Stealthy ... Aunt Edna
I tried writing this review a month ago, but computer problems ended up killing a lengthy description that I'll try to recreate. I stayed here for two nights for business during the first week of April 2012. This hotel is a great value ... $200 (AAA rate) for a huge room in the heart of the District. It is a boutique-style hotel with a small front desk and no lobby.
My room was on the top floor (1103). I noticed some reviewers of this hotel mentioned noise, but my stay was perfectly quiet. There was a small foyer just inside the door with a bathroom to the left, a sitting room with desk to the right, and the bedroom around the corner. Both the bedroom and the sitting room were very roomy.
The decor is a bit difficult to describe. It was a bit .... like Aunt Edna's house. You didn't have an Aunt Edna? Well, she was an older (when I was young) widowed woman. She kept here place very clean, but her furniture was a bit dated and her taste in furnishings was very subdued. (They must have hired her to do the decorating here.) I'm not saying that it's bad, just a little ..., well, subdued. Personally, I'd prefer something a bit livelier.
I peaked into the quaint little bar inside the hotel and it had the same feel. This kept me from going in because, while I was looking for a disco, I was after something a little more upbeat. I went to bed instead. The bed in my room was very comfortable, and as I mentioned earlier, very quiet.
If you watch the slideshow on the Tripadvisor hotel link, the hotel appears livelier than what I experienced.
The one thing that I did like a lot was anonymity (sp?) of the place. If those secret service guys who got in trouble in South America had been staying here, they could have taken those prostitutes up to their rooms and no one would have noticed.
This hotel is on a small street that runs diagonally connecting it with the large Pennsylvania Avenue that is the hotel's address. The hotel is actually slightly off Pennsylvania near the end of the block of that smaller street I described. You slip in and out of the hotel passing only the doormen. Both of those that I encountered were friendly and helpful, two 10s.
All in all my stay was enjoyable. If you want a subdued, stealthy hotel, this is the place. It is also an unbeatable bargain.
My overall rating for this hotel is probably lower than it should be, especially when you look at my individual ratings ... but Aunt Edna's place always gave me a slightly uncomfortable feeling. Remember, not bad, just a little too ... subdued.