We chose to stay at the Mandarin Oriental, having previously stayed at the Four Seasons hotel when visiting in Washington, as we were only in town for one night and wanted to be within walking distance of the Smithsonian. On arrival, we were ignored by the doorman, and had to carry our own bags inside - not a bellman to be seen. The suite we had booked was above the entrance, and was very bland - not stylish, and the sitting room was very small. On returning from dinner, there was very loud music from a wedding happening downstairs - the duty manager offered to move us, but it was already 11pm, and our daughter was very tired, so we decided to stay put: I was not impressed by the fact that the reception desk did not alert us to the event happening that evening when we checked in. Service in the lounge in the lobby for late evening drinks was very poor - tepid tea, cookies that took ages to arrive. Felt like the hotel was on a skeleton staff, not up to usual Mandarin Oriental standards. We will return to the Four Seasons on our next trip.
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