PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

This is Washington's biggest hotel, resting on 16 acres just down the street from the National Zoo and several good restaurants. Its size and location (the Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station is literally at its doorstep) make it a good choice for conventions, tour groups, and individual travelers.

From the outside, the hotel resembles a college campus: There's an old part, built in 1918, whose entrance is draped by stately trees, and a new part, preceded by a great green lawn. The oldest section is the nicest, though it houses only a fraction of the hotel's rooms: about 100, each with high ceilings, ornate crown moldings, and an assortment of antique French and English furnishings. This was once an apartment building whose residents included presidents Hoover, Eisenhower, and Johnson (before they were presidents), as well as actors Marlene Dietrich and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and author Gore Vidal. The hotel, at year's end 2007, was just putting the final touches on a major renovation of all guest rooms and public spaces. Expect a fresh look and up-to-date amenities: multilayered Marriott brand bedding; flatscreen TVs; long desks with high-backed chairs; new carpeting, wall-coverings, and bathrooms fixtures -- the works. The Wardman Park now has one fine restaurant, the Stone's Throw, which includes four separate dining areas, a chef's table, and a bar. Harry's Bar and Starbucks remain, but now both offer outdoor seating in the center of beds of blooming flowers -- especially pleasant in spring. Also brand new is the state-of-the-art fitness center. Wireless Internet access is available in the Lobby Lounge, Starbucks, and the atrium.

Facilities: Restaurant (American); pub (serves meals); deli/pastry shop; lobby bar; Starbucks; outdoor heated pool w/sun deck; well-equipped fitness center; concierge; business center; salon; room service (6am-1am); in-room massage; babysitting; coin-op washer/dryers; same-day laundry service; dry cleaning; concierge-level rooms; 32 rooms for those w/limited mobility, 10 w/roll-in showers.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Washington, D.C. 2008, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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