In the late 1860s, it was purchased by naval officer Horatio Bridge and his wife, who lived at the hotel.

He announced plans to demolish it and construct an office building, only to sell the property again the following month to a group of businessmen who had formed the Hamilton Hotel Corporation.

They demolished the original hotel and constructed a modern replacement, designed by local architect Jules Henri de Sibour in the Beaux-Arts style.

A 1924 senate investigation revealed that Felix Lake had acted as part of a criminal enterprise, along with the F.H.

In June 1994, French hotel developer Albert Cohen's Home Plaza bought the vacant Hamilton and an adjacent office building.

[1] In September 2017, Massachusetts Mutual Life sold the hotel to EOS DCH Owner LLC, for $106.5 million.

[8] In June 2019, the Hamilton Hotel completed a mult-million dollar renovation project with a new lobby design, a new restaurant, Via Sophia, and a new cocktail bar, Society.

It is within walking distance of the Smithsonian Institution museum, the National Mall and the Corcoran Gallery of Art.

In June, 2019 Hamilton Hotel opened Via Sophia, an Italian restaurant in the lobby, and Society, a new speakeasy-style cocktail bar.