This 91-year-old hotel’s tagline, “Where nothing is overlooked but the White House,” would be corny if it were not true. The Hay-Adams is known not only for its sublime service but for being the hotel that lies closest to the White House, and the only one with such straight-on views, best seen from guest rooms on the top floors, six through eight. (You can also see Lafayette Square, the Washington Monument, and the Jefferson Memorial.) Views in other rooms are of historic St. John’s Episcopal Church and downtown buildings. So it makes sense that views determine guest-room rates. Refurbished in 2016, guest rooms are similarly sized, about 385 square feet, and furnished with creamy white and tan toile fabrics, European linens, and marble bathrooms. The interior designs that were here when Amelia Earhart stayed at the Hay in 1928—intricate plaster moldings, walnut wainscoting, and high ceilings—are still in place. One thing that was not here then was the Off the Record bar, a regular hangout for the press and politicos. The hotel’s restaurant, the Lafayette, is one of the most elegant in the capital, chandeliers and white-linen-covered tables pointing up the decor, contemporary American cuisine taken to new heights by French chef Nicolas Legret. Conde Nast Traveler’s Readers Choice Awards recognized the Hay-Adams as the best hotel in the capital in 2017.