Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA 183-room Kimpton boutique hotel occupying Washington, D.C.'s historic General Post Office building in the Penn Quarter neighborhood.
Last updated August 31, 2026
Overview
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC is a 183-room upscale boutique hotel in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It occupies the former General Post Office building at the corner of 7th and F Streets Northwest, directly across from the National Portrait Gallery and near Capital One Arena. The property is one of several Kimpton hotels serving the Washington metropolitan area and combines a nationally recognizable boutique-hotel identity with a highly distinctive historic setting. The building dates to 1839 and is a National Historic Landmark. It was the first all-marble building constructed in Washington, D.C., and its neoclassical design was influenced by the Roman Temple of Jupiter. The original structure was designed in two sections by Robert Mills, the architect associated with the Washington Monument, and Thomas U. Walter, who also worked on the United States Capitol. A courtyard divides the building into two principal halves, while the hotel's public areas and guest rooms adapt the former government building to contemporary hospitality use. The property is also listed among the Historic Hotels of America. Kimpton entered into a 60-year lease agreement with the General Services Administration and began a reported $32 million renovation in 2000. The former main post-office area became the hotel lobby, while the mail-sorting pavilion was converted into the property's restaurant space. The hotel opened in summer 2002 and received early recognition when Condé Nast Traveler included it among the world's 80 best new hotels in 2003. The guest-room concept emphasizes contrast between historic architecture and vivid contemporary decoration. Rooms feature unusually high vaulted ceilings, long windows, eclectic color combinations, chandeliers, patterned textiles, and decorative furnishings. Some Tall Rooms are designed around approximately 18-foot ceilings, oversized beds, and raised showerheads. Room orientations vary: exterior rooms overlook the surrounding city, while interior rooms face the courtyard and restaurant. Lower-level rooms have limited natural light because of their position below grade. A notable Kimpton-era hospitality feature is the complimentary goldfish offered to guests at check-in, with hotel staff caring for the fish during the stay. Food and beverage operations have changed over time. The original restaurant, Poste Moderne Brasserie, opened with the hotel and became known for sustainable practices, an organic garden, and recognition from Washington's restaurant community. Poste received the 2009 Mayor's Environmental Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Restaurant and was named Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington in 2008. It also hosted a private celebration for Michelle Obama's 50th birthday in 2014. Poste closed in 2016 and was succeeded by Dirty Habit DC, a restaurant and bar with a glass-walled atrium, an outdoor patio, and an additional entrance on 8th Street through a former carriage passage. In September 2010, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the property for $74 million. Kimpton continued to operate the hotel under its boutique-hospitality model. The property is positioned around design, historic character, personalized service, social lobby programming, and proximity to museums, government institutions, entertainment venues, and downtown Washington business activity.
History
The building now occupied by Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC was constructed in 1839 as Washington's General Post Office. Designed in two sections by Robert Mills and Thomas U. Walter, it was built in a neoclassical style modeled in part on the Roman Temple of Jupiter. The building's all-marble construction made it an important early civic structure in the capital and it later became a National Historic Landmark. Its location occupies a full city block between 7th and 8th Streets Northwest and E and F Streets Northwest, in what is now the Penn Quarter district. Kimpton adapted the former government building for hotel use through a long-term lease agreement with the General Services Administration. Work began in 2000, with reported renovation spending of $32 million. The redevelopment retained the building's historic identity while inserting guest rooms, public spaces, food-and-beverage facilities, and modern hotel services. The main post-office area became the lobby, and the mail-sorting pavilion was converted into a restaurant area. The building's courtyard and two-part configuration became central elements of the hotel's spatial character. The hotel opened in summer 2002 as a 183-room Kimpton boutique property. Its design strategy emphasized the contrast between monumental architecture and colorful, eclectic interiors. Guest rooms incorporated tall vaulted ceilings, long windows, vivid paint colors, patterned draperies, decorative chandeliers, and furnishings inspired by both historic and contemporary styles. Individual rooms include a bust of Thomas Jefferson placed on a neoclassical armoire, while selected Tall Rooms offer especially high ceilings, oversized beds, and raised showerheads. The property also adopted Kimpton's distinctive personal-service practices, including complimentary goldfish for guests and informal social programming in the lobby. The hotel gained early attention in 2003 when Condé Nast Traveler named it among the world's 80 best new hotels. Its original restaurant, Poste Moderne Brasserie, helped extend the property's identity beyond lodging. Poste was associated with sustainable practices and an organic garden, received the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington's Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year recognition in 2008, and won the 2009 Mayor's Environmental Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Restaurant. In 2014, the restaurant hosted a private celebration for Michelle Obama's 50th birthday. In September 2010, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the hotel for $74 million. The acquisition changed ownership but did not erase the property's Kimpton identity. Kimpton hotels became part of InterContinental Hotels Group in 2014, placing the property within a larger international hotel group while it continued to operate as a distinct boutique hotel. The original Poste restaurant closed in 2016. It was replaced by Dirty Habit DC, a restaurant and bar that uses a glass-walled atrium, a large patio, and a former carriageway entrance on 8th Street. The hotel's present identity rests on several complementary attributes: a central location near the National Portrait Gallery and Capital One Arena; accommodation in a landmark historic structure; strongly individualistic room design; restaurant and event facilities; and Kimpton's service-oriented boutique model. It serves leisure travelers, business visitors, event attendees, and guests seeking access to downtown Washington's cultural, governmental, and entertainment districts.
- 2016
Original restaurant closes
[1]Poste Moderne Brasserie closed after operating as the hotel's original restaurant, with Dirty Habit DC later serving as the replacement concept.
- 2014
Poste hosts a private birthday celebration
[1]Poste hosted a private event celebrating Michelle Obama's 50th birthday.
- 2010
Pebblebrook acquires the property
[1]Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the hotel in September for $74 million.
- 2009
Poste receives environmental award
[1]The restaurant received the Mayor's Environmental Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Restaurant.
- 2008
Poste receives restaurant-industry recognition
[1]Poste Moderne Brasserie was recognized as Upscale Casual Restaurant of the Year by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.
- 2003
Named among the world's best new hotels
[1]Condé Nast Traveler included the newly opened property among its 80 best new hotels worldwide.
- 2002
Hotel opens
[1]Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC opened as a 183-room boutique hotel in the former General Post Office.
- 2000
Historic-building conversion begins
[1]Kimpton began a reported $32 million renovation under a 60-year lease agreement with the General Services Administration.
- 1839
General Post Office building completed
[1]The neoclassical General Post Office building was completed in Washington, D.C., using designs associated with Robert Mills and Thomas U. Walter.
Products and positioning
An upscale urban boutique hotel combining Kimpton's personalized, design-led hospitality with a landmark neoclassical building and a central Penn Quarter location.
Accommodation · 2002
Guest rooms and suites
The hotel offers 183 rooms and suites within the adapted General Post Office building. Room layouts vary according to the historic structure, with exterior rooms overlooking the city and interior rooms facing the courtyard and restaurant. The design uses high ceilings, long windows, bright colors, patterned fabrics, decorative lighting, and historic-inspired furnishings. Some first-floor rooms are below grade and receive limited daylight.
Accommodation · 2002
Tall Rooms
Tall Rooms are a distinctive room category built around the former post office's unusually high interior volumes. They feature ceilings reaching approximately 18 feet, oversized 96-inch beds, and raised showerheads. The category uses the building's architectural scale as a guest-room amenity rather than treating the historic structure as a purely decorative backdrop.
Restaurant · 2002
Poste Moderne Brasserie
Poste Moderne Brasserie was the hotel's original restaurant and operated from the property's opening until its closure in 2016. It was known for sustainable practices and an organic garden, and it received both environmental and restaurant-industry recognition in Washington, D.C. The restaurant occupied the former mail-sorting pavilion and also hosted notable private events.
Restaurant and bar
Dirty Habit DC
Dirty Habit DC is the hotel's restaurant and bar concept. It includes a glass-walled atrium, a substantial outdoor patio, and a second entrance on 8th Street that uses a former carriageway passage. The restaurant shares its name and broad design relationship with a Dirty Habit restaurant associated with another Kimpton property in San Francisco.
Brand decisions
2016
Replace Poste with Dirty Habit DCGeneration changeBackground
The hotel's original restaurant, Poste Moderne Brasserie, closed after more than a decade of operation.
Action taken
The property shifted its restaurant and bar offer to Dirty Habit DC, with an atrium, patio, and street-level entrance.
Aftermath
The food-and-beverage identity changed while the hotel retained its broader Kimpton boutique positioning.
2010
Pebblebrook purchases Hotel Monaco Washington DCM&ABackground
The property was an operating boutique hotel in a prominent downtown Washington location and occupied a nationally significant historic building.
Action taken
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the hotel in September 2010 for $74 million.
Aftermath
Pebblebrook became the property's owner while the hotel continued to operate under the Kimpton identity.
Acquisition price. $74 million (September 2010)
2000
Convert a landmark post office into a boutique hotelStrategyBackground
Kimpton pursued a long-term lease and redevelopment of Washington's historic General Post Office building rather than constructing a new hotel. The approach preserved a landmark structure while creating a large boutique property in Penn Quarter.
Action taken
Kimpton undertook a reported $32 million renovation, converting the former post-office lobby into the hotel lobby and the mail-sorting pavilion into restaurant space.
Aftermath
The project produced a 183-room hotel that retained the building's historic identity and opened in 2002.
$32 million renovation. (2000 renovation project)
Recent events
- 2016
Poste Moderne Brasserie closes and Dirty Habit DC becomes the restaurant concept[1]
Product generation
The original Poste restaurant closed after operating from the hotel's opening, and the property later featured Dirty Habit DC as its restaurant and bar.
- 2016
Poste Moderne Brasserie closes[1]
Other
The hotel's original restaurant, known as Poste Moderne Brasserie, closed after operating from the property's opening until 2016.
- 2016
Dirty Habit becomes the hotel's principal restaurant and bar[1]
Product launch
Following the closure of Poste, Dirty Habit became the hotel's restaurant and bar, with an atrium, outdoor patio, and an additional historic carriageway entrance.
- 2014
Poste hosts Michelle Obama's private 50th-birthday celebration[1]
Other
The hotel's Poste restaurant hosted a private celebration marking Michelle Obama's 50th birthday.
- 2010
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquires Monaco Washington DC[1]
M&A
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust purchased the hotel for $74 million in September 2010, while Kimpton remained associated with the property's operation and brand.
- 2010
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquires Hotel Monaco Washington DC[1]
M&A
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the Washington property in September 2010 for $74 million.
- 2009
Poste recognized for sustainable restaurant practices[1]
Other
The hotel's original restaurant, Poste Moderne Brasserie, received Washington's Mayor's Environmental Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement by a Restaurant.
- 2003
Hotel receives early recognition from Condé Nast Traveler[1]
Other
The newly opened hotel was included among Condé Nast Traveler's 80 best new hotels in the world.
- 2003
Hotel Monaco DC recognized among the world's best new hotels[1]
Other
Condé Nast Traveler included the newly opened hotel in a selection of the world's best new hotels.
- 2002
Kimpton Hotel Monaco Washington DC opens in former General Post Office[1]
Product launch
Kimpton opened the 183-room boutique hotel after converting Washington's historic General Post Office building under a long-term lease arrangement with the General Services Administration.
Showing the 10 most recent.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/kimpton-hotel-monaco-washington-dc · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled