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Site for Anniversary Dinner + Hotel Room


Spiral Stairs

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Let's say you and your spouse have decided to celebrate your anniversary by spending one night at a local DC hotel and having one blow-out dinner at the well-respected restaurant located in such hotel. It will be just the two of you. (And perhaps your infant son, who will be tended to by a hired babysitter while you are drinking, dining, strolling around, and otherwise celebrating.)

Let's further say that you have narrowed the field to the three obvious choices: (1) Ritz-Carlton + Maestro; (2) Mandarin Oriental + CityZen; (3) Latham Hotel + Citronelle.

And let's further say that neither you nor your spouse have ever been to any of those restaurants or the hotels in which they are located.

Which would you choose?

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Citronelle. Better strolling opportunities before and after supper. :blink:
Excellent point! While a stroll on M Street is not very appealing, the canal tow path is a few steps in the other direction. The strolling options at Tyson's Corner or the bleak area around the Mandarin Oriental are appalling.
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Citronelle.

i would choose citronelle for you, but i have chosen maestro for myself, since we have never been there and are not staying at the hotel afterwards. the area around the mandarin oriental hotel is as dead as pavement after dark, i would imagine, but this might be the best (offbeat) hotel choice; there are nice views of the river and the capitol if you wander around the block and i love the nearby back buildings of the department of agriculture. the mall after dark is quite romantic.

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I don't know how much time we'll spend outside the hotel. We both enjoy the decadence of a truly luxurious room, which makes the room itself part of the "getaway," without doubt. It has been suggested to me that a room at the Four Seasons coupled with dinner at Citronelle would provide the best of both worlds, albeit not with the convenience of one-stop shopping. It's an enticing possibility...

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Let's further say that you have narrowed the field to the three obvious choices: (1) Ritz-Carlton + Maestro; (2) Mandarin Oriental + CityZen; (3) Latham Hotel + Citronelle.
I can tell you the Spa at the Ritz Carlton is great. I have not been to the others.
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I don't know how much time we'll spend outside the hotel. We both enjoy the decadence of a truly luxurious room, which makes the room itself part of the "getaway," without doubt. It has been suggested to me that a room at the Four Seasons coupled with dinner at Citronelle would provide the best of both worlds, albeit not with the convenience of one-stop shopping. It's an enticing possibility...

When we went to Citronelle earlier this year, we stayed at the Latham but our room was far from luxurious. We were so exhausted and drunk from food and libation, however, that proximity to a bed was far more valuable than the quality of the room, and sleeping in was our greatest desire. Unfortunately, we were also awoken at 7AM on a Saturday morning to the crashing sounds of trash pickup, which lasted for almost an hour. To the hotel's credit, though (since the city controls trash pickup), they did comp our parking, which wasn't a totally small gesture at $35 a night. Don't know if this helps in your decision making...

Pax,

Brian

P.S. The Latham did afford us the possibility of trying Pizza Paradiso the next day.

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When we went to Citronelle earlier this year, we stayed at the Latham but our room was far from luxurious.

I had a similar experience when taken there a few year ago. As a hotel, I don't think it's in the same class as the other two.

Foodwise, you can't go wrong with your options. If you want a lux hotel, I'd do one of the other two, otherwise I'd pick based on which restaurant you most want to try. Maestro is a little different from the other two in that it is an Italian menu. Cityzen is a more modern chic environs. All three offer amazing dining experiences. Have fun and let us know how it goes!

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To think 10 years ago in DC, one would not be afforded so many luxurious choices. Enjoy your choice and be sure to post your findings!

(You can't go wrong with any of the listed three.)

*Honorable mention: Dinner at Minibar, hang out in Penn Quarter for post-dinner cocktails (Poste, Zola, Zaytinya, etc...) and spend the night in the Hotel Monaco (only blocks away).

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My wife and I splurged and did a night at the Mandarin on our anniversary. The location is not ideal for bar hopping. But it is right next to the tidal basin, which is a much more romantic walk than G-Town IMO. Better bring 2 wallets though, my wife and I did not exactly go wild with food and drink, and the evening cost in the range of $600, which is alot for us.

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Just for another idea for you or anyone else out there who may want to couple a great dining and hotel option: Old Town Alexandria for great strolling, the PX for a cocktail as you are dressed to the nines, the Tasting Room at Restaurant Eve for an amazing dining experience, and the Morrison House for one classy and charming hotel.

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Just for another idea for you or anyone else out there who may want to couple a great dining and hotel option: Old Town Alexandria for great strolling, the PX for a cocktail as you are dressed to the nines, the Tasting Room at Restaurant Eve for an amazing dining experience, and the Morrison House for one classy and charming hotel.

The only reason I am not demanding that our list of options include an R. Eve visit is that we've decided we want to go somewhere new, and we've already experienced the bliss that is the Eve Tasting Room. Blowout dinners like this are few and far between for us (especially now that we're in infant-rearing, and infant-financing, mode); we may not get to have a dinner like this again for some time.

Having now floated all of these ideas with the other person who will be there, the current seems to be flowing toward Georgetown...

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