As is often the case, I woke up one morning with Meredith showing me pictures of dogs on Instagram, but on this particular day she had found the Preferred Hotels announcement for their #PreferredPups contest to win a free stay at one of their dog-friendly properties. Although Orvis isn’t the type of dog to allow us to pose him for a photo while wearing a bathrobe or kicked back on a king sized bed, one of our favorite hotels in Vermont, The Woodstock Inn, was a Preferred Hotel and we had plenty of photos to share from our stays there with Orvis over the last couple of years. Fast forward a couple of weeks later and we found out that Orvis won us a stay at a hotel we’ve been wanting to visit for quite awhile now – The Jefferson Hotel in Washington, D.C.

We were familiar with how dog friendly the property was based on the fame of their Executive Canine Officer, Monti (short for Monticello), a rescued beagle who greets guests at the front door and certainly lives the “Preferred Life” being pampered with walks around D.C. and belly rubs from guests. Even though Monti was taking a much needed winter vacation in Tennessee, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see D.C. during the holidays, so we made a quick trip of it and drove down with our own pampered pup in tow.

The Jefferson was built in 1923, originally as apartments, then converted to a hotel in 1955, and completely renovated from top to bottom in 2009 – maintaining much of its classic Washington style and Beaux-Arts design. The grand lobby with its intricate millwork and moldings, the cozy reading room with its signed copies of books from literary guests, and the beautiful guest rooms with their Jefferson-themed toile details, all come together to present an amazing property, wrapped in Christmas decor. Dog-friendly to the extreme, a dog of Orvis’s size was welcomed with open arms and an extra large dog bed in our room. He received plenty of smiles and attention from the staff, and loved exploring the Mall and going on long walks up and down Embassy Row, both just a few blocks away.

All in all, we couldn’t have been happier with our time at the Jefferson, and are so lucky that Orvis’s devastatingly good looks and magnetic charm (his words) won us the stay. You can be certain that the next time we’re in D.C., with or without the pup, we’ll be looking to stay at the Jefferson again.

Photos by Meredith Perdue for Map & Menu.