room, where it seems most of the conversation happens.

Located in the Kalorama District of DC’s Embassy Row neighborhood, it close to several embassies, including Greece, Guatemala, Armenia, Cyprus, and Kenya, and just a short walk to the Woodrow Wilson House and the Textile Museum.

The property looks like many of the turn-of-the-century Embassy Row mansions that were converted into an embassy, but inside it’s a warm and cozy place, perfect for that home-away-from-home feeling.

Rooms – The eleven uncharacteristically large guest rooms, each with private baths, are classically appointed without any of the tacky “period” reproduction decorating so common in many older or historic B&Bs.

Each guest room has either one or two queen or king sized wood-framed beds, white chenille bedspreads, calming colors, and colorful Persian area rugs over blonde hardwood floors. A phone with private line and voicemail, both hard-wired and wireless Internet access (included), a private bath with a large shower plus marble vanities, and lots of closet space add to the amenities.  What’s also nice, is that there are no televisions or radios in the rooms.

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The easiest way to describe the furnishings would be to say — clean and simple, but very classic and comfortable.

The inn is also sparkling clean and meticulously maintained, so you won’t find a cobweb or dust bunny anywhere.

The rooms are warm and should make you feel wanting to curl up in comfortable chair with a good book, or relax while slowly starting your morning in bed with the Washington Post.  But it’s more fun to join in on the morning conversation around the dinging room table.  The morning group I stayed included a foreign diplomat, a couple foreign Ph.D students, and a charming opera fan visiting DC for her periodic opera fix.  The conversations ranged from global politics and business, to arts and entertainment.

Food & Conversation – Breakfast included fresh-squeezed orange juice and coffee paired with yogurt, a fresh fruit salad, fresh-baked scones and pastries and more.

Owners Laura and Raymond fueled the evening and morning conversations by not only knowing each guest’s name and place of origin, but had some interesting tidbit to relate about each guest, which only furthered the conversations.  You can tell, they truly enjoy meeting new people.

The evening I was there, one guest, who had been staying for more than a week, was having a birthday, so out came a some yummy plates of tapas and a flourless chocolate cake for everyone to enjoy.  Wine and nuts are typically offered every night around 6:30, unless there’s a “reason” for something more special.

Room Rates & Reservations – $175.00 – $280.00 depending on season and room selection, excluding Inauguration Week.  Reservations are available online or by phone.

Location – The inn is located in a safe neighborhood, close to the Metro subway, just a couple stops from the National Mall, and within walking distance to many excellent restaurants.  If you want to avoid the Mall or downtown, and get a feel for the real DC, the Embassy Circle is ideal.

Nearest Metro Subway Station – Dupont Circle – Red line, then a ½-mile walk.

Parking -  Free street parking is available, but watch the 2-hour limit spaces before 8:00 p.m.

Overall Impression – I strongly recommend the inn for travelers that want something more than just a standard room in a big impersonal hotel and wish to enjoy true hospitality.

Embassy Circle Guest House
2224 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008 (map it)
202-232-7744  or 1-877-232-7744

Images – Courtesy of Embassy Circle Guest House – stock photos by Jumping Rocks Photography, sitting area and photo of the Sabas from personal collection – ©2008, Jon Rochetti _________________________________________________

Post from: The DC Traveler

If you are planning on attending the inauguration from out of town, start your planning now.  In fact, start planning two weeks ago, because most, if not all of the 95,000 area hotel rooms are already booked.  And expect to look hard for alternatives.  An estimated million and a half people are currently expected to attend what may be one of the largest events, and the largest inauguration, on the Mall National in Washington DC’s history.

The last inauguration, in 2005, drew 300,000 for President Bush’s second inauguration. President Lyndon Johnson’s inauguration drew the largest inauguration crowd, around 1 million people watched the ceremony at the Capital. 

After checking over 450 area hotels, none were accepting online reservations.  Some hotels were already sold out, others had multi-day (4 or 5 nights) stays required, while others required calls directly to the hotel.  A travel representative mentioned area hotels, normally in the under $200 range, had increased hotel room prices to double or more for the inauguration. 

I also checked for available hotel rooms in the Baltimore area and found nothing available.  But I did find a few rooms available in Richmond, Virginia, about 100 miles from Washington, DC. some rooms were still under $125 and even a Days Inn offered a room for just $60.  But I suspect these rates will soon jump as well.

Here’s ten ways to try to find an alternative place to stay for the inauguration:

1. Call around to hotels not generally frequented by tourists, such as conference centers in in the suburbs.
2. Check out temporary housing on home, condo and time share vacation rentals sites, but beware, prices for inauguration week have skyrocketed.
3. Look for ads in the Washington Post and Examiner.com housing section (print and online) for short term rentals for inauguration week.
4. Check Craigslist (temporary housing section) in Washington, DC and the surrounding suburbs for people renting homes or rooms during inauguration week.  I found several hundred ads, ranging from someone’s basement bedroom in the suburbs, to a beautifully furnished 3-bedroom high-rise condo just blocks from the National Mall for $12,000 for the week. Make sure to look for convenient Metro access and parking.
5. Check DC Message Boards for rooms available for the inauguration.
6. Rent a motor home for a few days. If none are available in DC, look in the surrounding areas and drive it to DC for the inauguration.
7. Search out that long lost school friend who lives in Washington, DC on Classmates.com
8. Get on the phone and search out some of the smaller suburban motels, that may not have websites.
9. Find friends who are going to the inauguration and try to crash with them, on the sofa, a roll-away, or on the floor.
10. Make an offer to stay in The DC Traveler’s guest room…all bids will be entertained. Plus, an Inauguration Continental Breakfast is included!!

You can still request inauguration tickets, but it’s probably too late to make the cut. Visit your Congressional Representative’s website at http://www.house.gov/.

Image – Wikipedia – public domain
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Post from: The DC Traveler

I had the opportunity to tour and spend the night at the Pentagon City Ritz Carlton Hotel in suburban Arlington in mid-February. 

Attached to the Pentagon City Mall, the hotel is ideal for up-scale vacationers, business travelers and couples looking for a romantic get-away. Or anyone looking for a near-by hotel while hoping to avoid downtown DC hotels. 

Rooms – The 366 recently renovated guest rooms are very warm, comfortable and inviting. The king sized beds provide goose down featherbeds and comforters along with extra fluffy pillows.  The addition of high-count Egyptian cotton linens can make it rather tough to get out of bed. 

My standard room included a nice high-def television, both wired and wireless high-speed Internet access ($9.95 per day), terrycloth bathrobes, plush towels, nice bathroom amenities, a well stocked mini-bar, an in-room safe and complementary coffee and tea.  Making yourself feel pampered is easy at the Ritz Carlton.

One special amenity that I actually fell in love with, one that I haven’t seen in a hotel before, was the television. Not actually the television, but a Ritz Carlton promotional video that was playing quietly in the background on the television when I first opened the door. 

It showed a series of rotating still images of some of the worlds most beautiful places, (beaches, sunsets, mountains, etc.), played along with some very relaxing Zen-like background music. 

Mesmerized by it, I kept the loop playing in the background the entire time I was in my room.  It made the room even more soothing and peaceful. (I actually regret not checking the hotel’s gift shop for a DVD copy, as it would make a great sleep aid.)

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Fitness Center & Spa – The Ritz’s Fitness Center is another of the hotel’s highlights, and frankly the best I’ve seen in a hotel.

Marble walled locker rooms, with adjoining sauna and steam rooms, keyed wood-faced lockers and an attentive staff, gets a workout off on the right foot.  The multiple treadmills, stationary and recumbent bicycles, weight training and elliptical trainers, racks of free weights, and other machines easily compete with the type of equipment normally reserved for high-end health clubs and more exclusive country clubs.

The heated multi-lane lap pool was perfect for a quick swim, followed by a long soak in the large Jacuzzi.  I visited the Fitness Center twice during my stay and there was never more than one or two people using it at any time, making it feel like it was my very own private health club. 

The Fitness Center also offers several types of professional massages by appointment.

Dining – Sadly, the hotel’s main restaurant, The Grill Restaurant, was under renovations during my stay, but should be open now. During my stay, a temporary restaurant and bar was located in the Diplomat Room. Even a “temporary” dining room was still very elegant, hosting afternoon tea when I visited.

The dinner menu includes items such as Chilean sea bass, venison, beef tenderloin, duck and roasted lobster.

On Sundays, the Ritz’s brunch ($58.00) was voted the best brunch in Washington, DC three years in a row (2003-05).

Finding other great dining alternatives in the area is easy. A host of area dining options, from casual to fine, include some great ethnic foods such as Lebanese, Asian, and Tapas, as well as several steak houses, all within easy walking distance.

Special Events – If you are planning a special event such as a wedding, the Ritz’s china room lets guests select from their many styles of china and linens offered for banquets. The hotel also boasts an in-house floral boutique.

Location – The hotel’s location is ideal for travelers – just 5 minutes from Reagan National Airport, and less than 10 minutes by car to the Mall and Arlington Cemetery. There’s even a Metro subway station you can walk to without ever leaving the complex. 

Plus, if you want to do a bit of shopping, the Ritz is attached to the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City shopping mall, with Macy’s and Nordstrom department stores as its main anchors. Yet while in the hotel, you would never know the building was attached to a busy mall.

Overall Impression – I was probably biased walking in, as I hosted a couple large business events at the Ritz in Laguna Beach, California years ago, and still have fond memories of the food, service and experience.  The Pentagon City Ritz Carlton Hotel was not an exception. The hotel  lives for its guests pleasure and comfort, by maintaining the Ritz’s philosophy — providing exceptional service.

Pentagon City Ritz Carlton Hotel 
1250 South Hayes Street
Arlington, VA 22202 (map it)

Rates – $219 to over $3,000 for the Presidential Suite.

Nearest Metro Subway Station – Pentagon City, Blue, Orange and Red lines.

Parking – Valet at $29 per day.

Images – All photos from personal collection -© 2008 – Jon Rochetti 

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Post from: The DC Traveler