Appalling service in a beautiful building
We're platinum members of the Priority Club, and as such we know how good Holiday Inns and Crowne Plaza's cound and should be. We spent four nights at this hotel in the run up to memorial day. This was the final hotel in a 16 night tour around five states. We'd already stayed in six other hotels on our travels (four of these were using our Priority Club points where we had been treated like royalty), but were looking forward to something a bit special in Washington. How wrong we were. From the moment we arrived, the staff couldn't be bothered with us. We had to speak to the manager twice during our stay to complain about the appalling service we'd received. He tried to explain to us that he was all about 'going over and above' in terms of service, however our point was that his staff were unable to get the basics right. This ranged from ignoring us when it came to table service in the bar to the agreed free wi-fi and other charges that we shouldn't have had included, being added to our bill. Put it this way - the bill under our door was for nearly $500, but by the time they'd removed everything they should have done, I paid under $50. 
Service aside, the hotel is in a great location for the Mall and all the usual Washington sites. The room was comfortable, clean and had a great shower. 
If they replaced all the staff with people who cared about the customer, this would be the number one hotel in Washington. Until that time, you stay here at your own risk (of getting mad at the service!)