I'll start with this. I was so aggravated with the customer service at this hotel that I would LOVE to say that I won't go back. Problem is, the location is really convenient. It's a few short blocks to the Air and Space museum. It's on top of a major subway station that can be easily accessed if you want to park at the end of a train line and take the subway in. This is a hit for my kid, who loves the train, as well as my husband, who doesn't want to pay $55 daily for parking. And finally, L'Enfant Plaza, below, has enough fast food choices to meet all of our dietary quirks and keep us from having to spent tons of money to eat. (An aside, I found a place there where I could get a protein, veggies, and hummus and avoid the fried stuff and bread...yummy. Roti something). For convenience alone, I will probably go back, but only if I'm in "budget accomodations" mode.
My aggravation: I waited for 15 minutes to check in, and the only person in front of me was the one being helped. When it was finally my turn, I was asked for my Living Social voucher. I told her I didn't bring it, as they took the number when I made the reservation. She said she needed it, and just looked at me silently, with no suggestion as to how I might fix the situation. I asked if it could be printed at the front desk. She directed me to the business center, which was about as far away as it could be and still be in the building. The business center had one (barely) working computer and someone was on it. The very nice someone was willing to let me print my voucher, except that the extremely slow computer crashed mid-way through. It was then that I noticed the sign on the wall stating that the printer didn't work, and anything to be printed should be emailed to an email addy at the hotel, and picked up at front desk...REALLY?....So back to the desk I go. After another 15 minutes in line, the second desk agent said that of course he could print my voucher if I emailed it to him from my phone. Me...happy to have him this time around, but not so happy that my husband has had to entertain my hungry, tired small child for 45 minutes and I'm really no closer to checking in than I was when I walked in the door.
The check-in continued to be lacking. There was no mention of any amenities, and we weren't even pointed to the correct elevator. The latter resulted in a lot of needless walking until we happened upon a closer elevator on the way to the pool. Over the course of the two days, I saw many people wandering around looking for an elevator, searching for the correct restaurant, and trying to figure out how to get out of the building and to the Smithsonians. There was never anyone at the concierge desk when I was in the lobby. We asked the bellman a question. He referred us to the concierge....(not there!). He ended up helping us, and go the biggest tip of the weekend.
The room was okay. Dated. Kind of motelish. It was clean and bedbug free. The view from the "superior view" room was so so. The pool was full of kids who were happily swimming. The hotel couldn't help the 1:45 a.m. fire evacuation. Breakfast was included. The bacon was delicious. The eggs were terrible.
If it's cheap enough, I'll probably go back.
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