The Bank That Became DC's Most Interesting Hotel
The ceilings are too tall, the columns are too grand, and the whole thing smells faintly of money that left a long time ago.
There's a certain kind of building that survives by refusing to become irrelevant. Riggs Washington DC is that kind of building. The 1891 Richardsonian Romanesque structure at the corner of 9th and F Street in Penn Quarter was once called "the most important bank in the most important city in the world." Twenty-three US presidents banked here. The purchase of Alaska was financed through it. Samuel Morse's telegraph, too. When Lore Group, the hospitality company behind Pulitzer Amsterdam and Sea Containers London, converted the old Riggs National Bank into a five-star hotel in 2020, they had a lot to work with. But they also had a lot to not screw up.
Riggs Washington DC has since earned a Michelin Key designation, a Travel + Leisure No. 1 Hotel in Washington pick, a place on Condé Nast Traveler's Best New Hotels in the World list, and an AAA Four Diamond distinction. Its bar, Silver Lyan, landed on North America's 50 Best Bars for 2025 and took RAMMY Award Cocktail Program of the Year in 2024. What matters more than the list of accolades, though, is that the hotel actually feels like it deserves them.
The Hotel
The original Corinthian columns are still there. The soaring banking hall ceiling too, now the backdrop for Café Riggs, which runs from breakfast through late-night across its dining room, café bar, and lounge. A rooftop event space sits at the top of the building with sweeping views across Penn Quarter. And below the lobby, built directly into the original vault, is Silver Lyan.
The property covers 181 rooms and suites across 11 floors. It's large enough to run properly but small enough that by day two the doormen know your name. People who've stayed here mention that specifically, and it's the kind of detail that can't be manufactured at scale.
The neighborhood adds to it. Riggs sits directly across the street from the National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum. Capital One Arena is a three-minute walk. The White House is fourteen minutes on foot. For first-time visitors to Washington, the location is nearly ideal. For anyone who already knows the city, it reframes a neighborhood you thought you had figured out.
The Rooms
Every room at Riggs is individually furnished. That sounds like a marketing line until you're actually in one, where bespoke wallpaper and headboards designed in collaboration with New York studio Voutsa cover the walls, D.S. & Durga bath amenities in their Debaser scent sit in Italian Carrara marble bathrooms, and the minibar is built to resemble a vintage safety deposit box. Tempur-Pedic beds with Egyptian cotton and down comforters, Nespresso machine, 55-inch Smart TV, signature robes and slippers, complimentary Wi-Fi. The rooms are also pet-friendly, with dog beds, water bowls, and relief bags provided on request.
The room tiers run from Classic through Superior to Deluxe. Classic rooms are anchored by a king or double bed and feature the Voutsa wallpaper and headboards throughout. Superior rooms are larger and more sumptuously outfitted. Deluxe rooms are the most spacious in the standard category, king-bedded, with the full Voutsa collaboration and city views.
The Suites
Above the standard rooms, the suite tiers are where the building's history starts to feel like a genuine design element rather than a concept.
The Atelier Suites are anchored by a king bed with a spacious adjoining living room, good for longer stays or anyone who needs room to actually move. The Gallery Suites are larger still, a fit for families or extended visits. At the top of the non-First Lady tier sits the Riggs Suite, 720 square feet built inside the original boardroom of Riggs National Bank. It has a dining room, a living room, a bar, ornate original ceiling details, and a working fireplace. One or two adjoining guest rooms can be added. It's the kind of room that makes you want to stay in and order room service and never actually see DC.
The First Lady Suites
Then there are the First Lady Suites, which are their own category entirely. Four suites, each designed around a specific former First Lady, each with a freestanding soaking tub and a separate living room.
The Ida McKinley Suite draws on the 25th First Lady's lifelong love of flowers, rendered in rose and purple throughout. The Caroline Harrison Suite references her famous White House porcelain collection in blue and white. The Louisa Adams Suite honors her role in bringing music to the White House, and comes with a baby grand piano. The Angelica Van Buren Suite takes its cues from the daughter-in-law of the 8th president, known for being on the extravagant side, and reflects that in a large corner layout with rich jewel-toned accents.
These are not themed rooms with a plaque on the door. Each one carries a genuine design point of view built around the woman it's named for, and the differences between them are specific enough that choosing which suite to book is actually a meaningful decision.
The Amenities
The property runs a 24-hour fitness center, complimentary priority bicycle hire for exploring Penn Quarter and the National Mall, valet parking, dry cleaning and laundry, in-room dining, and in-room massage therapy on request. Standard room features include interconnecting rooms, cribs and rollaway beds, and Nespresso machines.
There's no spa on-site, which is the one gap in an otherwise well-appointed property. In-room massage therapy fills part of that space, and the fitness center is well-equipped, but guests expecting a full spa program will need to look elsewhere.
Café Riggs
Café Riggs occupies the ground floor of the hotel in the original banking hall. Executive Chef Wolfgang Birk runs the kitchen, and the format is contemporary American brasserie with a French foundation, running all day from breakfast at 7am through a late-night menu on weekends.
Weekend brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 3pm and includes a champagne cart brought to the table. Weekday breakfast starts at 7am. Lunch runs Monday through Friday. Dinner daily from 5pm moves into proper brasserie territory: seafood plateaus, steak frites, French onion soup. The Michelin Guide has specifically noted the Wagyu beef tartare with mustard, capers, and cornichons, and the chocolate soufflé finished with Grand Marnier caramel. The dining room itself, framed by original Corinthian columns and lit through soaring windows, gives even a solo coffee the weight of an occasion.
Silver Lyan
This is the part people come for even when they're not staying at the hotel.
Silver Lyan is the first American bar from Ryan Chetiyawardana, the British bartender known internationally as Mr Lyan. He previously ran Dandelyan in London, once named World's Best Bar, and Lyaness on the South Bank, winner of Best International Hotel Bar at Tales of the Cocktail. Silver Lyan is his US debut, opened in 2020, built directly into the original bank vault.
71 seats, subterranean, lit by table lamps, lined in crimson velvet and exposed concrete with original tin ceilings and shimmering mirrors. The current menu is built around the "Butterfly Effect," twelve cocktails exploring how small initial changes ripple into larger systems. The drinks land somewhere between classically constructed and genuinely experimental, always with an eye toward local seasonal produce and sustainability. Walk-ins are available on a first-come basis, but a reservation is worth making.
The awards: Tales of the Cocktail Spirited Award for Best US Hotel Bar, Food & Wine Global Tastemakers Best Hotel Bar in the World, RAMMY Cocktail Program of the Year 2024, North America's 50 Best Bars 2025. There are international bars people fly specifically to visit with fewer credentials than this one. It happens to be in the basement of your hotel.
The Service
The staff at Riggs gets mentioned by name in reviews more than at almost any comparable hotel, which says something about how the team is trained and how the property is sized. Enough rooms to run a real hotel operation, few enough that guests aren't anonymous. By mid-stay, the front desk team is texting you to coordinate surprises. The bell captain gives recommendations that are actually good. That's not a coincidence at a property this size.
The Prices
Standard rooms start around $300 to $370 per night in the moderate season. DC pricing spikes significantly in spring and summer, which is high season for the city. Atelier and Gallery Suites run above the standard tier. The Riggs Suite and First Lady Suites sit at a meaningful premium above that.
For a Michelin Key hotel with two nationally recognized food and drink programs at this address, the pricing is competitive within the DC five-star set. The Jefferson and the Waldorf Astoria both run considerably higher. Riggs is still getting more attention than its room rate would suggest, which is a good position for a hotel to be in.
Who's It For
Anyone visiting Washington who wants to stay somewhere with genuine character. The history of the building is present without being heavy. The rooms have a point of view. The food and drink programs are among the city's best outright, not just good for a hotel. The location puts you within walking distance of the major museums, monuments, and neighborhoods worth knowing.
It works for a solo work trip, a long weekend, or the kind of stay where the hotel itself is part of what you came to do. The First Lady Suites in particular are the sort of rooms that make the occasion.
Notes
Address: 900 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004
Reservations: +1 (202) 638-1800 | reservations@riggsdc.com | riggsdc.com
Check-in / Check-out: 4:00 PM / 12:00 PM
Hours: Café Riggs open daily from 7:00 AM. Silver Lyan open daily from 5:00 PM. Reservations recommended for Silver Lyan; walk-ins available.
Format: 181 rooms and suites across 11 floors. Classic, Superior, and Deluxe rooms; Atelier, Gallery, and Riggs Suite; four First Lady Suites. Rates from approximately $300/night.
Accolades: Michelin Key (2024); Travel + Leisure No. 1 Hotel in Washington, DC; Condé Nast Traveler Best New Hotels in the World; AAA Four Diamond; TripAdvisor Travelers' Choice 2025. Silver Lyan: North America's 50 Best Bars 2025; RAMMY Cocktail Program of the Year 2024; Tales of the Cocktail Best US Hotel Bar; Food & Wine Global Tastemakers Best Hotel Bar in the World.
Instagram: @riggshotel
About the Author
Kelly Gomez is a creative director who eats well, travels far, and lives with intention. She has sat at tables that required months of planning, flown routes that cross a dozen time zones, and found herself in rooms most people never find. She is precise about what she loves and honest about what falls short.
A WSET Level 2 Wine Certified writer and Advanced Open Water Diver, Kelly covers luxury travel, hotels, fine dining, wineries, diving destinations, and the trips built around them.
Her work reaches a US-based audience of travelers between 25 and 44, with a near-even gender split and a meaningful following.
