I wish I'd known of this site and had chance to read the reviews before I travelled to this "hotel" in 2001. I am interested to see that everyone else seems to have had a similar experience!
I travelled as a single woman (as I often do, and ordinarily do so very comfortably), however this place is my all time nightmare inducing experience! I had a quick weekend break staying in DC just overnight to do a little sightseeing. On arrival I was greeted by a very grubby lobby, and surly staff. I was given little direction as to how to reach my room and noted the closest thing to a canteen was the soda vending machine. I could have cried when I got to the room - it was filthy! Musty smelling, dirty linens, an old towel that was pretty much stuck to the top of a chest of drawers. There was a plastic bag in the corner of the room with what looked like an old screwed up shirt. The TV didn't work, neither did the window A/C unit (it was a warm May weekend, it would have helped the stuffiness). I cannot begin to describe the bathroom in terms of staining and total lack of hygiene! I am perfectly happy with basic facilities as long as it's clean, but this place didn't come close. But overriding all of that, I was just too frightened to complain - there were a lot of shady looking characters around the building, and the staff unresponsive. The lock was basic and appeared unsubstantial. My main concern was security, I left no valuables in the room, took my luggage everywhere (which isn't great for sightseeing!), and generally had a thoroughly unpleasant experience, capped with finding a 'complimentary' copy of Playboy in my room!
The noise continued on the corridor almost all night -things finally seemed to quieten down around 4 am! I can cope with the usual noises of comings and goings as they are to be expected in hotels anyway, but this was a lot of banging on doors, shouting and arguing and to be honest it did make me feel a little vulnerable and unnerved! The neighborhood was pretty empty (it's right near GWU so I'm assuming that it was a term break due to lack of activity in the area) and I can honestly say the whole experience made me take more care over my research and planning of trips from then! I remember a website describing it as being no frills family run and friendly. What a joke! It was just terrifying and I can only advise anyone considering it to avoid at all costs, especially lone travellers. I checked out early - I felt safer wandering the streets of DC early on a Sunday morning than I did in that hotel and I am not easily intimidated. For cleanliness and safety this really was the pits!
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