Hotel Monaco in Historic Old Town Alexandria
Easter Weekend 2014 ~ Our family secured four tickets to the 136th Annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn, so we decided to make a weekend of it and do as much as we could while we were there. Read more about our trip here and find out how your family can do the same.
When we left Tyson's Corner, we drove to Old Town Alexandria, where we checked into the Hotel Monaco. I can't say enough nice things about this wonderful boutique hotel in the heart of the historic shopping district. This is an evening view of the street directly in front of the hotel. The hotel entrance is on the right underneath the hotel sign. Valet parking in the covered parking deck was provided at a charge no more than the regular parking rate.
Our Boutique Hotel Room at the Hotel Monaco
It was the little touches that made our stay at the Hotel Monaco so special.
Hotel Monaco (and really all of Old Town Alexandria) is the dog-friendliest place I have ever visited. You can take your pets with you to the hotel, and unlike many other dog friendly hotels, there is no weight limit. We could have taken Olive, our English Mastiff if we thought she could stomach the travel time. Since we weren't able to take Olive with us, the hotel had John the goldfish waiting for us in our room when we arrived. When making your reservations, simply state that you are unable to take your pet with you to the hotel and that your children would love a fish for the weekend, and it will be waiting for you when you arrive.
There is a complimentary adult happy hour each evening in the lobby from 5-6. We talked for a long while with a family who had traveled to DC from Michigan. One of my favorite parts of traveling is meeting people from other places. The happy hour in the lobby gave us a great opportunity to do just that.
Believe it or not, the hotel just keeps getting better. There is a swimming pool on the third floor, where on select nights, the hotel plays family oriented movies above the pool. We may have been tired from a long day, but we weren't about to miss the pool and movie!
They don't look tired, do they? Maybe it was just the parents who were wiped out.
We didn't have time to take advantage of this sweet ride, but if we had wanted to, we could have checked out these old fashioned bicycles and gone for a ride in Old Town.
Love, love, love the bathroom. Am I the only one?
Ahhh, marble shower.
The restaurant affiliated and connected with the hotel is Jackson20. For an extra $1 per night, we received two breakfast tickets for a complimentary continental breakfast or $7.50 discount on something from the menu. We stayed two nights, so we received four tickets.
I kind of absolutely love Eggs Benedict, and I usually order it when it's on the menu.
We took a stroll through Old Town. I believe that if a street musician makes you stop to listen, then you own him a dollar. Carrington thinks so, too.
Old Town Alexandria's free trolley, which stops every two blocks or as requested.
We stopped at Bishop Boutique on our stroll through Old Town. There were treat filled eggs hidden in the shoes throughout the store. That's my kind of Easter egg hunt!
How many eggs can you find?
We also visited The Dog Park to buy Olive a couple of doggie toys.
The shop sold gourmet dog treats.
Look at these gourmet doggie Easter egg treats. Have you ever seen such a thing? These have Olive's name written all over them!
They have treats for humans, too, like this funny t-shirt.
The Alexandria Courthouse
While strolling through Old Town on the way back to our hotel, we stopped at La Madeleine, sort of a french gourmet meets fast food restaurant. I could not make that up if I tried.
Not your typical fast food. We placed our order, including our french wine, and paid at the counter.
And our food was delivered to our table...
The children shared the rosemary roasted chicken with broccoli and seasoned rice.
Remember the family we met from Michigan at happy hour? We recommended La Madeleine to them, and they love it, too.
The next night, we had dinner at Columbia Firehouse, which is an actual firehouse that has been refurbished.
It was the drink menu I found to be most clever at the Columbia Firehouse. Drinks from different hotels and resturants in different eras of time were featured on the drink menu. I wasn't planning on ordering a drink, but curiosity got the best of me, and I had to try the Aviation/Circa 1916/Hotel Wallick/New York, made with Bombay Dry, Luxardo, Creme de Violette, and Lemon Juice. It was very floral, and I loved it. Mark did not.
I wish this picture had turned out better. I tried to capture the stained glass ceiling at the Columbia Firehouse, but some things are best seen in person.
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