Lemonade and cookies on warm afternoons. Apple cider and cookies on chilly days. Evening sherry, all season. Home sweet…guestroom.
Why book a traditional hotel when you can experience a lifestyle? These are the sentiments of the many couples who arrive home…ummm…visit The Kalorama Guest House, two properties located about 20 minutes from each other in Washington, DC. Comprising a total of 47 rooms in turn-of-the-century Victorian townhouses, one in Kalorama Park, the other set in Woodley Park, both are the mimesis of quaint, tidy neighborhoods, worlds away, yet close to the City buzz.
The elegant but cozy common areas and guestrooms are a treasure hunter’s paradise brimming with an interesting lot of collectibles like Oriental rugs procured from antique stores, flea markets and auctions. |
Describing the Kalorama Park address in northwest Washington's Adam's-Morgan trendy residential enclave, General Manager Kurt Haraldson says, “Right around the corner from this location is 18th Street where there are really nice restaurants and a very good night scene; there’s like 30 bars and restaurants. Then when you get on this street, Mintwood, it’s dead quiet, and it’s so peaceful, and it is a tree-lined street. At night, it’s well lit and it’s perfect, like after leaving the bar or restaurant, and walking back here is pretty cool.”
Visitors can reserve a guestroom at 1854 Mintwood Place NW, the main dwelling, or in two other houses on the same street.
Kurt further explains, “We have a lot of people like couples that come into the city, they do the bar thing and have a good time dancing, and then coming back here is nice and quiet.”
Like its sister, in the heart of a residential neighborhood, The Kalorama Guest House at Woodley Park also offers travelers exceptional opportunities for nightlife, albeit with scaled choices. However, fashionable Connecticut Avenue, a prized ribbon of shops and boutiques, is less than one-quarter mile away. Additionally, the Smithsonian National Zoo is three blocks north of the accommodations, and it is in closer proximity than its sister property to Woodley Park Zoo and Rock Creek Park.
 “Right around the corner there are really nice restaurants and a very good night scene. Then, when you get on this street it’s dead quiet, and it’s so peaceful, and it is a tree-lined street,” says General Manager Kurt Haraldson. |
Of course, both locations are convenient focal points to the many attractions in Washington D.C., beginning with the Capitol, myriad sights in between, and ending with the spectrum of Smithsonian museums. Additionally, several major convention hotels, like the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, are in easy reach to both townhouses.
“The location of both of these properties is very convenient to the Metro (subway system) and the city buses,” Kurt explains.
Originally, the historic townhouses joined the bed and breakfast ranks in the late 1980s. Currently, the second owner and operator of the San Francisco-style B & B, Marshall Management, Inc., is a mid-sized national hotel management company that defines itself as “operations intensive.” The father-and-son team that heads the enterprise, Charles L. Marshall and Michael P. Marshall, adds a personal touch to the public marketplace.
Meaning “beautiful view” in Greek, the “homes,” like the general area that bears the same identity, live up to their name. The elegant but cozy common areas and guestrooms are a treasure hunter’s paradise brimming with an interesting lot of collectibles like Oriental rugs procured from antique stores, flea markets and auctions.
Mintwood Place offers larger units and a greater variety of configurations, for example, suites and even efficiency apartments. Natural components, too, enhance the Mintwood townhouse. The garden behind the house, complete with umbrella tables, entices passersby to at least pause, ideally, relax for prolonged periods.
“All the rooms are very quiet and cozy. Some of our rooms have suites where they have a living-room area. We just had some renovating done two years ago where we got all new carpets, beds and furniture pieces,” Kurt says, depicting both of the Kalorama locations.
No fast-food fare at the breakfast room, which is as bountiful to the palate as it is to the eye: a picture-postcard space, sunny and bright with plant-filled windows. Arrive hungry; the deluxe continental breakfast menu offered at both locations consists of items like hard-boiled eggs, bacon, sausage, make-your-own waffles, pastries, breads, apple and orange juice, yogurt and hot and cold cereals.
Other amenities, in the 100 percent non-smoking inn, include morning newspaper with breakfast, wireless Internet services, free local telephone calls, access to guest refrigerator and microwave and a guest laundry facility.
One strong contender for lovers is Room 21. “It’s an updated suite that was recently fully renovated, it’s on the top floor, and it has vaulted ceilings, all hardwood floors, a full kitchen, and it’s a very nice room, very quiet,” Kurt says. Eye-pleasing arrays of whitish hues, offset by dark tones, wrap around the room. Couples can bask under the skylight and feel that they have just been welcomed into a slice of heaven; as familiar as home, but at the same time…ions away.
