Jefferson Hotel - Afternoon Tea

3.5 out of 5 stars

The Jefferson Hotel is a hidden gem, and one of the prettiest places to have afternoon tea in D.C.  Several friends joined me for tea, and we had a good combination of tea-drinkers including first-timers, experienced, and an expert (originally from England). We gave it a 3.5 because the food was very good, but not outstanding, and there was some confusion with our reservation.

Atmosphere.  The Jefferson is a small boutique hotel on 16^th Street, which is easy to miss because it is tucked away between office buildings.  The lobby is small and elegant with a black and white tiled floor and a large iron arched gate in front of the Greenhouse, where the tea is served. There is a high glass rotunda ceiling, which makes the room feel light and airy, regardless of the time of year.  I felt like I stepped into a different era.  It’s seems like the type of place that the Downton Abbey ladies might go to for lunch if they were in D.C.  The Greenhouse has a large room with several tables, plus a few side rooms and alcoves for smaller groups.

Tea/Food Quality.  We ordered from a list of black, green, white, and herbal Ronnefeld teas.  None of us were disappointed.  The tea was excellent, but a couple of people thought it was on the strong side.  A little extra sugar fixed this.  

The food portions were generous.  We received four types of tea sandwiches, but the smoked salmon with fried capers was the favorite.  The others, an open-faced cucumber sandwich with caviar, egg salad, and roast beef were all good, but on the bland side.  The sandwiches were a little dried out, possibly because they were sitting on the table so long (see below comments under service).  My understanding is that the tea sandwiches change regularly.  When I had tea at the Jefferson last year, I thought the food was much better, so maybe they were having an off day.

There were two kinds of scones, plain with sugar and raisin, served with clotted cream and jams.  Four people thought the scones were terrific and two thought they were good, but a tiny bit soggy inside and could have used a few more minutes in the oven.  The other sweets were also very good.  The mini-fruit tarts were fabulous (perfect vanilla custard) and mini éclairs with chocolate cream were excellent (our favorite).  The orange Bundt cake was a little dried out, and I wondered if it had been previously frozen.  There were also mini-cinnamon buns, with glazed sugar on top, which were just okay.  They seemed a bit out of place for an afternoon tea, and I wondered if they were breakfast leftovers.

Service.  There were a few mishaps with the service.  Minor things, but their attention to detail could have been better.  Our reservation was for 2 p.m., and at exactly 2 p.m. the platters of tea sandwiches were placed on the table.  We appreciated their promptness, but weren’t ready to begin.  A few of the guests had not yet arrived and we hadn’t been given menus to order our tea.  We only received two menus for six people so we shared them.  This was taking a while, so we finally asked for more menus.  During the tea, we felt rushed by the staff, which was odd because there were several empty tables and they weren’t very busy.  In addition, when I made the reservation I was told that there was free valet parking on Sundays (one of the reasons we chose this hotel).  However, we were charged $10 each for parking, and told that the policy had changed.  We complained, and they did end up validating our parking, which was nice.

Cost.  The cost for afternoon tea is $39 and $55 if you add a glass of champagne.  The price seemed reasonable, especially considering the generous portions sizes. 

Would we go again?  Yes!  The Jefferson Hotel is beautiful and a perfect environment for afternoon tea.  I wouldn’t hesitate to go there again.