Right around the corner from the Mall and all the museums, this place served it's purpose. No 'real' food around unless you want to eat in their restaurant, or 'Bucks, or across the way in a French bakery (which is not bad, but it's not really dinner, if you know what I mean) However, Metro is right there (L'Enfant Plaza I believe) and you can go pretty much anywhere with that or a quick cab up the Hill.
Our room was just a room, and that was fine. You're not in DC to lay around at watch TV (which was difficult in this room, as it was a corner room, and the TV was catty corner to the bed) The room was clean, the bed comfy, and checking in and out wasn't a hassle. The room prices are completely out of line, but it's Tourist Central, and is what it is.
The parking sucks. In Washington, parking sucks, but this was awful. The garage below the hotel was full, but most of the cars were government vehicles with reserved parking spaces. (But what did I expect) Be aware that if you try to park on the first level near the hotel elevators, there is a dead end, and you will have to back up to get yourself out of the maze. We ended up parking in the last space the furthest away from the elevators. We travel light, and don't have strollers or anything like that to deal with, so it wasn't a really big deal (grumble-worthy, but not a big deal) but I could see where it'd be a hassle if you had to pack in a ton of stuff from the furthest reaches of the parking garage. And it's an additional $30 plus tax to park overnight.
Overall, if you're going to DC to take in all the culture and don't want to go far from 'home base', this would be a great place to stay. Buy some snacks or breakfast stuff and keep in your room. The breakfast buffet is another $19 a person.
I think the next time we go to DC, we'll get a room further away from the middle of the universe, simply for the $$ aspect. Holiday Inn is getting a little carried away with their room rates anyway, so we may also have to think about changing venues.
hotel reviews