Landmark D.C. hotel The Jefferson, four blocks from the White House, reopens to guests July 3.
The Jefferson has been closed since the pandemic began in March 2020. It began taking reservations again just before Memorial Day. It did not see a clear path towards a safe reopening until now.
A hotel spokesman declined comment on how many hotel and restaurant staffers were laid off when the hotel closed, or how many have now come back, other than saying it has had to reevaluate its services and spaces to accommodate guests, which has “sadly resulted in some difficult decisions. We look forward to getting back to the business levels that we were seeing prior to our closure soon,” the statement said.
The Jefferson, at 1200 16th Street NW, originally opened in 1923 as an apartment building. It was converted to a hotel in 1955 and has undergone several renovations. A 2005 renovation restored its lobby’s dramatic barrel ceiling skylight, which floods its Greenhouse restaurant with natural light. The skylight ceiling had been covered since World War II.
The Jefferson’s Greenhouse restaurant and its pub Quill will open with the hotel, but its formal restaurant Plume remains closed for now.
Plume retained its One-Star Michelin rating in the 2021 Michelin guide. It’s one of the 20 most expensive restaurants in D.C., with an average meal price of $140, according to the Washington Business Journal.
The Boutique hotel has 99 rooms and suites, with some suites that have private balconies and Washington Monument views. The Jefferson was also named to the U.S. News Best Hotels 2021 list, and Travel + Leisure’s 500 Best Hotels.
