Where would you go during the Cherry Blossom time for a really nice tea with your mother?

I don't think there are any restaurants outside of hotels which serve a high tea (which I assume you are looking for). Some places to contact to confirm that they offer high tea are:

The Ritz-Carlton, Washington DC at 22nd and M or the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown at 3100 South Street. I believe both serve tea, but only on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The Georgetown hotel is quite modern. Go to Ritz-Carlton.com for details. (There are 4 Ritz-Carltons in the DC area, two are in the suburbs.)

The Four Seasons at 2800 Pennsylvania Ave (between 27th and 28th). Go to Fourseasons.com for information.

The Jefferson Hotel at 1200 16th Street serves tea daily, take a look at http://www.loewshotels.com/hotels/washington_jefferson

I believe the Renaissance Mayflower hotel, at 1127 Connecticut Avenue NW, has tea on weekends. Take a look at Marriott.com.

The Willard at 14.01 Pennsylvania Ave, basically catty-corner with the White House. Check the website at http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/6c/1/en/hr/washa

I was going to suggest the Hay-Adams Hotel, across Lafayette Park from the White House, lots of charm, but it appears they don't do tea. It might be worth contacting them to confirm, website is hayadams.com. If they have tea, this would probably be my first choice for ambience, history and location.

One place your mother may also enjoy seeing is Hillwood, the former home of Marjorie Meriwether Post (her father founded the Post Cereal Co). The house has large and beautiful grounds that should be in bloom on a spring trip, and they have a small restaurant which serves tea. The house itself is full of antiques and Ms Post was quite a collector. Take a look at http://www.hillwoodmuseum.org

The Washington Cathedral offers a tour followed up by a traditional tea.

Those are all great suggestions. I figured the tea would be at a hotel-I wasn't sure which one to choose though. I still haven't decided where we are staying but am leaning towards a large hotel in the White House area-perhaps Grand Hyatt or maybe the Willard if I could get a good deal.

I haven't done it myself, but I have always heard great things about high tea at the Willard; an English friend of mine has said that they do it "properly"--which is high praise, indeed! Good luck!

I had afternoon tea at the Willard with my daughter a few years ago, when she was in grad school at GW.

I remember sitting at a window table with a view of Pennsylvania Avenue and The White House. Hotel lobby was impressively large and "old school", with wonderful arrangements of fresh flowers. The tea was very enjoyable -- little sandwiches and cakes, and I don't remember what else. My preference is for scones with clotted cream, but I grew up in England, so I have high expectations for afternoon tea!

I think the Willard is now part of the Intercontinental group. If you stay there and you're a member of their Priority or Ambassador club, you can get some nice fringe benes. You would also be on the right side of town, not too far away from the Reflecting Pool and those lovely cherry blossoms. We have tried to see them many times, but our timing was always too early or too late because of weather variables. Finally, this year, when I had to be there for other reasons, I did manage to see them, on a cold windy grey day. And they were, indeed, very beautiful.

Wow, SB, no scones or clotted cream at the Willard? I would be so disappointed, as they're my hands-down favorite part of the whole meal! That also seems a pretty inauthentic high tea...

Clotted cream and scones are my favorite too! I imagine the Willard would be a great place for tea, but they really need to have those. We (my mother and I) went to lots of teas in London so we would like the real thing!
I hope we can hit the blossom right but I know it's always taking a chance.
Any tips on other places for tea or great places to stay?

I've had very nice afternoon teas at both the Four Seasons (Georgetown) and the Park Hyatt hotel (24th and M). It has been several years, though, so some phone calls are in order -- and ask specifically about the clotted cream.

Just in time with an answer deborahk's question, the WashPost today has a brief piece on afternoon tea at a swank new hotel, the Mandarin Oriental ---

http://www.washingtonpost.com/
wp-dyn/articles/A57080-2004Sep28.html

Great-thanks for the info.! I'll check it out!

I really don't remember if the Willard included scones and clotted cream -- might be worth a phone call to check.

For more of a down-home tea like my Mum used to make, my daughter now takes me to an English teashop in Alexandria Old Town. For nostalgic expats, they also have goodies like sausage rolls, and even Smarties and Crunchies for sale. Sorry, don't remember the name, and Google just found a general page: http://www.he-and-she.com/virginia.html. (I'll ask her if you'd like the name.)

This sight is so great-so many people out there to help make a good decision. I'll keep checking around.

I went to tea at the Four Seasons for a friend's birthday, and was somewhat disappointed. Wasn't expecting to pay $30 per person (4 years ago) for one cup of coffee (sorry--even though I live in the UK, I can't stomach tea) and 3 cookies/little pastries. Surroundings were lovely, but I wouldn't go back.

The tea shop in Old Town Alex is very casual--probably not what you're looking for.

BTW, no one calls it high tea in the UK. It's afternoon tea.

Sounds like you've got the English tea situation worked out.
When I saw your post, I thought:
tea + Cherry Blossom Festival = Japanese Tea Ceremony

You can go to:
http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org
and search for "tea ceremony". You'll get several hits, including:

The Urasenke Tradition of Tea
http://www.nationalcherryblossomfest...dex.php?id=561

Nakamura Gakuen University Hosts Tea Ceremony
http://nationalcherryblossomfestival...dex.php?id=818

The next CBF is March 26 - April 11, 2005