Shelly, please tell us a little about yourself and how your journey in hospitality began. 

I actually started my career at the JW Marriott right here in Washington, DC, which was the very first JW Marriott hotel, so that was pretty special. From the beginning, I was drawn to the energy of social events, weddings, and planning meetings. I really loved that side of the business.

As my career evolved, I spent time in group sales and marketing, which eventually led me into general management roles. That is the part of the job I enjoy most because I get to be involved in every aspect of the hotel and work closely with all of the teams.

The Mayflower is one of Washington DC’s most storied addresses, the “Grande Dame of Washington” and the “Hotel of Presidents.” What does it mean to you to lead such an iconic and historic property?

It really is an honor to lead a hotel with such deep significance and rich history. The Mayflower Hotel, Autograph Collection has honestly changed the way I travel and how I experience cities. I love to travel and have been fortunate to see many places around the world, and now I naturally seek out historic hotels wherever I go. I am drawn to their stories, the people who work there, and the history they have lived through, very much like the incredible legacy of The Mayflower Hotel.

The Mayflower’s grand lobby and its 400-foot promenade have been described as “probably the grandest indoor street in Washington”. What do you hope every first-time visitor feels when they walk through these doors?

That’s such a great description, because when I watch guests walk into The Mayflower Hotel each day, you can actually see that sense of awe and arrival. From the moment they enter, they step into this grand dame, and the beauty and scale of the building surround you right away. You feel it immediately.

As you move through the promenade, it really builds anticipation and naturally leads you through the space to my favorite room, the Grand Ballroom. The lobby itself is stunning, from all the gold gilding, which has the most gold gilding in any building, second only to the Library of Congress in Washington, DC, to the marble pillars and the open, high-ceilinged atrium. It is a space that truly takes your breath away.

The hotel has hosted Presidential inaugural balls, world leaders, celebrities, and some of Washington’s most memorable moments.  Are there any chapters of The Mayflower’s past that particularly captivate you as its GM?

The 1920s are especially fascinating to me, particularly as we celebrate our 100-year anniversary. That was really the time when the hotel was at its newest and grandest, more so than any other hotel in Washington, DC.

When I stand in the Grand Ballroom each day and imagine presidents and first ladies greeting their guests from the presidential balcony, it honestly never gets old. It is incredibly special.

Washington DC is unlike any other city in the world, where politics, diplomacy, history, and culture collide daily. How does that unique character influence the guests who come to The Mayflower, and what does it demand of you as the person responsible for their experience?

That really is a tall order. We welcome guests from all over the world, each one here for a different reason and for so many different purposes. Knowing that The Mayflower Hotel is the backdrop for those experiences is incredibly special, and it is also a responsibility that I, and everyone who works here, take very seriously.

For us, it truly comes down to personalisation. It starts with understanding each guest and what they need during their stay, and then, acting on that, we can create a very personal, meaningful experience for whatever brings them through our doors.

You take a hands-on approach to your work, making a point of being present in the lobby to greet guests personally. Please tell us more about your leadership philosophy and your beliefs about great hospitality.

Yes, I do take a hands-on approach, and for me, it really starts with our associates. I truly believe in being visible, approachable, and engaged every day, not just with our guests, but especially with our team. When the associates are enjoying their work, the guests feel that energy immediately.

Those moments in the lobby and the arrival experience are my favorite. There is such excitement when someone first walks into The Mayflower Hotel, anticipating why they are here and what their experience will be like. You can really feel that sense of expectation and energy.

From a leadership perspective, I also place a strong focus on mentoring our managers and helping them build confidence and feel empowered. When they carry that confidence into every guest interaction, no matter the request, they feel comfortable taking ownership and creating a truly personal experience.

You’ve described The Mayflower’s team as “one giant family,” with dozens of associates who have been here for 30 or 40 years. What does this extraordinary staff loyalty mean to you, and how does it shape the culture of the hotel?

Our associates have incredible pride in both working for Marriott and working for the Mayflower Hotel. And as you mentioned, many have spent decades here becoming part of the hotel’s story. And without them, we would simply be a beautiful building. Those associates are the ones who create the moments that guests remember.

Is there a type of guest or a particular reason for visiting that you find especially meaningful to welcome? 

Absolutely. I think this really goes back to my beginnings with the company, because wedding weekends are especially meaningful to me. I make it a point to personally welcome the couples and their families, and that is always incredibly special. We have even hosted multi-generation weddings here, which are deeply moving.

Those kinds of experiences create lifelong emotional connections to the hotel. My favorite wedding last year was a bride whose mother and grandmother were both married here at The Mayflower Hotel. Being part of a legacy like that is truly extraordinary.

The Mayflower is a place where, as you’ve put it, “history is being made every day.” As you look at the next chapter of the hotel’s story, how do you balance preserving that extraordinary heritage with the need to modernise and evolve?

We talk a lot about the history of The Mayflower Hotel, and storytelling is such an important part of that. For me, it is really about honoring our past while keeping it relevant for today’s guests. One of the ways we do that most meaningfully is through food and beverage, which plays a major role in striking that balance.

One of my goals is to create a living library that tells the hotel’s story through its menus. It is a way to honor the chefs who came before us, while also leaving space for future chefs to add their own chapter to The Mayflower’s story.

Beyond the hotel doors, what are your personal recommendations for making the most of Washington DC? Where should guests eat, what should they see, and where do the locals actually go?

The Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle is actually my favorite art museum. It is very personal to me since my wedding reception was held there, so it will always be special. The space is so intimate, and you can really lose yourself moving through the rooms. That sense of closeness and design really stays with you.

At the same time, the Smithsonian museums are truly cannot-miss experiences for anyone visiting Washington. I am also very excited about the new National Geographic Museum of Exploration opening just outside our doors in June. It is always wonderful to see a new museum join the incredible collection we have here in Washington, DC.

When it comes to dining, I love the classic restaurants like Old Ebbitt Grill, Le Diplomate, and Filomena. But like most locals, I also enjoy discovering the newest restaurants, and Washington, DC is always full of exciting new places to explore every year.

Luxury means different things to different people. What does it mean to you, and to The Mayflower?

To me, luxury is really about thoughtful attention to detail, and that is what we strive to do every day by getting to know each guest and personalizing their stay. When we are able to deliver that in a genuine, personal way, guests naturally create their own memories and truly appreciate the experience.

It is also about creating moments of surprise that feel meaningful. Guests may not know the full history of the hotel or have experienced a restaurant like Edgar Bar & Kitchen before. When we can surprise and delight them with stories, and connect them to the history in a thoughtful, authentic way, they leave with memories and stories of their own.

And finally, what is your personal motto, if you have one?

What immediately comes to mind for me is Mr. Marriott’s belief that if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers. That philosophy has guided me throughout my entire career and remains a core principle for me today. It is something I truly believe in and actively carry forward with my team every day.

The post In Conversation with Shelly DiMeglio, General Manager of The Mayflower Hotel, Autograph Collection appeared first on The Luxury Editor.

Located off Massachusetts Avenue NW, this 20,000 sq ft Japanese food hall is unlike anything else in the city. Broken into four different dining experiences, all tied together by a long red hallway inspired by the torii gates of Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari shrine. Dear Sushi specialises in omakase, celebrating both traditional takes on sushi. Beloved BBQ, a high-end yakiniku steakhouse with smokeless grills at the centre of each table where diners can grill their own Japanese A5 Wagyu and American-raised beef. Hiya Izakaya, a high-energy Japanese bar with whisky highballs and other inspired cocktails plus sake, beer and wine. Japanese bar foods on offer include skewers and bites prepared over a robata grill, and Love on the Run, the most recent addition, a fast-casual spot serving fried chicken sandwiches, ramen, sushi rolls, salads, dumplings, soba, udon, ramen and their famous heart-shaped doughnuts.

Chef Makoto Okuwa’s career started in Japan, where he spent ten years training under master sushi chefs from the age of 15 before moving to Washington, D.C. Here, he secured his first job at Sushi Taro in Dupont Circle, and a few years later, left to work with Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Chef Makoto would eventually assume the role of head sushi chef at Morimoto’s flagship in Philadelphia, as well as at his outpost in New York. Two years later, he fulfilled a lifelong dream of opening his own restaurant, Sashi Sushi + Sake Lounge in Manhattan Beach and then he went on to open restaurants in Miami, Mexico City, Panama, and São Paulo before coming full circle back to the capital. Partnering with restaurateurs Eric Eden and chef David Deshaies, who run L’Ardente (a favourite of Barack Obama’s) next door, Love, Makoto opened in 2023 in the growing Capitol Crossing.

Dear Sushi is a bright open space with light raw wooden furniture, almost Scandi in design, sitting against Prussian blue banquette seating which curves along one side. Vast linen shades hang above, while a sushi bar runs against the window.

Here it is all about the omakase; everything is thought out in precise detail, the menu presented in typewriter font as if perhaps an old love letter. Ceramic soy sauce dishes reveal a heart when they are filled. A set of iwai-bashi chopsticks dresses the table alongside a linen napkin, and a dish of ginger arrives with a quenelle of freshly grated wasabi sitting in ying and yang harmony.

We start with a lacquered box of edamame and a covered bowl of hatcho miso soup, the miso’s umami complexity leaving you craving for more. Two hand rolls are then presented on a wooden rack. The new and old school format, a signature of Chef Okuwa’s cooking, is virtually present in the white soy paper on the left and the classic nori wrapping on the right. The left filled with spicy tuna with jalapeno, wasabi, cucumber and soy, while the nori swaps a delicious baked crab filling and dynamite sauce.

Following this, sushi arrives on a single ceramic plate, eaten in a clockwise rotation, starting with Sakura tai snapper with kombu oil and sesame. Then King salmon with ponzu and sakura salt, finished with sesame. Bluefin tuna with soy marinade and wasabi, Hamachi with light soy and yuzu salt, topped with a confetti of citrus and dried flowers, and O-toro, a fatty tuna, finished with house soy and jalapeño koji.

Eating as a group, we also ordered a few dishes to share. The Hamachi with serrano chilli arrives as four thick slices of yellowtail laid out with rounds of fresh serrano on each. A spicy cucumber with shiso, the cucumbers smashed rather than sliced, dressed in chilli oil and sesame, topped with crispy shallots, dried nori. The zuke bluefin tuna with shiso ponzu, comes as four slices of soy-marinated bluefin in a shallow ponzu bath, scattered with pickled shallots, toasted sesame, shiso and tiny purple flowers.

The wagyu fried rice deserves a paragraph of its own, partly for how it tastes and partly for how it arrives. The bowl comes to the table looking austere, diced wagyu arranged in a ring around a trembling onsen egg, the whole thing buried in katsuobushi flakes. The server then mixes it in ceremonial fashion, folding the egg through the rice and meat until the whole thing becomes something richer and more yielding than the sum of its parts.

The lunch closed with cherry creamsicles, served still frozen on a wooden board, cherry blossom at dusk in colouring and drizzled with frozen berry coulis.

Header image and additional images courtesy of Love, Makoto

Final Thoughts

Dear Sushi is open 11 am–2 pm and 5–10 pm daily with Omakase priced at $85 per person, $45 for lunch and à la carte items ranging from $6–$45, correct at the time of writing. 

The post Love, Makoto – Restaurant Review appeared first on The Luxury Editor.

Leave feeling better than when you arrived

Westin Hotels are built around a single concept that you should leave better than when you arrive, and following an $80 million investment within the property, this is visibly clear. The 807-room hotel offers a contemporary hotel experience structured around the six pillars of sleep, eat, move, feel, work and play.

Sleep Well, with the Westin’s iconic Heavenly® Bed and rub your temples with their complimentary lavender and chamomile balm, complimentary in every room, Eat Well with Root & Vine’s locally sourced menu and biodynamic wine programme and complimentary Westin WELL station in the lobby whcih include still, sparkling, and alkaline water on tap Move Well at the hotel’s fitness studio, the largest in DC and curated RunWESTIN routes across the city. Feel Well through their powerful rainshowers and White Tea Aloe bathroom amenities, Work Well in their customisable work spaces. And Play Well by simply being in one of the best locations in the city, the Penn Quarter.

The newly designed interiors take inspiration from biophilic design. Potomac stone, native to the region, covers the floors and walls in the communal area, a light-filled central atrium sits at the heart of the property, with its large glass ceiling held up by a lattice work of raw metal, while abundant greenery and water-inspired artwork, along with residential format furniture, create a calm and relaxing space for a hotel of this size.

The atrium is split into two uses, one half given over to a lounge space with clusters of seating arranged around low tables. The other side flows into Root & Vine. During the day, with natural daylight pouring in through the roof, the space buzzes with the energy of breakfast and the comings and goings of a busy city hotel. By evening, it takes on a chameleon-like transformation, the lighting dims, and the space becomes intimate, making it the ideal place to linger over a glass of wine, which I did – the Albariño is a delight.

Location

The hotel’s location couldn’t be any more convenient, right in the heart of the Penn Quarter, the Capital One Arena and Chinatown are minutes away on foot. The National Mall and Smithsonian museums are around a 20-minute walk, and two metro stations are within easy reach, taking you across the city and connecting you with Ronald Reagan Airport and Dulles International Airport.

Directly across from the hotel, the relatively new CityCenterDC shopping mall is packed with designer shops and dining outlets.

The hotel is also very easy to spot at night, its exterior lit in vivid purple, making it a landmark in the area.

Rooms & Suites

The 807 guest quarters are divided across a choice of categories. King and Queen City View offer Heavenly beds and signature interiors with views across the DC skyline. Premier and King Corner View offer enhanced views with their wraparound windows, and for those wanting more space, the Superior and Premier One Bedroom Suites offer a separate living area or go all out with the Presidential Suites, ideal for longer stays.

For wellness enthusiasts, Peloton Rooms are worth knowing about. In-room bikes allow you to workout entirely on your own schedule.

The Potomac stone-inspired palette runs throughout all room categories, with room interiors or soft neutral tones, natural textures and clean geometric lines. The Heavenly bed is now legendary, and for anyone who sleeps badly on the first night in a hotel or suffers from jetlag. The hotel offers a Sleep Oasis Package, developed by Dr. Whitney Roban, to help combat “The First Night Effect”. The package includes:

• Hushh® Compact Sound Machine
• Happy Ears earplugs
• The Herbal Zen aromatherapy shower steamers
• Nodpod sleep mask
• Westin Sleep Well Tea Blends and in-room tea service

King Park View

During my stay, I was hosted in a King Park View room. Rooms are very generously sized, a stone-inspired headboard runs the length of the bed, creating a focal point, a chaise lounge sits by the window, and there is a small desk area to work at, too. The bathroom features more floor-to-ceiling stone tiling, and a large walk-in shower features a powerful rain shower.

A refillable PATH water bottle is complimentary in rooms (and yours to take home with you), with water-filling stations on each floor and also down at the lobby Westin WELL station. A coffee machine is replenished daily, and at turn down lavender balm is left on your bedside table. It is worth noting that the daily destination fee includes credit for the restaurant along with Uber credit and other guest benefits.

The view lived up to the room category name, looking out over treetops with the Carnegie Library sitting directly below.

Breakfast

The next morning, after a thoroughly refreshing sleep, I headed down to Root & Vine for breakfast. The menu takes its provenance seriously with local suppliers highlighted throughout. Ivy City Smokehouse supplies the smoked salmon along with Martin’s cage-free eggs, Lyon Bakery breads, Noble Star Ranch bacon, and Stachowski’s sausages.

The first morning of my stay, I opted for the avocado toast loaded with Martin’s jammy eggs, puffed quinoa crunch and Aleppo oil, and the second morning, I tried the smoked salmon bagel, which was generously stacked with Ivy City gravlax on Izzy’s plain bagel with cream cheese, capers, watercress and pickled onion.

Grab & Go

The hotel also has a grab-and-go shop, where you can buy coffee and a large range of snacks (try the cookies, which are baked fresh in the hotel), along with a range of Root & Vine menu options to eat on the go.

Wellness & Fitness

My excuses for not visiting the hotel gym while travelling are well-versed, ranging from late nights to early mornings. However, here the reason is more straightforward: the city simply offers too much! So instead, I laced up my trainers each day and headed out to explore the surrounding neighbourhoods. However, if you are gym inclined, the hotel has the largest hotel gym in the city at 10,000 sq ft, it packs in an Olympic weight room, yoga room, Peloton bikes and flexible studio space.

Final Thoughts

The Westin DC Downtown delivers on its wellness promise without it ever feeling like hard work, and in a city that makes for a great city break destination, the property puts you front and centre of everything the capital has to offer.

The post The Westin DC Downtown – Hotel Review appeared first on The Luxury Editor.