I am very picky and brutally honest with my reviews since I also rely substantially on what other reviewers think. I am a tough customer where I stay and would only give a place 5 stars if I couldn’t find anything to complain about!
PROS are: 1) great LOCATION. We stayed here several days and got to know the are pretty quick. We felt safe here and just a few steps away from Washington Metro transit, a couple of eating places, salons, and a convenient little market/deli. Within a couple of blocks from this hotel, there is a Nice little playground, CVS, Urgent Care, and a Whole Foods store. 2) the STAFF is incredibly friendly. We appreciated that all of our needs were either met or exceeded. 3) the ROOMS were not immaculate, but clean enough for my high standards- no hair or fingerprints left behind and all the linens in our room looked fresh. The beds were very comfortable. We did not have a problem with hallway noise, but we bring white noise machines with us- always. 4) the BREAKFAST was better than many comparable hotels. I appreciated that their eggs weren’t swimming in grease, and didn’t have “extras” mixed in that kids don’t like- or some adults for that matter! They had a different meat each morning and all were pretty good considering we are healthy eaters- we can’t tolerate cheesy greasy food! They also had toast, waffles, cereal, fruit, yogurt, juice and a few other things. The medium blend coffee was also good. The staff will do whatever it takes within their ability to make your breakfast enjoyable. I MUST have something sweet like a cinnamon roll in the morning ;) and most mornings we came down, they were all out. However, when I asked if they could find more, they always came through! Pay attention to breakfast times because they change depending on what day it is. If the breakfast area is full, there are more places to sit in the lobby area- we found it was more quiet and enjoyable on that side.
Okay- CONS: 1) ROOMS. We were on the second floor and for the life of me, I could not get the darn THERMOSTAT to stay at a comfortable sleeping temperature! They have the type of system that if you set it to 72, for example, it will automatically either cool or heat to try and keep it at 72. This was not good because we wanted it to just air condition at 68– that’s it, but it couldn’t do that. When the room felt chilly, it would read 76. After an hour of the air blowing, it would eventually switch to heat to regulate it again. It was bad. It was wrong. I had to get up in the middle of the night to adjust it. We told the front desk, but I think it’s just a bad system. There was another guy complaining, so it wasn’t just our room. The SHOWER seemed to have a limit on hot water and temperature. We also let the front desk know. They said they fixed it, But all I know that when it was my turn to take a shower, like at home, I had a warm, not nice and hot shower. It did the same thing in the second bathroom. That’s a bummer for me considering I never have time at home for long relaxing showers. 2) at BREAKFAST, they must provide more pastries!! If they run out each morning, then they should know to provide more.
Oh- and just a tip for using METRO if it’s new for you. it’s great, but the doors will not wait for anyone to take their time getting off and on. You’re not going to get killed, but you and your kids need to be ready. Have a plan ahead of time in case you get separated— it happens. When we were exiting at one of the stations, the doors closed before our 14 yr old daughter could get off and it was the one stinkin time she didn’t have her phone! I am gladly admitting that I panicked! But this city does have a lot of good people in it. A man noticed what happened and allowed her to use his phone so she could call and it worked out fine. From then on, we had a plan that if anyone got trapped in, to just get off at the next stop and wait no matter what. That way, we could just hop on the next one and meet within minutes— it’s an easy fix :). I hope this helped- I think details are important
