When I was planning my long weekend in Richmond, Virginia, everyone said to stay at The Jefferson Hotel. Frankly, I was skeptical and thought it was cliche. My one-night stay at the hotel proved me completely wrong. I fully agree and believe no visit to Richmond would be complete without staying at The Jefferson Hotel! The hotel is a 5-star hotel, and it is entirely worthy of the five stars. I don’t always think to review every hotel I stay in, regardless of how nice and luxurious the hotel is. Almost as soon as I arrived, I knew I had to review The Jefferson Hotel!
Overall Information of The Jefferson
The Jefferson Hotel first opened in 1895 and has been renovated numerous times since then. The last renovation was in 2017, but it shows no signs of wear. I have seen more recently renovated hotels that looked worse for wear than The Jefferson!
The Jefferson Hotel is an independent hotel – not a member of a hotel chain. Thus, it isn’t possible to use hotel points to stay there. I don’t like paying cash for hotel stays, especially at full price. So, I didn’t! One of the benefits of the American Express Platinum card is the ability to book hotels through their Fine Hotels and Resorts portal. Part of that benefit is an annual $200 statement credit when booking a hotel through the FHR portal and paying with your AmEx Platinum card. That is precisely what I did.
There are some other benefits for booking through the FHR site. The benefits typically include a room upgrade (if available), free breakfast, and property credit. At the Jefferson Hotel, the property credit was $100. These benefits vary by property, but it is usually only the property credit that is different.
Where is The Jefferson Hotel?
The Jefferson is ideally located for any visit to Richmond, Virginia. It is situated on West Franklin St., in the heart of downtown Richmond. Numerous restaurants of all cuisines are within walking distance from the Jefferson Hotel! Additionally, we felt perfectly safe walking around at night, which made for a nice post-dinner stroll back to the hotel.
Parking at The Jefferson
Parking at The Jefferson is easy. Valet parking is $40 per night, and self parking is $20 per night. Both use the same parking lot, which is a very short walk. I opted to forgo valet parking. I saw no reason to pay twice the amount only for someone could make me wait while they fetched my car. Unless you have a need for valet, I recommend doing the same.
What is up with the alligators at The Jefferson?
The hotel and the hotel’s website have a running theme of alligators. How in the world do alligators relate to a hotel in Virginia? Quite puzzling, if you ask me.
It seems like there is a long-running history of them at The Jefferson! After World War II, alligators were a popular pet, and souvenir, from Florida. As tourists traveled north, they thought better of it (mainly by the realization they would grow to be very large). The tourists would donate them to zoos, dump them in ponds, or drop them off at The Jefferson! The last alligator at The Jefferson died in 1948, but their legacy lives on. Images and casts of alligators can be found throughout the hotel. A statue of Old Pompey, the last alligator, is outside the hotel’s main entrance.
Jefferson Hotel Lobby and Other Common Areas
Everywhere I walked in the Jefferson Hotel, I got the same feeling as in the guest room. It was luxurious yet warm and inviting. Having a look and feel that tells guests the hotel is luxurious but not over the top is sometimes tricky to achieve, but the Jefferson Hotel does.
Everything in the hotel is where you would expect them to be in the lobby. Well, almost everything. There is complimentary coffee and tea in the morning. We expected it to be in the central area of the lobby. Instead, it is in the gift shop tucked away downstairs, near the rotunda! Not only that, but you also have to ask for it from the employee. None of it made sense to me. Additionally, the tea, an exclusive hotel brand, was underwhelming.
Grand King Room at The Jefferson
I booked a Grand King room, which is about 100 square feet larger than the base room. That doesn’t seem like much more room; however, it was less than a $20 difference, so reserving the larger room seemed like the obvious choice. With the $200 FHR credit from my AmEx Platinum card, the stay only cost me $150, which is a very good value given how nice the hotel is and where it is located.
The room itself was very nicely decorated. It had a luxurious look and feel without being ostentatious. There is an entry table upon entering, which has a mini-bar and Nespresso machine. To the right of the entry, the bedroom area has two sitting areas on each side of the room and a table on one side. It also has a TV, dresser, and two nightstands. Every chair and the bed were very comfortable.
There is a doorway to the closet, bathroom, and changing area on the same wall as the entry area. The bathroom is quite large, with a separate shower and tub, double sinks, and an enclosed toilet area. I found the towels to be some of the softest towels I have found in a hotel in a very long time!
Restaurants at The Jefferson
There are two restaurants in the Jefferson Hotel: TJs and Lemaire. TJs is a bar that also serves some small plates. It is located in a common area downstairs from the lobby. TJs looked like it would have been a good place to sit and get some work done, but it wasn’t open when I stayed there. Apparently, it is only open on Friday and Saturday nights.
Lemaire
Lemaire is open all day. They have a well-known weekend brunch, but unfortunately, I wasn’t there at the weekend. I tried their regular breakfast on a Monday. Despite hearing good things about the brunch, the breakfast was disappointing. The food was quite bland.
Because we had a food and beverage credit to use, we decided to also have lunch there. I got a burger, and my partner got a salad. It was much better than breakfast!
As good as lunch was, dessert was even better. I had the cookie butter cheesecake, and it was amazing! Liking the taste of Biscoff is not necessary to enjoy this decadent dessert. It was light and super flavorful. Also, at $10, I would say it’s a bargain!
Service at The Jefferson
My stay was very pleasant. It was everything one would ask for from a 5-star hotel, and it was just what we needed. What sets the Jefferson Hotel apart from other hotels is the service – which was mostly impeccable. Some servers in Lemaire could have been more attentive, but the servers that were good made up for the lack of service. The service I received from everyone else I interacted with was excellent. Everyone was super friendly and helpful!
The Jefferson Hotel concierge was the standout. We asked for some dinner recommendations. He had just dealt with a guest who wasn’t so pleasant, yet he went through several recommendations with us, including showing us the menus. I was surprised that he didn’t try to push Lemaire on us, as many hotel employees elsewhere would have done. He even made a reservation for us at one of the most popular restaurants in town! I haven’t ever used a concierge to this extent, but I was very pleased with everything he did.
Overall Thoughts of The Jefferson
When people say that the Jefferson Hotel is THE hotel to stay at in Richmond, Virginia, they aren’t exaggerating. I would love to stay at the Jefferson Hotel again if the opportunity presented itself. There are other full-service hotels nearby that I could use points to stay at (one Hilton and one Marriott). Would I get the same level of service at one of them as I did at Jefferson? I highly doubt it, but at least I could use points. As you can likely tell, I liked the Jefferson Hotel a lot. Everything about it was great, and the room rates reflect that. They are on the higher end, if not the highest, compared to the other hotels in Richmond. Booking through the AmEx FHR portal helped ease the cost. Regardless, I highly recommend staying at the Jefferson Hotel, especially if you are able to book it through the AmEx FHR portal!
