It has it's ups and downs.
I'm from the rural south, and pretty much all Holiday Inns I've stayed at reflect that. I anticipated spending my time in this particular one because I thought it would be more advanced, and pretty much all-around better. In some aspects I was right, some wrong. 
I agree with many others on the point where the location is great. Walking distance to many Smithsonian museums and landmarks. If you ever need a quick pick-me-up, there is a Starbucks just footsteps away, connected to the hotel; you never have to exit the building. There are an abundance of foreign restaurants to please your taste for another culture. To sum it up, it's a hotel where you aren't expected to stay in all day. It's made for tourists and businessmen.
The hotel didn't impress me, but I'll admit I had pretty high expectations after my stay in Hotel Indigo in Atlanta. The lobby is nice, perfect for waiting for friends, colleagues, or just relaxing away from your room. There is an excellent courtyard outside, and several restaurants in the hotel. The room troubled me, though. As always, two pictures hung over the beds. The pictures were of Washington monuments. I don't understand it- you are in Washington, why do you need pictures of things in Washington? That seems a bit snobbish; how about some of the 7 Wonders of the World? I get being patriotic, but honestly, you can't get anymore patriotic than being in Washington DC. I quickly got over the pictures. 
My next critique is with the bathrooms. I would expect a hotel in Washington to have higher maintenance, but like in pretty much every hotel, the bathroom had that suspicious mold/rust/chipped paint in the vertexes. The toilet is very strange to me- it's difficult to flush and a bit disconcerting, but you get used to it after the first 3 trips to the bathroom. Now, let me praise this hotel for the powerful water pressure. I was literally pushed back when I stepped in, it's amazing. The problem with that, though, is that is increases the condensation. I stepped out of the shower stall to find hundreds of water droplets collected on the ceiling. It was almost impossible to get dry in.
Room Service! The room service was amazing, the wine put my mom right to sleep, and I thoroughly enjoyed the Turkey Club. If you are just dead tired and don't want to leave your room, try it. It may take a while to get to your room, but it's worth it. Also, don't forget to tip. he Turkey Club brings me to the quality of the mini fridge. It may seem just cool if you stick your hand in there, but when I put my leftovers in there overnight, the next day I took it out and it was frozen. This is just plain to say that you don't need an ice chest.
The rooftop swimming pool always seems to be not crowded at all, which is wonderful, but it closes at 10pm. I have yet to swim in it, but I plan to tonight.
In general, this is a nice place; I recommend it if you want to see the sights or have much to do during the daytime. This isn't the place to expect a beautiful or wild nightlife. 
In my own way, I kinda had a few things I would've added. A water fountain in the courtyard, some oriental lanterns casted about, and more updated furniture surrounding the pool. It also seems that the courtyard could be used for live music, parties, and shows of sorts. 
Tl;dr, I recommend.