American Guest House

Nice, quiet, and cozy place to stay. The owner goes above and beyond to make your stay amazing.

I recently had the pleasure of staying at an unique hotel that offers a wonderfully guest-friendly environment, particularly when it comes to breakfast. The hotel’s vintage charm and rich history made for a truly memorable experience. What really stood out during my stay was the breakfast experience. The hotel encourages a sense of community among guests, we were invited to enjoy breakfast together in a cozy room. This arrangement made it easy to strike up conversations with fellow travelers, sharing stories and recommendations. It felt like a warm and welcoming family breakfast, even though we were all strangers when we walked in.

The American Guest House is a charming B&B in a historic townhouse with lots of period detail in the common areas as well as individual rooms. It benefits from being located in a great residential neighborhood (Kalorama and Morgan Adams), with many restaurants, a couple of small parks nearby and a 10 minute walk or less to the DuPont Circle Metro station. I’ve stayed there 3 or 4 times over the past five years or so and it’s great to see that it survived the Covid pandemic. The host and owner, Lucia, is quite charming and attentive and will cook up a hot breakfast dish along with fresh fruit, muffins, etc. It’s really like having one’s own pied à terre when in DC.

The room and bathroom were really clean. The stairs are sloping because it's a really old building. The check-in process was confusing and the staff was surprised I was arriving the day I was. Fortunately there was another room ready and I was given the room without any delays.

Although I closed the flimsy blinds and curtains, the room was flooded with light by 7 am. The room contained an alarm that went off at 7 am that the staff had not turned off. And the walls and floors of the (very pretty) old house are thin and the room was very noisy. If you’re going to try to sleep here, bring ear plugs and a sleep mask.

The American Guest House isn't fancy, nor are the rooms huge and full of luxury amenities. But it is remarkably clean and quiet. As a single traveler, I felt very safe both in the house and in the neighborhood. It's an easy 10 minute walk to two different Metro stations and there's a bus stop right outside the door. (Wish I would've taken advantage of the bus system, which is just terrific and in many ways easier than the Metro subways.) I was attending a conference at the Washington Hilton but was unable to get a room there. The guest house was just a 1-block walk to the Hilton and I was glad to avoid the hotel hustle and bustle. Staying here turned out to the be the right choice for me.

Rooms are small but service is great.

My colleague and I stayed at AGH for a couple nights. Lucia was a breath of fresh air. She was pleasant and professional. She even offered to carry our bags. Wasn't going to happen! The rooms were clean, quiet, comfortable, gorgeous, and homey. The location was perfect, a short 3 minute walk to our conference. Highly recommend.

It is inconvenient for business trips, with one kitchen serving all rooms for water, tea, coffee and food. Guests are not allowed into the kitchen 9pm-8am these times kept changing throughout our stay, as well as instructions keep changing eveyday, spread out as notes put on tables, doors, rooms and bathrooms, you have to read new instructions everyday. Walls are extremely thin, very uncomfortable.