DC summers are hot and humid. It definitely doesn’t make it better that there is only a handful of pools to cool down at. My friend wanted to celebrate her 30th poolside so I made it my mission to find her the best venue. The most popular pool has been the Embassy Row Hotel rooftop pool but it is small with specific pool hours for non-guests. There is no question that it is a beautiful place but we wanted to be at the pool before 2 PM. I called a handful of other hotel rooftop pools but they too had limiting factors.
Then I came across the Liaison Hotel. I have lived in DC my entire life and I had never heard of this place. It is right by Union Station, near the northwest/ northeast border. I don’t tend to travel out that way so I can see how I would miss it. A day pass was $40 per person, which is about what everyone else is charging to use other pools. Lounge chairs were first come first serve. They also had cabanas to rent at a steep $300 a day. Purchasing a day cabana would give you four guest passes and a bucket of water. Again, not sure if that is the best way to spend $300 but you only turn 30 once! It was a celebration so we splurged.
I know you must be thinking why would you pay for a cabana if there were chairs for free? By noon, when we got there, all lounge chairs had been taken. There were a lot of people but it didn’t feel too crowded. I guess the gentleman who checked us in before going to the rooftop handled crowd control. There was about 6 or 7 cabanas and most of them were booked for other celebrations.
We decorated the cabana to make it more festive, ordered endless bottles of rosé and took tons of pictures. They had a small menu, which was nice as the day went on. Service was a bit slow but it was a fun way to celebrate with your friends on a summer day. I wouldn’t do this every weekend but for a special occassion I think it would be a great change of pace for a DC summer day.
RELISHED FANCIES 