Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Culture
  3. Fashion & Style
  4. Legacy Archives

DC’s Mason & Rook Hotel Has a Watch Butler to Help You Test Timepieces

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

Not every butler is a Jeeves or an Alfred. And not every butler is exclusively reserved for the fantastically rich. Lately, it has become more and more common for high-end hotels and cruise ships to offer in-room butler service for guests who choose to pay a small (compared to a full-time butler) premium for the service. These personal servants will help you dress, make dinner reservations, clean and organize your suitcase, pack and unpack your clothes, and of course, perform all requests and duties with the utmost discretion — some things never change.

Recommended Videos

But, buttling can’t stay the same forever. And Kimpton’s new Mason & Rook Hotel in Washington, DC, is at the forefront of the transformation of the idea of a butler from staid old Englishman with a penchant for white gloves and disdain, to a useful and modern style assistant. With sleek guest rooms featuring marble bathrooms with soaking tubs and full showers, a rooftop pool and bar area with exquisite views of our nation’s capitol, the Radiator restaurant, and a host of other amenities including 24-hour room-service, in-room spa treatments, and a 24-hour fitness center, Mason & Rook makes for an amazing stay in downtown DC. The icing on top of all this? Mason & Rook’s new “Watch Butler Service.”

Related: Guide to Rooftop Bars Around the World

Partnering with Shinola Detroit, Mason & Rook’s “Watch Butler Service,” allows guests of the hotel to rent out one of Shinola’s classic watch models at no additional cost. With eight Shinola timepieces available (including women’s watches), Mason & Rook have you covered for those all-too-common times when you realize you’ve left your favorite timepiece at home. While Mason & Rook do require a credit card on file in case damages are incurred, again, the cost of renting out a watch is included in your room fee. And though these watches aren’t for sale, if you really want to keep what you’ve been wearing, your watch butler can steer you toward Shinola’s nearby location, just around the corner on 14th Street where you can purchase one for yourself.

You can find full specs on all the available rental models below and if you’re in Washington, DC, be sure to check out the collection in Mason & Rook’s hotel lobby.

Available Models

Related: Daniel Claudill of Shinola

Mason & Rook Hotel: 1430 Rhode Island Ave NW, Washington, DC 20005; Telephone: 202-462-9001

Chase McPeak
Former Former Digital Trends Contributor, The Manual
Chase McPeak is the former Lifestyle Editor. Chase regularly appeared on Beards, Booze, and Bacon: The Manual Podcast where… Read Full Bio
FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Is Uglifying the Beautiful Game With $20 Billion Plot — But the Global Soccer Community’s Punching Back
People, Person, Crowd

For the better part of two decades, perhaps even more, corruption has allegedly run rampant within FIFA. Sepp Blatter, in particular, became the face of alleged extortion schemes, and he operated with impunity while at the helm of the organization for 17 years, from 1998 until his forced resignation in 2015 amid an FBI corruption probe. He’s banned for life from all football-related FIFA activities. If you’re new to the organization’s alleged deep connection to corruption, Netflix offers a brilliant 2022 documentary, FIFA Uncovered. In that documentary, Gianni Infantino appears in his previous capacity as Secretary General of UEFA (2009-2016) and later as the newly elected FIFA president, who vowed to root out corruption and hand the beautiful game back to the people where it belongs.

That, as it turns out, was all wishful thinking.

Read more
Escobar Cigars, Co-Owned by Nas, Drops Four-Profile Robusto House Blend Collection
Blade, Knife, Weapon

Imagine that, Nas is getting closer to ruling the cigar world. The legendary rapper’s Escobar Cigars, which he co-owns, is making waves with the launch of a new four-profile House Blend collection. The launch is in partnership with Cigar Chief, one of North America’s largest premium cigar retailers.

The Manual has not yet had the chance to do a taste review (a pack is on the way), but Escobar Cigars says the four-profile House Blend collection (Maduro, Premium Blend Connecticut, Habano, and Connecticut Robusto) “has its own distinct wrapper, filler, and strength profile,” and that “all four are rolled in 5 x 52 Robusto format using classic Cubano entubado construction.”

Read more
Is 21-Year-Old Jackson Koivun the Future of Golf? Scottie Scheffler Already Offering High Praise
Adult, Male, Man

The future is here, and his name is Jackson Koivun. The 21-year-old made only his third pro start over the weekend at TPC Twin Cities, where he fended off world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to capture the 3M Open. It’s Koivun’s first PGA Tour win, but it’s not just that he won. It’s how he won that impressed the golf world, including Scheffler.

The Auburn alum entered the final day of the tournament with a three-stroke lead, and he didn’t let up. Koivun got off to a stellar start on the front nine. He later admitted that he had nerves heading into the back nine, but it didn’t show. Koivun posted two birdies on the back nine and finished the final round bogey-free. He’d go on to win by three strokes. He finished 5-under 66 on Sunday and set a tournament-record 25-under 259 total.

Read more