Madison Hotel – Washington DC – May 2012
We went to DC over the Memorial Day weekend which is a very nice time to go to Washington - much to do and see. Unfortunately there was a sudden change in the weather from beautiful spring weather to very hot & humid. If you have ever been to DC in the summer you know what it is like when the double Hs strike!
The Madison is located at 15th & M street, 3 blocks from the McPherson Square metro station. This is mostly a business district so there is not much right around the hotel in the way of shops or dining, however, $9 buys you an all-day metro pass and it is so easy to use the DC metro system and a short ride to all major attractions and areas of the district. The White House is a short 4 block walk from the hotel.
We used the metro system to go to the Smithsonian Mall area, Chinatown, DuPont Circle and Embassy Row, National Zoo, The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. We crammed a lot in during our 1 1/2 day trip to DC!
We arrived at the Madison around noon and check in was efficient and quick. The lobby and restaurant areas are nicely appointed and decorated in muted, neutral colors. There are 2 restaurants - the Postscript where breakfast is served and also for casual dining and the Federalist for more upscale dining. We only ate breakfast at the hotel and we were glad it was included since it is quite expensive - the 1st day, I had a basic plain omelet, potatoes and a piece of toast and my husband had a mushroom egg frittata. I had a pot of tea and tomato juice and the hubby had coffee and OJ - the total bill was $53! Our 2nd morning I was not very hungry so had a croissant and tea and the hubby had pancakes and coffee. I expected a traditional flaky croissant but it was very small - about the diameter of a tennis ball and not very good. My husband had pancakes which he said were fine - the bill was $29! We did not eat lunch or dinner but the menu was varied and expensive.
Our room was on the 14th floor and had 1 queen beds, a desk & chair, 1 wing chair, bureau with a flat screen TV on top and refrigerator underneath - very small and I felt cramped. The bathroom was small but well appointed - marble topped single sink with plenty of counter space, traditional bath tub (no mat so the tub was slippery), Bigelow toilet articles, hairdryer, and big fluffy towels. There was also an iron and ironing board which is a nice touch. There is a large closet with plenty of hangers and a safe. There was 1 fluffy bathrobe in the closet - we thought one was missing so I mentioned to the desk that there was only one robe - did not want them to think we took one, however, to my surprise they said each room only has one robe - a bit strange since there are usually 2 people in a room - guess you were supposed to share the robe. No view - all we could see was the rooms on the opposite side which was being renovated - so lots of workmen - kept the blinds closed!
We did have a bathroom glitch - we ran out of toilet paper - so called down to the desk and he said it would be right up - 20 minutes later, still no TP so I had to go down to reception and mention it again - he said he would call the manager to see why it was taking so long - a few minutes later we had our TP - thank goodness!
We did not use the concierge, however, at breakfast we heard a few folks asking the waiter when the concierge was coming since they had lots of questions, etc. and they were told he comes on duty at 11am - seems like a late time for a concierge to come on duty on a Saturday holiday weekend. I also came back to the hotel around 2pm to cool down and the concierge was not there-so not sure exactly what his hours are.
hotel reviews