Each room at The LINE, opening this summer in Adams Morgan, has a library curated by the neighborhood’s Idle Time books. (Photo courtesy of the Sydell Group)

While a record-breaking numbers of tourists continue to stream into D.C., they increasingly don’t want to feel like tourists. A slew of hip, new boutique hotels, many of them embedded in largely residential neighborhoods, are rising to the occasion by offering hyper-local experiences unique to the District.

“Boutique hotels are trying to remain different than traditionally-branded hotels,” says NYU Tisch Center for Hospitality and Tourism professor Bjorn Hanson. “The uniformity that was once hallmark of a brand now has become a negative. People want surprises and experiences.”

With a boom in local restaurants, nightlife and culture, many District visitors no longer swing by the monuments and museums and call it a day. They want to live, eat and explore like Washington residents (the city has been pushing the idea, too, through a concerted advertising campaign). And D.C.’s newest hotels are partnering with a wide variety area brands, chefs, artists, and clothing stores to make it happen.

“Travelers are much more savvy these days, and they’re smart enough to know they don’t want the same thing in every city,” says Josh Runes of Modus Hotels, a D.C.-based hotel company that operates the city’s first two micro hotels—the newly opened Hive Hotel and Pod D.C.—as well as Avenue Suites, The River Inn, One Washington Circle, and Normandy Hotel. “You want something unique to that city, and you want to be able to live like a local.”

At the different Modus Hotels, for example, guests are offered complimentary classes at Georgetown Yoga, MINT or other local fitness studios. The newly opened Pod D.C. is partnering with Sculpt D.C. for barre, cycling and yoga classes and also offers free Capital Bikeshare passes.

Meanwhile, just off 14th Street in Logan Circle, Kimpton’s new Mason & Rook hotel makes a point of hosting local movers and shakers. Its “Made at Mason” happy hour hosts a rotation of D.C. creatives who come to speak on subjects such as art, fashion, music, food and drink. Past speakers have included the folks from One Eight Distilling and Studio Theater. Guests can show up with a sartorial spring in their step by borrowing a Shinola watch from the flagship 14th Street store at no extra cost.

An in-house haberdashery at The Darcy, newly opened in Scott Circle, is a nod to that idea as well. Guests can borrow pocket squares or cuff links from Read Wall, a bespoke menswear shop at The Shay, or even be fitted for custom suits or shirts. And during The Darcy’s own happy hour, it’s strictly BYOB: bring your own bouquet. D.C.-based UrbanStems hosts a bimonthly pop-up over cocktails, where aspiring florists can take a free flower arranging course in the hotel lobby. Kids even get in on the action, with coloring books of D.C. landmarks designed by local illustrator Kate Zaremba.

Bibliophiles at The LINE, slated to open in Adams Morgan this summer, will appreciate each room’s mini library, curated from the neighborhood’s Idle Times Books and completed with bookends from local designer Jonah Takagi.

Over in Georgetown, The Graham keeps a supply of nearby Baked & Wired goods on-call. Plus, its rooftop bar, The Observatory, has cigars by Georgetown Tobacco (and great views, too).

It makes sense that D.C. would play host to a number of innovative lodging options. “Washington is a uniquely specialized market,” says Hanson, noting that the city has a high concentration of international and well-traveled guests. “They have more perspective to compare hospitality to other places around the world, so D.C. has always been held to a higher standard than other places in the market.”

The bar at Hotel Hive stocks local liquors like Civic Vodka and Don Ciccio & Figli. (Photo courtesy of Hotel Hive)

A room key isn’t necessarily required to partake in the trend, though. Even D.C. residents can enjoy some of the perks of hyper-local lodging, namely eateries that are a far cry from room service food and generic hotel dining.

The LINE D.C. will have plenty of places to choose from when it opens. Housed in a renovated neoclassical church, the space boasts three new restaurants, a coffee shop, and two bars—each overseen by talented locals. Erik Bruner-Yang of Maketto is behind two of the restaurants, while Spike Gjerde and Corey Polyoka of Woodberry Kitchen will oversee a restaurant, bar, and the lobby coffee shop. Todd Thrasher of Bar PX and the forthcoming District Wharf Potomac Distilling Company is manning the lobby bar.

With an Anglophile bent in aesthetics, The Darcy is an homage to the finer things and its restaurant selection is no exception. The recently opened hotel is home to Robert Wiedmaier’s seafood restaurant, Siren, and David Guas of Bayou serves coffee and beignets at the Lil’B coffee bar. Its cocktail menu features locals Green Hat Gin and Element [Shrub], and the hotel hosts a gin cocktail tasting in the lobby each evening.

Over in Penn Quarter, the micro-hotel Pod D.C. is busy putting the final touches on its Crimson Diner and Crimson Room, which are headed by brothers Eric and Ian Hilton, of American Ice Company, The Brixton, and seemingly half of the city’s trendy bars.

At Foggy Bottom’s Hotel Hive, there’s an in-house &pizza (marketed on their website as “an anti-establishment establishment”) and a bar that serves up cocktails using locally made liquors from Civic Vodka and Don Ciccio & Figli. No less than Mayor Muriel Bowser herself got behind the bar at the opening in March.

For those not imbibing, Hotel Hive carries Vigilante Coffee. And over at Kimpton’s Glover Park Hotel and Hotel Monaco, guests can find exclusive tea blends by Capital Teas and Teaism, respectively. Pay close attention while sipping; both have a hint of a D.C. favorite – cherry blossom.

Don’t forget to look around; much of the art in these hotels is likely to seem familiar to Washingtonians. The Kimpton Carlyle Hotel in Dupont has a rotating gallery from D.C.-based artists, and recently featured pieces from the Black Artists of D.C. nonprofit.

In Foggy Bottom, Hotel Hive’s partners with Cultural D.C. to incorporate local art into its space. Guests riding its glass elevator should pay close attention: Six different D.C. artists painted the murals covering the elevator shaft.

Now if one of them will just include a guide to standing left…