HU Alumna Brings Literature to Life at DuPont Circle Bed and Breakfast

Pressed between neighboring buildings, the ivory town house blends into the surrounding area. 

 But with its name meaning ‘Welcome', anyone who overlooks it will miss what Fodor's Travel Intelligence calls "The best place to curl up with a book." Since its opening in 2003, Akwaaba DC has remained a literary gem and compelling testament to the possibilities in minority entrepreneurship.

Howard alumna Monique Greenwood owns Akwaaba DC Bed & Breakfast Inn located near Dupont circle.  

"I opened my first Akwaaba bed and breakfast sixteen years ago in Brooklyn after falling in love with an old dilapidated mansion," Greenwood said. "I had been staying at bed and breakfasts and enjoyed the exposure. I wanted to introduce that exposure to others, especially African Americans.  It seemed we had been apprehensive to stay at inns, probably because there were none that were black owned."

Distinguished by its literary theme, Akwaaba DC is in fact one of the only black owned businesses in its area. The inn features eight rooms and one apartment, each specifically designed to honor classic genres and African American authors including Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Walter Mosley, and Toni Morrison. 

Greenwood admitted it was difficult to pick which authors to commemorate. Any room, however, features an array of African American works.  

The Zora Neal Hurston room is large and feminine with bold, red hues, drapes of white and a two-person Jacuzzi tub. Couples can lounge in a 4-poster canopy bed in the Romance Room and indulge in one of Akwaaba's couple's packages.  

Brides or simply a person wanting escape can relax under white draperies in a claw tub in the middle of the Inspiration room, as natural sunlight pours through a window cut into the ceiling. But the most requested room is the Langston Hughes room.