Whether you know the building as the Old Post Office Pavilion, the Trump International Hotel or the Waldorf Astoria hotel, the Richardsonian Romanesque landmark is a familiar fixture on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. For decades, it has been home to one of the most breathtaking views of the city from its soaring Clock Tower. At 270 feet above street level, the tower’s observation deck is the second highest in D.C., bested only by the observation area in the Washington Monument, at 500 feet.
The tower, which was operated by the National Park Service, closed to the public in October as the federal government explored options for the sale of the building. In June, the site was acquired by the merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners, and the tower and its observation deck quietly reopened July 15.
The changes are subtle: The Clock Tower is no longer run by the Park Service, so visitors will find welcoming hotel employees in dark suits operating elevators and sharing facts about the building and its bells, rather than park rangers. But entry to the charmingly low-tech experience is still free.
Three sides of the tower are open to the elements, with only thin vertical wires separating you and your camera from views of the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument, the National Mall and its memorials, Arlington House and large swaths of downtown. (For those hoping to get a view of D.C.’s construction projects, both the Reflecting Pool and the White House ballroom site are obscured by trees.)
Southerly views are through large windows, taking in the Smithsonian Castle, the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and beyond. Locals will probably be able to identify most landmarks, such as Washington National Cathedral and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. But for those trying to spot the American Red Cross National Headquarters or the National Archives, panels below the windows point out the sights. Granted, they could use some updating: The east side of the tower draws visitors’ attention to the roof of the “Verizon Center,” but the home of the Washington Capitals and Wizards hasn’t used that name since 2017.
During the building’s tenure as the Trump hotel, access to the Clock Tower was moved from the main part of the hotel to a rear entrance along 12th Street NW, across from the Federal Triangle Metro station. Visitors sign a logbook to enter, then wander down a long, marble hallway filled with old maps and photographs detailing the history of the building, as well as artifacts such as a large metal vault door from the building’s days as the U.S. Post Office Department headquarters.
Getting to the observation deck isn’t direct: First, there’s an express ride to the ninth floor in a glass elevator, which offers an semi-obstructed view of the hotel’s vast atrium and bar, and then there’s a detour down corridors to another elevator, where you might have to wait if the tower is at its 25-person capacity.
There, though, there’s something to do: The guide-slash-elevator operator will tell you about the Bells of Congress, replicas of the 10 change ringing bells of Westminster Abbey that were a gift from the British government for the U.S. bicentennial and have hung in the tower since 1983. There’s a bell you can ring, or you can hear the actual bell ringers practice on Thursday evenings.
Early birds get the best views: The observation deck is open only from 9 a.m. to noon, Wednesday through Saturday, with the last admission at 11:30, but this is an attraction worth waking up for.
If you go:
Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Entrance to the Clock Tower is at the rear of the building, accessible from 12th Street NW. hilton.com. Free.
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