Washington's most storied address, restored in marble and memory

The columns give it away before you reach the door. Rising from the corner of Penn Quarter at Ninth and F Streets, the former Riggs National Bank building carries the weight of its history without apology. Built in 1891, the structure once served as the bank of presidents, foreign embassies, and the nation's most consequential institutions. Now, as Riggs Washington DC, it operates with a different kind of authority. The transformation from financial landmark to luxury hotel preserves the grandeur of the original architecture while introducing a design vocabulary that feels decidedly contemporary. Soaring ceilings, original safe deposit boxes repurposed as art installations, and the monumental banking hall all remain, but the atmosphere has shifted from institutional formality to something warmer, more inviting, and unmistakably alive.

The hotel's 181 rooms and suites are designed with a restrained palette that lets the building's bones speak. Interiors reference the Beaux-Arts heritage of the structure through rich materials and careful proportions, while modern comforts are woven in without compromise. Many rooms feature oversized windows that frame views of the surrounding Penn Quarter streetscape and the city's neoclassical skyline beyond. Throughout the public spaces, you encounter details that reward attention: the ornate metalwork of the original vault doors, curated art that nods to Washington's layered cultural identity, and a lobby that feels less like a hotel check-in and more like stepping into a private club with an excellent sense of humor about its own gravitas.

Dining and drinking at Riggs are central to the experience without overtaking it. Café Riggs occupies the former banking hall itself, a breathtaking space where guests settle beneath coffered ceilings for a menu rooted in European brasserie traditions. The room alone justifies a visit, with its grand scale softened by warm lighting and convivial energy. Silver Lyan, the hotel's bar, brings a distinct creative spirit to cocktails, operating with an inventive approach to drinks in a space that feels intimate and slightly subversive against the building's more stately bones. Together, the two anchor the hotel's social life and draw both guests and Washingtonians in equal measure.

The location places you at the crossroads of the capital's cultural and political landscape. The National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum sit directly across the street. The Capitol, the National Mall, and the White House are all within comfortable walking distance. Penn Quarter itself buzzes with the energy of a neighborhood that has evolved into one of Washington's most dynamic corridors, balancing the weight of government with restaurants, galleries, and theaters. It is the kind of address that makes a car feel unnecessary and a long walk feel inevitable.

What lingers about Riggs Washington DC is the way it carries its history forward without being trapped by it. The building demands reverence, but the hotel inside it resists stuffiness at every turn. There is wit in the details, ease in the service, and a sense that this particular corner of Washington has simply found its next chapter. You leave with the feeling that you have stayed somewhere genuinely rooted in the city it occupies, not a hotel that could exist anywhere but one that could only exist here.