Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / United States / Washington, D.C. / The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States · Ritz-Carlton · High Luxury
Washington's 1932 municipal incinerator on the Georgetown waterfront sat idle after 1971 until Millennium Partners folded its brick shell and 140-foot smokestack into an 86-room Ritz-Carlton opened in 2003. The stack became a private dining room for roughly eight guests, a conversion no other U.S. luxury hotel matches. Suites were built with bulletproof glass for diplomatic parties, and original industrial brick and steel still show in the lobby and Degrees Bistro.
- 86 rooms
- Opened 2003
- Neighborhood: Georgetown
- Rooms from 450 sq ft (42 m²)
- Architect: Shalom Baranes Associates
About The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
- Converted from the District's 1932 municipal incinerator, which burned city waste until decommissioning in 1971.
- The preserved brick smokestack, about 140–160 feet tall, holds a private dining room for roughly eight seats.
- Opened in 2003 inside a $175 million Millennium Partners complex with condos, a cinema, and parking.
- Hotel wings can be isolated so an entourage controls up to about 40 rooms; early suites used bulletproof glass.
- Hersha Hospitality Trust bought the property in December 2015 for $50 million.
History
Georgetown is older than Washington. The tobacco port that became the Patowmack Company's western gateway was established in 1751, predating the federal city's 1791 planning by forty years, and its grid of brick-paved streets, Federal-period rowhouses, and waterfront warehouses exists as a largely intact layer of pre-national American urban life within the capital's boundaries. The C&O Canal, authorized by Congress in 1828 and completed to Cumberland, Maryland in 1850, ran through the neighborhood's industrial waterfront, its towpath serving as the commercial artery for the agricultural and coal trade of the upper Chesapeake watershed.
It was on that same waterfront, at the corner of K Street and the canal, that the District of Columbia built its municipal incinerator in 1932 — a utilitarian industrial structure whose 160-foot brick smokestack was a Georgetown landmark for four decades, visible from the Potomac River and from the bluffs of Virginia across the water. The incinerator processed the city's solid waste from its construction until 1971, when it was decommissioned and left to deteriorate. The building sat unused for more than thirty years, its smokestack increasingly out of place in a neighborhood that had gentrified around it.
The $175 million redevelopment project that converted the incinerator into the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, completed in 2003, was designed by Handel Architects with historic preservation architecture by Shalom Baranes Associates and Brawer Hauptman. The design team embraced what they called the "touched by fire" theme: exposed brick and metal throughout the interiors, the original gantry crane — used to load garbage into the incinerator — refurbished and retained as a found object in the lobby, and the 160-foot smokestack converted into a private circular dining room sixteen feet in diameter that is, as far as any record shows, the only hotel dining venue in the United States occupying a chimney stack. The mixed-use complex also includes 29 condominiums, a 14-screen movie theater, and 600 parking spaces. The 86-room boutique hotel opens onto quiet South Street behind Georgetown's main commercial activity, a stone's throw from the canal towpath where the mule teams once walked.
The setting
The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C. occupies 3100 S Street NW on the Georgetown waterfront, its iconic smokestack marking a conversion of a 1932 municipal incinerator into an intimate 86-room retreat beside the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal towpath. Georgetown was founded in 1751 as a Potomac tobacco port predating the District of Columbia; today its cobblestone streets and Federal rowhouses frame M Street and Wisconsin Avenue retail alongside Fiola Mare and other acclaimed waterfront restaurants. The White House is eighteen transit minutes away, the National Mall twenty-four, and the Kennedy Center a brief southward drive.
Restaurants and bars
- Degrees Bistro — Restaurant
- The Living Room — Restaurant
Experiences
- The Ritz-Carlton Spa, Georgetown — Reimagined spa with ESPA treatments, saunas, steam rooms, and 12 Wellness Rooms focused on fitness, relaxation and sleep.
- Dining at Degrees Bistro and The Living Room — Artisanal fare at Degrees Bistro, and local-ingredient craft cocktails and small plates in The Living Room.
- Exploring Georgetown and the C&O Canal — Hotel overlooks the Potomac River, near Georgetown University and the C&O Canal, with nearby Washington, D.C. attractions.
Amenities
- 5-room spa with sauna and steam room
- 12 Wellness Rooms
- Wood-burning fireplace lounge
- 24-hour fitness center
- Pet-friendly
- EV charging
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
- Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star (2026)
Open The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown, Washington, D.C. in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
More Ritz-Carlton hotels
- The Ritz-Carlton Naples — Naples, United States · Grand Luxury
- The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park — New York City, United States · Grand Luxury
- The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad — New York City, United States · Grand Luxury
- The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes — Orlando, United States · Grand Luxury
- The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee — Greensboro, United States · Grand Luxury
- The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas — Dallas, United States · Grand Luxury
More hotels in Washington, D.C.
- Fairmont Washington D.C., Georgetown — Fairmont · High Luxury
- Park Hyatt Washington D.C. — Park Hyatt · High Luxury
- Pendry Washington DC – The Wharf — Pendry · High Luxury
- The St. Regis Washington, D.C. — St. Regis · High Luxury
- Waldorf Astoria Washington DC — Waldorf Astoria · High Luxury
- Willard InterContinental Washington — InterContinental · High Luxury
Ritz-Carlton in The Maison: the brand's idea, history and every house on the atlas.