WASHINGTON - For 24 hours, President Obama and I were neighbors.

Not that we talked through his wrought-iron fence, as Tim Allen's character in Home Improvement did with his backyard buddy, Wilson.

But from the rooftop terrace of the W Washington D.C. hotel, I could practically see the president in the Rose Garden, discussing his just-announced Nobel Peace Prize. It was quite a day for all of us.

Overshadowed by the president's surprise award, the former Hotel Washington was celebrating its grand opening weekend as the self-proclaimed closest hotel to the White House.

Talk about location. Besides the White House, the 317-room, 10-story historic hotel is in the shadows of the Washington Monument, the U.S. Treasury, the Department of Commerce, and the White House Visitor Center..

The W may be the new kid on the block, but it's in a classic Beaux Arts building that dates to 1917 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Not that you'd notice from the completely renovated interior - pricetag: about $90 million - redesigned in a neo-romantic style by Los Angeles-based Dianna Wong.

The traditional lobby has been transformed into an elegant living room. Lipstick-red couches and white highback chairs beckon for a casual chat or settling in with the paper, as power brokers and socialites did in an earlier era. The eye-catching black carpet's pinstripes and lace-pattern overlay are design elements that Wong uses throughout the hotel.

"The original French architecture is feminine, and I like to contrast that with the modern," Wong says from her Los Angeles office. "I like duality - story lines weaved together. Masculine and feminine. Politics and pleasure."

Wong preserved the lobby's historic features, from the plaster moldings and majestic arches to the sparkling chandeliers, which were cleaned and refitted with LED lights.

Instead of a formal, imposing front desk, a simple set of white angled stations prompt the staff to step in front to greet and assist guests. When I asked for directions, the check-in clerk led me to F Street and pointed the way. When I asked to borrow a free DVD of Casablanca, the staffer ushered me to the elevator and the video collection on the mezzanine.

The original hotel had 500 guest rooms, but renovations in the 1920s cut that number to 400. They were fairly small, averaging 240 square feet, and no two rooms were alike, Wong says.

"We couldn't move a lot of walls. Our renovation work got down to the terra-cotta clay," she says.

Much of the 18 months of renovations required approval by three local and federal preservation commissions. While the total number of guest rooms was reduced to 317, the number of suites increased to 23, including an "Extreme WOW suite" - W's version of a Presidential Suite.

Standard rooms start at $399 a night, and suites start at $1,500.

My ninth-floor room, it turned out, is one of the smallest. My wife and I never felt cramped, however, thanks to the hotel's 9-foot-2-inch ceilings - about a foot higher than normal - designed to provide a sense of "spaciousness," Wong says.

The white lacquered furnishings set along the walls leave plenty of room, even with the king-size platform bed. And the etched-glass, double-size shower separating the bedroom and bathroom helps keep the room bright while still providing privacy.

Switches and dimmers are a nice touch for setting a mood and for turning out the lights without having to traipse across the room.

There are all the usual amenities, including plush robes, a docking station for MP3 players, and a 32-inch flat-screen LCD TV. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the cable to work, even with three staffers checking the hookups, so I missed a dramatic Yankees playoff win. But the front desk made up for it by taking the $45 parking fee and a round of drinks off my bill.

In place of a mini bar, there's a Munchie Box stocked with candy, cookies, chips, and nuts for $3 to $10. Liter bottles of Fiji natural artesian water are available for $9, and a half-bottle of Paul Dolan Vineyards 2007 pinot noir ($28) and a full bottle of Alexander Valley 2006 cabernet sauvignon ($52) awaited, with two wineglasses.

Instead of eating and drinking in our room, we venture two floors up to the hotel's shining star: the rooftop terrace. Appropriately named POV, for Point of View, it's one of the best vantage points to scan the capital's iconic skyline.