Better places to stay in DC.
My husband and I and 3 other couples go to Washngton every year for a political function. We normally stay at hotels we know(the Willard is our favorite), however, after the functions activities it is hard to find cabs/transportation back to our rooms so we decided to stay at the hotel that was hosting some events. I had read about Kimpton hotels and even checked some rooms out at the one in San Francisco, so I assumed it would be alright. They seemed to be in the category of the Embassy Suites, which we had also stayed one year. However, not even close. But they are priced the same or higher.
The outside is beautiful and the lobby fine. Very historical. We checked in in the 2nd floor and
they told us rooms were on the first floor. We jokingly said basement and they said yes actually. Should have stopped there and left, but they insisted they were sold out for the 
function and the luncheon we were attending was there and we only had about 30 min. to
register and get a table, so we stayed.
When we got off the elevator in the basement, we ran into a man wheeling an eight tier cart of
 raw meats and salads into the employee elevator to take up to kitchen. Some not covered. As
 we walked down hall, parts literally looked like old stone basement walls, peeling paint, some 
kind of equipment thrown at bottom of beautiful spiral staircase, like they just quit working and left. The decor reminded me of circus tents and jesters. Very odd. Room decor same. When 
you looked out the two windows you looked up into the window wells and saw people walking 
on the sidewalk above. Could hear traffic all day and night.
No closet in room, armoire had about 12 inches of hanging space with drawers beside it. No in room coffee maker. Very small bath with one small sink and a tub with walls so low you had to barely step in. Great water pressure.(guess 'cause we were in basement). Bed and bedding were great too. Slept well. After lunch we took nap and then showered and when we came back to room that night, bed was still messed up, which didn't realty matter, however, we had a stack of about 6 clean towels, bundled with string, literally thrown across our bed. The towels we had used earlier were still in the tub where I left them. Not your normal turn down service.
The weather was nice and we sat out in a middle courtyard for drinks after lunch, which was 
very nice, but we could not get waited on because they quit service at 2:30 until dinner. Other people were there also and they probably would have sold some drinks and snacks if they would have had a server. However, that night at about 10:00, we went back for drinks and waited forever to get waited on, and then forever for our drinks, and there were 3+ people working at the bar. We did not find service to be a priority anywhere at this hotel. 
One of friends missed lunch and ordered a shrimp cocktail and Cobb salad in the afternoon at the restaurant, and could squeeze the water out of the shrimp in the cocktail. And the shrimp was not cooked on the salad. They sent both back and said the server wasnt overly concerned. Breakfast was good though, but took a while and cost $20+ each.
We were only there one night, but this experience will probably steer us away from ever booking rooms at this hotel chain again.