The Mayflower Hotel's Grand Lobby

This is the lobby and grand hallway of the historic Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, DC. Built in 1925, it has been the home away from home... more

by Cora Wandel

Title

The Mayflower Hotel's Grand Lobby

Artist

Cora Wandel

Medium

Photograph

Description

This is the lobby and grand hallway of the historic Mayflower Hotel in downtown Washington, DC. Built in 1925, it has been the "home away from home" for many prominent people, including presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover; the latter's vice president, Charles Curtis, lived at the hotel for his entire term in office. Senator Huey Long also lived in the hotel. And throughout J. Edgar Hoover's long reign as Director of the FBI, he dined almost daily at the hotel with his partner Clyde Tolson. Romantic liaisons have happened here, such as the purported relationship between President Kennedy and Judith Exner, and others. Monica Lewinsky stayed at the Mayflower during the height of the sex scandal between she and President Clinton, and many of her interviews with Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr took place in the hotel's Presidential Suite. Because of the Mayflower's high-profile and extraordinary reputation and history, it is affectionately known as the "Grande Dame of Washington" and "Hotel of the Presidents", and as Washington's "Second Best Address" (the White House is first, of course). If you wish to visit the Mayflower, it is at 1127 Connecticut Avenue, a few blocks from the "Best Address in Washington" -- the White House.

Uploaded

August 14th, 2015