Sofitel Lafayette Square

In some way, every Sofitel is a Parisian hotel, and despite the inescapable fact of its location in downtown Washington, the Lafayette is no exception. Francophone staff click-clack over shiny black marble floors as jazz floats overhead; chic young things lounge artfully in the dramatic wine-and-gray halls of Le Bar, sipping champagne. The 237 Art Deco-inspired rooms, buff and brown with red-velvet accents, are creatively lit, and hung with original paintings, black-and-white architectural photos of Washington, and—la surprise—Paris. Corner rooms 14 and 26 have windows on two sides flooding the space with light.