We will be spending our honeymoon in D.C.~are 48 and 59 yrs.~have heard that the Madison Hotel is very nice...any comments and ideas of what to see are much appreciated...

Also, if you can recommend any nice bed and breakfast places...we are open to these ideas also...

Suggestions for good restaurants...with great atmosphere????

Thanks so much for your help!!!!

Grand Hyatt is nice, lovely atmosphere. they have LOTS of convention business during the week, quieter on weekends. Across the street from it is the Capitol City Brewery, one of my favorite DC restaurants. Good food, lots of microbrews. Also a good Thai restaurant just a block down from this one. A walk to Chinatown area with many terrific restaurants is only 5-6 blocks. Union Station restaurant AT union Station also has goodfood, reasonable prices. Reeves Bakers - on 7th & H??? - is good for breakfadst, lunch, pastries out of this world, lunch spot very popular with local office workers, extremely reasonable prices.

The Madison is indeed a lovely hotel--not much to look at from the outside but very nice inside.

I've only been to the Capital City Brewing location at Union Station and wouldn't recommend it--way too noisy for my ears (which are about the same age as yours). There are lots of good restaurants here with great atmosphere--you might want to do a search, but here are some: Vidalia, Kinkead's, DC Coast, the Prime Rib, Capital Grille (for steaks), Taberna del Alabadero (Spanish, not Mexican, food), Gerard's Place. More casual places include Jaleo (tapas), Cafe Atlantico, McCormick & Schmick, Old Ebbitt Grill, Bistro Francais (open for dining very late and has the absolute best pommes frites), Luigino..the list goes on and on. Others will have other ideas. The Adams Morgan area has lots of restaurants, but I haven't been to any of them in a long time.

See all the tourist sites and make sure to visit the Lincoln Memorial/Vietnam memorial/Korean War memorial at night (they're all near each other). They are spectacular all lit up. The Postal Musuem near Union Station is a fun visit that often gets overlooked. bring walking shoes and just walk around and enjoy the city--you're coming at a great time weather-wise.

As a long-time DC resident, may I suggest you purchase a Zagat's guide for the restaurants, plus check out the Washingtonian Magazine's site for the cheapest 100. If you stay nearer the Mall, you'll find life a bit easier. As nice as the Hyatt is, it's expensive and not that convenient. Stay away from the convention center area, and the Chinatown area, and closer to the White House or Georgetown or Dupont CircleS. Plan to use the subway to get around, and think about Va. restaurants for Vietnamese - on the Orange Line, for example. Don't just focus downtown. Avoid staying near Captol Hill - closes down at night, and there are few if any good places to dine.

Hi,

some restaurant comments:

There is one restaurant I would highly recommend, but I will tell you up front I am biased - a friend owns it with some partners. It is called Murali, it is at 9th & I near the convention center. The owners all came from Luigino's, which is recommended earlier on this post (it actually is close by to Luigino's - a few blocks).

another great resto - 1789. This is in Georgetown. It is GORGEOUS and I think romantic too. There are 5 rooms, one has a fireplace - very elegant, wonderful service, great food. I took my parents there for my Dad's 60th/Mom's 59th (close together) and they loved it.

for a B&B - I do have a good recommendation, I looked into it for my parents & personally visited it beforehand. Darned if I can remember the name, although I could lead you right to it. Let me think about it. I will say I found it in the TimeOut guide for DC. (you can find this is any bookstore). It is near the zoo. in a posh part of town. TONS of good restaurants nearby, shops (not mall shops either - the charming kind of shops/storefronts you will find in the more serene, well to do parts of towns/cities...) The B&B might be called something like Kalorama guest house, or Adams Morgan guest house, or something. you could also go to

www.timeout.com & hit 'DC' as a city link - it is online I think.

OK, bingo - I got it right.

http://www.timeout.com/washingtondc/...gan.html#96832

it is called Kalorama guest house, with a branch in Adams Morgan and one in Woodley Park. I looked into the Woodley Park one.

If you will have a car, another good resto in Great Falls is L'Auberge Chez Francois. Or Inn at Little Washington, which is a good drive in the country. very expensive but a 5 star class act.

enjoy! It's a pretty city.

Beth

ps. I second the monuments at night. If you are in the splurging mood, hire a limo. You can get one for 50 an hour or so, minimum may be anywhere from 3-6 hours. for that matter if you want to do the wineries, they have limo tours of them too (not cheap). I think you can find them on

www.oasis.com

ps. Murali is at

www.muralidc.com

it is an Italian restaurant.

Murali means "murals".

I thought the above post by Ruth had a good list of restaurants. There are very good articles on entertainment and dining from Washingtonian magazine online, also (www.washingtonian.com). As for the article, the Grand Hyatt is a very large, business/convention hotel that is fine for that purpose but I would not recommend it for personal travel, espec honeymoon (or any other large convention hotel in that area). There are a few good restaurants around that area. The Madison is a "nice" hotel but personally I don't think it's that attractive, kind of looks mismatched or tacky in many places to me, sort of patched together; it doesn't have a lot of style, either IMO, and is in a somewhat inconvenient location. My comments are from being there several times for meetings etc, so only for the common rooms and restaurants, but I would not choose it to stay in of all the nice Washington hotels. For top end, I would recommend first-choice the Westin Fairfax because I really like its location and its style; after that, the Willard, Four Seasons, Mayflower and Hay Adams are all very nice. Being a large city, there are not many B&Bs here, of course. I think the Swann House is your best bet there for a very nice one in an excellent location (www.swannhouse.com). The Kalorama Guest Home is a good value if you are on a very limited budget, but it is a low-end accommodation, particularly the one on Mintwood Place where most rooms do not even have a private bath (don't think you'd go for that on a honeymoon)--there are two of them by this name, the other one in Woodley Park is a little better, I think, in that more rooms have bathrooms, but I kind of doubt if it's what you want on a honeymoon, espec if you are considering the Madison, unless that's the kind of place you were looking for in a B&B (rooms don't have phones or TVs, either, I don't think).

There is a place called the Mansion on O that is supposed to be fantastic, although I have never stayed there. It has a website at http://users.erols.com/mansion/
Also, the Tabard Inn has a romantic atmosphere (and a nice fireplace in the main lounge downstairs, with lots of nooks and crannies to get lost in), but I think some of the rooms are far nicer than others.

My favorite place for dinner is Cashion's Eat Place on Columbia Rd. in Adams Morgan. Make reservations. Another place that has a cozy atmosphere and good food is Two Quail on Capitol Hill.

I have heard only good things about the Mansion on O from my coworkers. And everything in it is for sale, so if something catches your eye...

I haven't heard of the Madison Hotel, but I would recommend against the Grand Hyatt for your honeymoon. It is more for business travelers and convention goers. If you will be going to the museums, Capitol, etc., I would recommend the Willard. It is along Pennsylvania Avenue, right next to the White House, and 1-2 blocks off the mall. Also, there is the Four Seasons in Georgetown which is supposed to be lovely. They have spa services, and Georgetown is a nice place to walk around at night and still feel comfortable.

You may want to do a search on the Washington Post archives. Within the past year or two, they did an article on several B&Bs in DC, and there were several in Georgetown.

The restaurant to go to these days in DC is Olives, if you can get in. Once you decide on a hotel, I would recommend calling the concierge to make dinner recommendations and reservations for you.

One tip. Learn to use the Metro system as soon as you get there. It's clean, safe and convenient. And don't wait until rush hour to buy your passes from a machine -- you'll end up in a line of commuters who have low tolerance for tourists. Instead walk into a nearby station at an off time (such as mid-morning) and buy your passes.

You're going to DC for a honeymoon? Masochist?

Avoid Capitol City Brewing. The food's average at best, and it's just another chain (basically an Applebee's with a better beer selection) with nothing exceptional about it. DC Coast, Old Ebbitt Grill, McCormick and Schmick's, 1789 (this place is perfect for honeymooners), Kinkead's are good recommendations. For less expensive options, head into Chinatown. A lot of the best restaurants there have closed, as the new MCI Center has made the rents in the area way too expensive, but there are still a handful of them left. Fado's (Irish pub--small chain, but good atmosphere) is a good place for a drink, and the food's decent.

Anyway, the Madison can be great, but they ALWAYS have staff problems, and often various segments of the staff are on strike. If you want good service, avoid the Madison.

The Four Seasons in Georgetown is a good, and very popular choice. The Jefferson is probably the best hotel in town, and not a lot of people know about it (which is just fine with the Jefferson). A lot of celebrities have their own suites there. It's pricey, but worth it if you have the money.

The Morrison House in Old Town Alexandria is lovely, too. I love Old Town, but if you stay there, you will have to travel by Metro (about a 12 minute walk to the King Street stop--I used to work right by the Morrison, and made the walk everyday) or cab to the city. But I just wanted to give you an option.