DC Metrocentric

Built in 1903 The Willard InterContinental Hotel right along Pennsylvania Ave has hosted everything from  Inaugural Balls to Heads of State. But more importantly, the Mint Julep is thought to have been invented at the hotel’s Bar.

It was one of the most prestigious hotels in Washington during the first part of the 20th century, however it fell on hard times after World War II and was eventually shuttered. In danger of demolition, the hotel was extensively renovated and enlarged by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates from 1979-1986 adding the InterContinental to its name.

With views of the White House, Washington Monument, and Capital it is situated at the cross roads of our Nations Capital. Which is probably why plans for Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations took shape when he held meetings in the hotel’s lobby in 1916. We guess they had to meet in the lobby because even back then they couldn’t afford the high conference meeting room rates. Calvin Coolidge lived at the hotel for a month in 1923 while Warren G. Harding’s widow vacated the White House.