The order of the two bookings
The Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington opens its Restaurant Week page with one line: "Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week Returns January 2027." The page publishes no dates. The program FAQ binds every participating restaurant to the full length of the promotion, and requires the Restaurant Week menu "during all regular operating days, for the full length of the 7-day promotion period."
A District hotel room can be booked for any night. A Restaurant Week table exists only inside that run of seven days. Reserve the table first, then the room for the nights the reservation creates.
Every service hour carries the same offer
RAMW's Rules & Standards close the usual routes out. The menu "must be made available to all diners during all normal operating hours of the selected service (Lunch, Brunch, or Dinner) for the entire duration of the promotional week." Restricting the menu to "early bird" windows or specific seating times is "strictly prohibited." A restaurant open for dinner serves the menu from open to close.
Once a restaurant registers for a service, every seating time in that service buys the same menu. A 5:30 p.m. booking and a 9 p.m. booking carry the same offer. The question to put to the restaurant is which service the kitchen registered.
Brunch fixes the weekend night
Brunch is optional. Restaurants "are able to choose from Saturday only, Sunday only or both days," per the FAQ. The Rules & Standards bar a restaurant from registering exclusively for weekend brunch, so participation requires lunch, dinner or both on the standard weekdays.
A Friday arrival and a Sunday departure pays off when the restaurant you want registered Sunday brunch. Settle that question by restaurant name before the room goes on a nonrefundable rate.
Pick the tier before the nights
Menus sit exactly inside the published tiers. Lunch and brunch run $25 or $35 per person. Dinner runs $40, $55 or $65 per person. Every tier holds at least three courses, and a course is "a distinct, solid food item," typically a starter, a main and a dessert.
RAMW protects the base price. Restaurants may sell premium upgrades and add-ons for an extra fee, and "a full, high-quality, three-course meal must always be available entirely within the base promotional price tier." Diners "must not be forced into an upgrade to complete a three-course meal."
Pairings sit outside the prix fixe
Beverage pairings are permitted and priced separately. The Rules & Standards allow "optional beverage pairings, flights, or cocktails" as an add-on, and bar a beverage from substituting for a food course. The FAQ states that a restaurant flags its pairings at registration and that those pairings "are not included in the prix fixe pricing." Promotional pricing excludes gratuity and local sales tax.
Two dinners at $65 with a pairing each cost more than two dinners at $65. Get the pairing price when the reservation goes in, because it changes what is left for the room.
What the roster does not carry yet
A restaurant appears on the official site "upon completion of your registration including payment of the participation fee." Menus arrive as PDFs and post after RAMW reviews them for compliance.
The program FAQ states that the promotions "may be capped at 250 locations" and that registration closes once the cap is met or within two weeks of the start. The participant grid on the Restaurant Week page still sits under a "2026 Summer Restaurant Week Sponsors" heading, so a list from last season is unconfirmed for January. The program mailbox is rw@ramw.org and the number is (202) 331-5990.
Then the room
A dinner booking and a brunch booking change which nights the room has to cover. Dinner on the first night leaves the checkout morning free. Brunch on the second morning ties checkout to a seating time.
hotelhuddle's how-it-works page describes one request going to 50+ hotels, free to submit, with responses typically inside 24 to 72 hours, and payment made to the hotel directly with no markup. The same page states that most hotels offer group rates for 10 or more rooms per night and that some discount from five rooms. A two-night stay for one or two rooms sits below that line, and the RFP route earns its keep when the trip brings a party of five or more rooms.
The order that holds
Read the roster and settle three things per restaurant: the service, the tier and whether it appears for this cycle. Then call or email for the brunch day and the pairing price. Reserve the table through the official Restaurant Week site. Book the room for the nights that reservation created, and read the cancellation terms before accepting the rate.