Business travelers beware!!!
I never write reviews. Never - I generally don't ever want to be responsible for adversely affecting anyone's business. I spent years in the service industry and I know how hard it is to make everyone happy all of the time. As such, I am probably the easiest person to satisfy... just give me a nice, clean room and decent service and I'm fine. I travel all the time for work, weekly in fact. 
This is my first review because I've never had a worse, more embarrassing experience in a hotel... ever and I need a place to vent about the "second-class citizen treatment" I received as a single diner at Bar Dupont.
Harsh, I know... but read on.
Most hotels are thrilled to attract business travelers and The Dupont Circle Hotel seems to be no exception. The room was awesome, the hotel modern, clean, trendy and you cannot find a hotel in DC with a better location. The hotel staff, the valet - all fantastic. When I got here last night, I felt very welcome and I thought I was in for a nice experience in the next couple of days. I was also thrilled to see that the bar/restaurant was hoppin' and I couldn't wait to go there tonight when I finished work to have a nice dinner and a couple glasses of wine at the bar.
This is where things truly went off the rails. 
I finished my day around 7:30 and went down to Bar Dupont to have dinner. I got the last seat at the bar and I was promptly greeted by one of the four bartenders behind the bar. I gave her my order, she poured me a glass of wine, set me up with a placemat and silverware - so far, so good. I ordered my meal. Again, all good. But then I think she went on a break. 20 minutes go by. No food yet. Not a word from the 6 people now behind the bar (presumably 2 managers were necessary to cover for the one bartender who went on her break). No big deal... they must be busy... that's okay, I'm not in a hurry. In fact, I rather like hanging at the bar and unwinding.
Food runner brings me Calamari... great, but the problem is that I ordered Crab Cakes. He goes behind the bar and the six people back there are trying to figure out what happened, all while pointing at me and drawing attention to that obviously-difficult-customer who had the nerve to say "Sorry, but that's not what I ordered."
Okay, so far it's all understandable and I have a thick enough skin to deal with it, so long as my glass of wine stays full. Only problem was - it wasn't. I finished my first glass of wine by this point and nobody asked me if I want a second. The 2 cute girls to my right were asked if they want another glass of wine. Hell, they were even given an unsolicited shot of some special drink the bartender was working on. The couple to my left were being waited on hand and foot by at least 2 bartenders. They even got bread. Even the 2 guys at the end of the bar were being treated to a selection of wine choices at their disposal - they were clearly locals - that's cool. 
All this went on while I'm sitting there thinking: "Wow, when did I take an invisible pill?" I must have... clearly they don't even know I'm sitting there. When I finally raised my hand politely and asked for another glass of wine, the bartender acted like I was asking him to dust off an old blender and make me a Pina Colada! 
I hope he will accept my apologies for inconveniencing him.
Finally, as if to rub salt in the wound, the food runner finally brings out my entree (45 minutes have past by now) and it was delivered to the guy next to me. By the time he realized this wasn't what he ordered, the runner had already run off. After about 5 minutes of the couple next to me trying to explain bartenders that they did not order this dish, it must have been right about that time that my invisibility pill wore off because the bartender who took my order originally came back from break and said "Oh, that must be his." 
I ate my sandwich and my cold fries (remember, they sat in front of the guy next to me for at least 5 minutes while they figured out why they were there in the first place). I put my credit card on the bar - at this point, I couldn't wait to get out of there. All the while, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the couple to my left looking over at me and whispering about the "shocking way" (their words, not mine) I was being treated by the staff. 
Not much embarasses me, but I've got to tell you... I was beyond HUMILIATED and I couldn't wait to get out of there. 
Personally, I think you can tell a lot about a restaurant, bar or hotel by observing the way they treat the single business traveler. Danny Meyer's book "Setting the Table" talks about this quite a bit. As someone who dines at a hotel bar on a weekly basis, I don't expect much... I really don't. I simply want to be treated with respect and it would be great to get prompt, attentive and friendly service while I'm trying to unwind from a long day out in the field. It seems Bar Dupont is incapable of meeting this minimal standard for business travelers.So, unless you're a local, a cute girl or a nice young couple who look like they want to spend a lot of money, do yourself a huge favor... stay away!