I'm always excited about staying at a Westin because the heavenly beds really live up to thier names. The bed was no different at the Westin Grand - same high quality, comfortable bed. Since my main goal at a hotel is to get a good night's sleep, the Heavenly Bed made that easy.
This was an expensive stay - over $300 a night - and I had high expectations. The hotel only met some of those expectations.
As others have said, the hotel is convienent to the Foggy Bottom/GWU metro stop. (Hint - when you head north to the circle, don't cross the street to the circle. Instead, keep going left around the circle on the other side of the street and you'll come to 24th Street. The hotel is only two blocks north of there at 24th and M).
Check-in was pleasant. When I first entered my 5th floor room, I was disheartened to see that the chair at the desk was simply a chair from the meeting rooms - a metal frame chair with a padded seat. Most Westins provide a comfortable, mesh work chair. The desk was really in bad shape - lots of gashes and nicks. There was a unit on one wall for the TV, safe and minibar that also had drawers and a closet for hanging clothes. There was a small padded chair and, of course, a king size Heavenly bed. Thermostat was hard to reach because of the location.
The bathroom was nice - all marble floors with spacious counter space. The tub was separate from the shower. The shower area was a bit small so it was hard to fully enjoy the Heavenly shower's two heads. Toilet was in a separate room. Oddly, a wall jack for a telephone was next to the toilet but no phone - just the bare jacks.
Housekeeping did a very good job. You're supposed to put a card on the bed if you want the sheets changed. I had eaten dinner the first night on the bed (salad and sandwich from Trader Joe's near the hotel) and I had spilled some dressing. Even without putting the card on the bed, the linens were changed.
Didn't eat at the hotel - the prices were high but the room service menu sounded appealing. Found that the Starbucks a half-block west of the hotel had breakfast sandwiches. I bought one each morning (about $3) and enjoyed the Starbucks coffee you could brew in your room. At check-in, I was given a list of restaurants in the area. This was a nice touch - some hotels seem to steer you exclusively to their own restarurants but this didn't happen at the Westin Grand.
Misc. items: The excercise room looked good. The pool (outdoors) was closed and was expected to open by the end of May for the summer. Never had to wait long for an elevator. There was a 24 hour CVS pharmacy one block east of the hotel which was also convienent for snacks and necessities. Trade Joe's was VERY crowded (many GWU students) but they handled the crowds quite efficiently. I was told at checkout that this was the second busiest Trader Joes (after the NYC store). The neighborhood is very quiet at night except when the fire house (one block east) has to respond to a call.
While housekeeping was well done, maintenance was another issue. On the plus side, they were remodeling the elevator waiting area near my room. They never made much noise during the evening and they kept the mess to a minimum. I did have a problem with my safe. When I first tried to use it in the morning, there was a message stating the safe wouldn't close because the battery was low. I called for a battery replacement. Mid-morning, I returned to the room and received the same message on the safe. When I called again, I was told that maintenance had looked at the safe and said there was no problem. How could maintenance not see the same "low battery" message that I saw? I called and insisted this be fixed. At lunch, I returned to the room. The battery had been replaced but the safe still wouldn't lock ("Code Error" message). So I again called and asked that this be fixed. They sent maintenance for the third time. Someone from the front desk arrived to provide the maintenance man with the plug-in unit for working on the safe. After messing with it, they proclaimed that the safe was broken. The did replace the safe that afternoon so I finally could use it. By the way, you have to work hard to put a normal sized laptop in the safe - mine barely fit until I put a towel at one end to angle the laptop in the safe.
Internet access worked OK but I don't appreciate Westin's policy. They charge $9.95 but that's only good until the next noon. I prefer hotels to provide a full 24 hours of access. Actually, I believe these hotels should provide FREE access. Why do I have to pay for Internet access in a $300+ hotel room when a Courtyard or similar mid-level hotel provides it for free? (Sorry, this is obvious a pet peeve of mine.)
If the desk and chair had been up to Westin standards and I didn't need to spend a day getting the safe to work, the stay would have been great. The staff was always helpful and friendly.
I don't often complain and hate reviews that appear to nitpick (such as "I found a hair on the carpet"). I did want to mention what was good about the Westin Grand along with some criticisms. If you get a good price at this hotel, you'll probably enjoy your stay. I'm certain you'll enjoy the bed....
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