Very welcoming owner, professionally run by a European, elegant without being stuffy. Everytime I think of staying anywhere else near DC, I begin to lust after the heated marble floor in the well equipped bathrooms and the dead quiet rooms. Breakfasts made to order. Lovely wrap around porch set way back from the road with plenty of comfortable seating offsets the slightly odd location adjacent to Montgomery County College, wood stove in the central hall to warm your toes in winter. Television in bedrooms only. Short drive or walkable to Metro Red Line, safe area. Like best: diverse and repeat clientele, creature comforts, service, privacy: makes me feel like I'm living beyond my means at a very affordable price.

My wife and I have visited Takoma Park several times over the years, and we have never been happy with that town's accommodations until we stayed at the Etta Mae Inn. Francoise made us feel more welcome than we have felt at any B&B we have tried anywhere, and we have been to some nice ones. The Victorian house has been well furnished with period furniture and other bric-a-brac, and the bedroom was cozy and comfortable. It was a wonderful cocoon to return to after fighting DC traffic. I took a bunch of photographs of the interior, and one of the best pencil sketches I have ever made was of the resident feline, Cinnamon. Did some pretty bad sketches of Francoise and her friends too.

We stay at B&B's so that we can have a bit of local color and human contact at our base of operations, and we found plenty of that at the Etta Mae.

After too many years of putting up with a B&B that had nothing going for it but proximity to my mother’s senior residence, I got serious about checking the internet for something more bearable. The Etta Mae was a fortuitous find – everything I wanted: close to Mom and Metro, real breakfasts (different every day!), two very friendly cats, and a fascinating innkeeper with a history as rich as that of her beautiful home. The old mansion is so beautifully restored – an ongoing effort – that my husband couldn’t stop photographing it from every possible angles. (And Victorians have LOTS of angles.) Bonus: it’s a lived-in home, complete with occasional grandkids, wonderfully eccentric neighbors dropping by, and no sense of being there as a walking, talking ATM for the owner. (We go to B&Bs, rather than hotels, for just that reason.) And it cost less than the place I’d become so disgruntled with.. Thank you, Francoise!

I just stayed for two nights at the Etta Mae Inn in Takoma Park, Maryland. I really enjoyed my staying there. The Bed and Breakfast is in a quite part of the town but at the same time is easily accessible to both downtown Silver Spring and Takoma Park. It is also close to the Takoma Park Metro Station. In about 20 minutes, I was at Union Station in Washington DC shopping for great souvenirs for my family back home. The hostess was very friendly and what struck me of the place was the warm welcoming atmosphere. I came to DC for business and as a mother of two I was missing my family. I never like the idea of spending time away from my family in a cold hotel room all by myself. The Etta Mae Inn was just such a cozy place and the hostess such a thoughtful and friendly person. It felt like home!
The room I rented was great and tastefully decorated. The bathroom was clean and just redone with beautiful tile work on the walls and shower. The bed was very comfortable and the softest sheets I had ever slept into. I highly recommend the place if you like me hate the cold atmosphere and the hard beds of hotel rooms!