The Tabard Inn

D.C.'s oldest continuously operating hotel, since 1922, in a row of three connected Victorian townhouses on N Street in Dupont Circle. Forty rooms, no two alike, furnished entirely with antiques and inherited oddities. The Tabard's reputation is as much a literary and theatrical hangout as a hotel — the bar and restaurant have been a fixture of D.C.'s creative class for a century.

It's bohemian in the original sense, not the Anthropologie sense. Velvet, brass, mismatched furniture, and a crackling fireplace in the dining room.

The setting

Dupont Circle's residential side, on N Street between 17th and 18th. The Circle itself is two blocks; Dupont Metro is a five-minute walk. The Phillips Collection, Kramers Books, and Embassy Row are all within ten minutes. Connecticut Avenue's restaurants and bookstores are around the corner.

You're in walking-distance D.C. for the things that matter.

The building

Three connected late-Victorian townhouses, knit together over a century into a single inn. The interior is a warren — staircases, half-floors, a rear garden, a basement bar. Public rooms include the firelit lounge with a working fireplace, the dining room (one of D.C.'s most-loved interiors), a small library, and a brick courtyard. Materials run to brass, velvet, oak, and a careful refusal to remove the building's eccentricities. Mismatched antiques throughout.

The rooms

Forty rooms across the three buildings. No two are alike. Beds are queens or kings, dressed with linen and the occasional vintage quilt. Walls are wallpapered or painted in colors a designer would call "saturated"; furniture is genuinely from the inn's century-long collection. Bathrooms vary by room — some refreshed, some still period. From-rates open around $285, considerably more for the suites with the original 1920s features.

Food & drink

The Tabard's restaurant has been a D.C. institution for decades. Contemporary American with a New England-via-Mid-Atlantic accent — oysters, lamb, a serious vegetable program. Non-guests book the restaurant constantly; getting in on a Friday is its own challenge. The fireplaced dining room is the room people choose. The bar — small, snug, regulars at the corner — is a separate destination.

On the property

The brick courtyard and the lounges. There's no pool, no spa, no gym. The Tabard is not that kind of hotel.

• Restaurant and bar on-site, both destination kitchens
• Walled brick courtyard
• Working fireplaces in public rooms
• Walking distance to Dupont Metro, Embassy Row, museums
• Open year-round

Who it's for

• Travelers who've been to D.C. enough to be done with the marble lobbies
• Couples who want a hotel that feels like a private club
• Writers, journalists, and people who'd rather a fireplaced bar than a sportsbar TV
• Anyone for whom "antique-filled and a little eccentric" is a feature

Who it's not for

• Travelers expecting modern hotel polish — this is a 1922 building with a 1922 building's idiosyncrasies
• Anyone who needs a gym or pool on-site
• Pet owners (verify policy with the front desk)

Nearby

The Phillips Collection is two blocks for Renoir and Rothko. Kramers (the reopened bookstore-and-restaurant) is around the corner. Embassy Row begins on Massachusetts Avenue three blocks west. For dinner outside the inn: Le Diplomate, Bistrot du Coin, or Komi. Adams Morgan's 18th Street strip is ten minutes north. The National Mall is 25 minutes on foot or a short Metro ride from Dupont.