I just returned from a visit to this hotel with a college group. The only reason I am giving this hotel two stars is because of its location, metro stop, and recently renovated lobby. Other than that, it was complete crap.
During my entire three day stay, I was greeted once by a staff member: the doorman. We were in and out of the hotel all day and they always seemed to be hanging out, talking, playing strange music while watching guests walk by. Service should start at the entrance right?
I ignored this though attributing it to the fact I am a college "kid" and maybe older adults were greeted.
When we got up to the rooms, the hallways had an old green wallpaper with dated decor that was such a shock to see after being in the modern and clean lobby.
The rooms were a nice size for being so close to the sites but were definitely dated. Our room had a special feature of a dark red stain on the floor near the door (Blood?). There were also outlets that seemed to lose power every so often and even one plug that was completely missing with the electrical box visible behind it.
I'm not sure how much the rooms were here since we visited as a group, but miscellaneous costs did seem excessive. Our group had to check in in groups of 5 in order to avoid a "group check in fee." It also offered WiFi, but again charged for this. The $6 bottled water sitting on the desk didn't have to be used, but was another reminder of how this hotel is nickel and dime-ing its patrons.
Although on this trip, we were out most of the time, when we came back to the rooms, we usually turned on the TV and played cards in someones room. The televsion did offer some on-demand selections, but the standard channels were basically all news channels. There was one channel with about a 10-20 minute looping tour of Washington that we watched 2 or 3 times just because nothing else could be found.
The mall underneath the hotel is a nice feature but all the restaurants close by 6 or 7pm on a weekday, and even earlier on weekends. Also, since the hotel is located in the business district, late night dinners are limited to a metro ride to a restaurant, or dining in the hotel since there was really nothing nearby to go to.
Then the final night I noticed some bumps on my skin and I was very itchy. I figured they were mosquito bites and I went to bed. After returning home, I noticed that there were these bumps present all over my side, legs, and arms. It turns out I got bed bugs from the mattresses.
So in conclusion...
Pros:
-Close to National Mall
-Has Metro Stop
-Nice lobby
-Decently sized rooms
Cons:
-Dated and deteriorating rooms
-Unfriendly/unprofessional staff
-Mysterious Stains
-Limited television
-In business district (Limited restaurants/night entertainment)
-Nickel and dime-ing
-Bed bugs
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