A Room in History: Room 776 at The Mayflower Renaissance, Washington DC

As those of us in America celebrate Thanksgiving today, and those of us around the world still feel in a festive mood of gratitude, all thanks to social media, here’s some food for thought: Did you know that seventy-four years ago, the 32nd President of the United States, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, proclaimed that Thanksgiving would no longer be celebrated on the last Thursday of November but rather a week earlier? The new day tagged derisively as “Franksgiving” remained unpopular until until Congress restored the holiday to its rightful place two years later in 1941.

While “Franksgiving” may have been an ill-advised choice on FDR’s, his hotel of choice leaves no room for argument: The Mayflower Renaissance. Dubbed "America's Second Best Address" (after the White House itself.) and the "Grande Dame of Washington, D.C." shortly after it opened its doors in 1925, The Mayflower is largest luxury hotel in the U.S. capital and the longest continuously operating hotel in the Washington D.C. area.

Just four blocks from the White House, this hotel boasting more gold than any other building in the country except for the Library of Congress has not only been a hot spot for presidents and politicians alike but also played host to each president’s inauguration ball (from Coolidge to Reagan). Harry Truman resided here for the first 90 days of his presidential term and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover lunched at the Mayflower nearly every day he was in town.

Much like any historic hotel, The Mayflower has also played host to a number of political sex scandals. President Kennedy's supposed mistress Judith Campbell Exner was established in the hotel and supposedly sneaked into the White House when his wife was away. More recently, Monica Lewinsky was staying in Room 860 when her affair with Bill Clinton was in the news. Lewinsky was also photographed with President Clinton at a campaign event at The Mayfair not long before the 1996 election.

In 2008, New York’s then Governor Eliot Spitzer aka “Client 9”, was arrested by the feds for hiring a $4,300 prostitute from New York and arranging to have her brought to him to the Mayflower for a little rendezvous in room 871.

As for President Roosevelt, he found himself at The Mayflower for a much more noble cause. The President used the Mayflower as a retreat to work on his 1933 inaugural address, and it was in Room 776 he penned the now famed inaugural address with the inspirational line, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

For penning what is most certainly one of the most memorable and powerful lines in the history of American inaugural speeches, we can just about forgive FDR for “Franksgiving.”

If you ever head over to Washington DC, make sure you stay in The Mayflower where history was made – over and over again – the inspirational and the scandalous kind. Eat at J. Edgar’s table, order Bill Clinton’s favourite cocktail here, rumoured to be Snakebite Cocktail (a mix of stout and apple cider), but most importantly, book a date with history in Room 776 – and who knows you may truly be inspired.

If you've already stayed at Mayflower Renaissance, why not drop by here to write a review of your room? If you are yet to experience The Mayflower Renaissance, book your stay right here.

Text: Sinem Bilen-Onabanjo


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