Antiseptic with Attitude
I've just returned from a few days in New York and then Washington DC and, unfortunately, feel disinclined to say anything positive about my most recent Washington hotel experience. I’ve stayed in Washington on several previous occasions, but this hotel was memorable only for its general failings.
The Plaza was expensive (at almost US$300 per night) for a small room. OK, it had complimentary internet and a desk of reasonable size, but a small bathroom in which one would have difficulty in swinging the proverbial cat. The hotel was, in fact, fairly dull and antiseptic. The smaller breakout rooms certainly seemed to lack audio-visual resources, but I wasn’t presenting so perhaps these might have been provided if a suitable request had been made. Furthermore, given the room rates paid for the conference (which are well beyond those that seemingly have been obtained on the internet with a direct booking), I was also a little disappointed that the hotel felt it necessary to impose a 72 hour room cancellation policy for my first night. A change in business plan meant that I provided the hotel with more than 2 days advanced notice that my original Saturday arrival would be put back to the next day.
I (and others) were also far from impressed by the rude tone in which we were addressed in the bar near the end of one evening. Having reconvened there after a very good meal at a nearby restaurant, we were given our marching orders with little time even to say “good night” to one another or really even to finish our drinks in a reasonable time.
Given the choice of alternative venues for an international conference, better alternatives that are more accommodating to delegates/guests surely abound.