One more and it will officially be a trend.
Less than five months after the opening of Abdo Development’s Hotel Hive in Foggy Bottom—where rooms range from 125 to 250 square feet—New York chain Pod Hotels has opened Pod DC at 7th and H streets, Northwest in Chinatown. The hotel is the company’s first outside New York, where it has two existing locations, plus two more on the way.
The 245 rooms at Pod DC top out at 120 square feet. The teeny accommodations are aimed at travelers who want to stay somewhere stylish without paying for a spacious room, since they’ll spend most of their time out exploring the city. (It’s essentially the same idea behind the micro-apartments that have sprung up around DC in recent years.) The cheapest room available at Pod DC tonight will set you back $189. At Hotel Hive, the best available rate is $139. By comparison, a room at the Marriott Metro Center will run you $273.
Pod DC partnered with the Hilton Brothers on three venues within the hotel: a Southern-inspired restaurant and bar, Crimson Diner and Crimson Whiskey Bar, and a rooftop lounge, Crimson View. The restaurants have not yet opened.
The hotel’s snug interiors were designed by New York firm, Stonehill & Taylor. Here’s a look inside.
Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.
