The Hay–Adams is an historic luxury

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

opened in 1928, located at 800 16th Street NW in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

It south-fronts on Lafayette Square across from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

. It sits on the former site of connected 19th-century mansions, which were owned by two influential friends,

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a Secretary to the President of the United States, private secretary for Abraha ...

and

Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fran ...

, which led to the hotel's naming.

Location

Lafayette Square and St. John's Episcopal Church, also known as the Church of the Presidents, are located across the street. The hotel is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

to the Lafayette Square Historic District and

Sixteenth Street Historic District The Sixteenth Street Historic District is a linear Historic districts in the United States, historic district in Washington, D.C., that includes all structures along 16th Street NW between H Street (Washington, D.C.), H Street and Florida Avenue. ...

and is also a member of the

Historic Hotels of America Historic Hotels of America is a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation that was founded in 1989 with 32 charter members; the program identifies hotels in the United States that have maintained authenticity, sense of place, and a ...

History

The hotel occupies the site where the 1885 homes of

and

once stood, at 16th and H Streets NW. In 1927, Washington developer Harry Wardman bought the property, razed the homes, and built a 138-room residential hotel, designed by architect Mihran Mesrobian in the Italian Renaissance style. The hotel opened in 1928 as The Hay–Adams House. Wardman's fortunes declined with the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and he was forced to relinquish most of his hotel and apartment building empire in August 1930, with the exception of The Hay–Adams House. Finally, in 1932, Wardman defaulted on the hotel's loans, and it was sold at public auction to the Washington Loan and Trust Company. Hotel magnate Julius Manger purchased the property in 1932 and renamed it the Manger Hay–Adams Hotel. He converted it to a transient hotel, remodeling the guest rooms and adding central air-conditioning.

Manger __NOTOC__ A manger or trough is a rack for fodder, or a structure or feeder used to hold food for animals. The word comes from the Old French ''mangier'' (meaning "to eat"), from Latin ''mandere'' (meaning "to chew"). Mangers are mostly used in ...

owned 18 hotels in New York City, the Hotel Plaza in Chicago, and the Hotel Manger at North Station in Boston. During the depression he sought to increase his holdings in Washington, D.C., which he felt was a safe investment. He also purchased the Annapolis and Hamilton hotels in Washington. Manger resided at the Hay-Adams until his death in March 1937. At the time of his death, Manger was the largest independent hotel operator in the United States. The Manger family sold the hotel to Washington developer Sheldon Magazine in 1973, and it was renamed The Hay–Adams. Magazine sold the hotel to businessman Jeffrey I. Friedman and French hotelier Georges F. Mosse in 1979 for approximately $15 million. Friedman and Mosse sold the hotel to Los Angeles businessman David H. Murdock in 1983 for $30 million. Murdock sold the hotel to the Iue Family, founders of

Sanyo is a former Japanese electronics manufacturer founded in 1947 by Toshio Iue, the brother-in-law of Kōnosuke Matsushita, the founder of Matsushita Electric Industrial, now known as Panasonic. Iue left Matsushita Electric to start his own bu ...

, in 1989 for $54 million. The Iue family sold the hotel to the B. F. Saul Company, a Washington real estate company, in 2006, for $100 million.

Notable guests

President-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

and his family stayed in the Hay–Adams for two weeks before his inauguration because the

Blair House Blair House, also known as The President's Guest House, is an official residence in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The President's Guest House has been called "the world's most exclusive hotel" because it is primarily used ...

was occupied.

In popular culture

Frank Underwood, the main protagonist in the ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

'' television series, stayed in this hotel after resigning the Office of

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

until his death in 2017.

Haunting

The Hay–Adams is said to be haunted by

's beloved wife, "Clover" ( Marian Hooper Adams), who committed suicide on this site in 1885, before the hotel was built. Her spirit is said to be walking the floors, trailed by the scent of almond. Potassium cyanide, the home darkroom chemical she ingested, smells like almonds.

Rating

The AAA gave the hotel four diamonds out of five in 1984. The hotel has maintained that rating every year, and received four diamonds again for 2016. Forbes Travel Guide (formerly known as Mobil Guide) awarded the hotel four out of five stars as well in 2016. The Hay–Adams' slogan is "Where nothing is overlooked but the White House."

References

External links

The Hay-Adams Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hay-Adams Hotel Hotel buildings completed in 1928 Renaissance Revival architecture in Washington, D.C. Hotels in Washington, D.C. Historic district contributing properties in Washington, D.C. Hotels established in 1928 Reportedly haunted locations in Washington, D.C. 1928 establishments in Washington, D.C. Manger hotels