Urban Marinade: W Hotel Opens in DC

Saturday, July 11, 2009

W Hotel Opens in DC

This is my first initial review of the brand new W Hotel in downtown DC.

Based on my three years of living in DC, hotels have never really been a nightlife destination. Some are graced with amazing restaurants, but rarely did my nocturnal agenda include a stop at a hotel bar. But all of that has changed recently. Hotel's in DC are getting into the nightlife act. The Beacon Hotel hosts a pretty sweet Sunday afternoon party on their roof known as The Coolout. The Capitol Skyline Hotel is using a beautiful redesign and swanky pool to host parties Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And now the premier upscale and trendy W Hotel has opened their doors just yards from the White House.

While living in San Francisco, I had the opportunity to spend many evenings at the W Hotel in downtown SF. Their lounge, XYZ, was always a hot destination among locals in the city and so I was excited to think we'd have something like that arriving in the District. Enter POV.

POV - which I'm sure stands for Point of View because of the location - is a rooftop ultra lounge and terrace with some of the cities best views of the Washington Monument and other DC landmarks. It's quite literally 100 yards from the east wing of the White House. Word on the street was that POV would be providing drinks influenced by owner Sasha Petraske, who's made a name for himself in NYC mixing wonderfully-unique concoctions for A-list crowds. One NYC publication suggests, "he is responsible for the recent cocktail renaissance this city has experienced." Sounds good eh!

We decided to book a table on the rooftop terrace Friday night, just 3 days after their official opening. We arrived to the Hotel walking down 15th Street and were greeted with velvet ropes and a line typical of any hot nightclub. Large doormen in suits with clipboards were there to make sure those on the list were granted entry and those not so connected stood in line. You know this is a classic trick of any club to give the impression of exclusiveness, because the places are never full inside. In fairness to the W Hotel, it was clearly the place to be among the DC nightlife mavens.

We walked into a beautiful lobby that was a mix between classic renaissance design and Alice in Wonderland funkiness. White ornate walls with grand arches surrounded a lobby bar with shiny red patent leather sofas and black and white chairs with exaggerated backs. Crystal chandeliers with purple lighting gave the entire room a sleek atmosphere you'd expect from the W Hotel. We were then greeted by more bouncers and a girl with another list who then allowed us to take the elevator up to POV.

This is where things got a little unorganized, which we have to remember is expected of any new venue on their first big Friday night. Coming off the elevator we were greeted by another hostess, this time with an electronic reservation system typical of any restaurant. But we then stood for 15 minutes waiting for them to "clear" our table because random guests were apparently planting their butts in seats marked reserved. So while we stood and waited, we peeked inside the ultra lounge side of POV. This room impressed me the most of everything I saw at the W. It was about as sleek as you can get with shiny black floors and black walls, all accented with red trim and red ambient lighting behind the bar. But it was the view out of the large windows that left me breathless. There...right behind the DJ spinning deep house, was the Washington Monument in all her glory. It was a scene I could never get tired of seeing and recommend everyone visit this lounge for a chance to see this inspiring city-scape.

We were finally moved to our table on the terrace where we found ourselves lounging in plush couches and enjoying cocktails just yards from the most famous house in the world. The setting is untouchable in DC as far as I'm concerned. It's a rooftop terrace with some of the best views in the city. The music is decent. The crowd is attractive and well dressed. The drinks however left a lot to be desired. I don't know if Sasha Petraske has anything to do with what is mixed on the terrace, but my "pina colada" cocktail was pretty damn lame. It arrived in a goblet that was about 3 quarters full. The drink itself had hints of pineapple and hints of rum, but the excessive ice just watered it down. Francis enjoyed a mojito that had definite hints of mint flavor but lacked the smoothness and refreshing flavor I've found at other bars. And at $15 per drink, I walked away feeling scammed more than impressed.

We ordered a warm chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice creme dessert to see if their happy endings were truly happy. I think they got this one right except when the waitress told me it was a Jean-Georges exclusive. I honestly don't care who created the idea of a molten chocolate cake...I just want it to taste good. And this one definitely hit the mark.

Overall I have mixed feelings about POV and the rooftop. I loved the setting, the atmosphere, the design and of course the view. I will most certainly go back. But I get the impression they are having a bit of an identity crisis right now. On one hand you feel like you're going into an exclusive club with a strict guestlist. On the other hand it's a restaurant where we made actual reservations to have a table. Clearly half the people on the terrace had not reserved a table, so there needs to be some direction on how to deal with those just coming for drinks and those actually sitting down to have dinner and/or desserts. I think with a few weeks under their belt things will smooth out and they'll get everything under control. The staff (or as they call them, "talent") was a bit overwhelmed with who was coming and who was going, who had reservations and who was just on "the list." This isn't new territory for the W, so I'm anxious to go back once they've got this baby operating as a well oiled machine.