Every time we crossed the 14th Street Bridge, we wondered what the rotating bar atop the Crystal City Doubletree was like. This week we decided to stop wondering, and hazard the post-urban tangle of freeways around Crystal City on foot to check it out.

After some Googling we found out the hotel calls the bar the Skydome Lounge, and that it’s a bar with light fare during the week and restaurant on weekends. At worst, we thought it would simply be a 1972 classic somewhat worse for the wear. At best, an undiscovered gem. What we found, perhaps somewhat predictably, was something in between. The bar was remodeled in 2004 and had a large, if somewhat generic menu (we gather the Doubletree has one large kitchen somewhere), and a new modern decor. Yet a faint disagreeable odor and cluttered space near the door reminded us it’s been spinning around for longer than this DCist has been alive.

The view is one of the finest we’ve seen and well worth a trip for those curious, although perhaps not as urban as the view from atop the Cairo or an apartment building in Kalorama. From the lounge you can spot Rosslyn, the National Cathedral, the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington Monuments, and Capitol Dome, as well as the Pentagon and I-395. And yes, in case you forgot, the floor rotates at the rate of once every 47 minutes, a perceptible but not distracting speed. When we dropped by on a Tuesday night a handful of hotel patrons were unwinding with drinks, and we imagine that the sunset would be spectacular.

The bar is somewhat of a challenge to get to on foot (we would suggest taking a cab), but the closest Metro is Pentagon City. To get there, exit the station at the open-air exit, and head down 12th Street away from the mall. Walk alongside the warehouse and through the paved path until you pick up 12th again, the hotel is one block down on the left. Once inside it’s best to ask how to get there, only one elevator will take you to the lounge.