Weekend in Georgetown

We were driving along M Street looking for the hotel and drove past the hotel without seeing it. When we turned around and drove back, we realized why we had missed it. The hotel entrance is set back from the road behind a restaurant, so the driveway is easy to miss.

The hotel is a brick building consistent with much of Georgetown’s architecture and has a white marble entryway with black arched awnings. The hotel lobby is decorated in marble and creates a cozy European feeling. We checked in and were shown to our rooms.

Luckily, the European feeling of the lobby did not mean that the rooms were consistent with small European hotel-room sizes. The rooms are not all a consistent size, however. I was originally given a large room, while my parents were shown into a much smaller corner one. I offered to switch with them, and after the exchange was made, we settled in to the very comfortable rooms. The beds are king-sized, but the bathrooms are twin-sized, with the sinks outside of the toilet and shower room. The water pressure in the shower is phenomenal and will leave you feeling refreshed. The neutral earth tones of the walls are reflected in the tone of the bedding.

There is no turn-down service at night, the swimming pool was closed, and the gym facility was unimpressive, with only a treadmill and few free weights. However, the hotel does offer free passes to a nearby gym.

The staff was helpful and accommodating. Citronelle, a Michel Richard restaurant, is located right in the hotel. The valet parking is convenient, but it cost us $25 a day. The location, right in the heart of Georgetown, could not be more convenient to the shops and sites.

If you are looking for accommodations with a small hotel feel, the Latham is a great choice.

We visited this gem on the edge of Georgetown in Foggy Bottom for a rehearsal dinner the night before my cousin’s wedding. The guests congregated in the front bar area after leaving their coats at the coat check. The long bar is decorated in marble and a warm wood. We were served drinks and hors d’ouevres by a friendly and helpful waitstaff. Once the party was all assembled, we retired to a private section of the restaurant with long tables of varying sizes.

We were presented with a special three-course meal menu for the event. I started with the arugula salad with shaved parmigiano appetizer. For the entrée, I shared the grilled salmon with sautéed spinach and the vegetarian delight (grilled eggplant, zucchini, yellow and green squash, endive, and tomato served with roasted pepper sauce). I have never tasted salmon prepared so succulently before. The flavorful sauce complemented the fish perfectly. The vegetarian dish was also superbly prepared.

For dessert, there were three options: tiramisu, mixed berries, and ricotta cheesecake with raspberry sauce. While the cheesecake was a bit dry for my taste, the tiramisu was delicious!

As we were leaving the restaurant, the staff arranged for a taxi cab for our return to the hotel.

Even though our dinner choices were from a special, limited menu, the food was so delectable that I can only imagine that their normal menu fare is superb as well.

After deciding to take a walk along the Georgetown waterfront, we started to get hungry. There is a row of several restaurants in one area of the waterfront as we were approaching the Foggy Bottom section of the city. We chose to eat at the first one we saw, Nick’s Riverside Grille.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the restaurant was the section set aside for the outdoor bar. There were rows of chairs set up in front of the bar, all facing out towards the Potomac River. So if the weather is good and you are in the mood to enjoy a refreshing beverage while looking out upon the relaxing view, this is a good spot for you.

We were seated at a table with a red umbrella and plastic chairs. The menu included mainly standard American fare. For lunch, the menu offered mainly soups, salads, and sandwiches, although a few heavier meals were available. We were only in the mood for a light meal, so we chose the fruit and cheese plate, the grilled cheese with fries, and the tomato salad (with fresh mozzarella). The cheeses that came with the cheese plate were brie, Muenster, and American slices. Accompanying them were grapes and not-so-ripe cantaloupe and honeydew melons.

Our waiter was not terribly friendly, nor did he come over when we were seated quickly. We had to wait for a while before we could order drinks. And he didn’t check to see how our meals were.

The grilled cheese and the tomato salad were decent, but nothing exceptional. The prices here are reasonable considering the view; however, the quality of the food is not quite consistent with the prices. I would still recommend visiting Nick’s for the location.

While taking a walk around Georgetown, we decided to stop and see the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks. This required a fairly steep half-mile uphill climb from M Street (the main drag in Georgetown). This Harvard University research center was a former 19th-century-built mansion. It was the site in 1944 of a couple of famous conferences that established principles which were incorporated into the UN charter.

We did not take a tour of the interior of the house but instead stuck to the ten acres of gardens surrounding the mansion. We walked through a solarium in order to reach the main gardens behind and to the side of the building. While there are still many great oaks left on the grounds, there were also other features to be enjoyed.

Leaving the solarium, we entered a large stone patio which led several terrace levels down to the main garden. In the area near the house were statuary, stone carvings, tile mosaics, and fountains (though they were not running in November, when we were there).

The museum was closed for renovation during our visit, and the galleries will be open in 2007. But I am told the museum is worth the visit when it is open.

The grounds are open from 2 to 5pm, and admission in the late fall (when we were there) is free. During the warmer months, you will have to pay $6 for admission. Garden tours (and museum tours) are available. You can call 202/339-6409 for more information.

I can only imagine how beautiful the gardens are during the spring months, when all is in bloom, and hope to venture back during that time.