cool refuge in blinding heat
This is my second time staying at Sofitel, DC. This time I was in Junior Suite Room 819. As usual check in was quick with no issues. Room was very clean and staff fulfilled special request of having a room fan as well as a refrigerator present when we arrived. The staff is always low key, non pushy and easy going. Bed was very firm once I removed the cumbersome featherbed that so many hotels provide these days. I dislike them and always shuck them off lmmediately in favor of what I sleep on at home (sheets and blankets). Room was quiet until last the night when a loud guest took the room above me. Sofitel supplies sound systems with subwoofers which can quickly rumble the walls of adjoining rooms. To me this is a bad decision on their part. Bathroom was clean, but wife did not like that there was no convenient place to apply makeup while sitting down. Sofitel Philadelphia, for example had a table adjacent to bathroom for this purpose. Hotel Bar is quite expensive and staff is often missing for five to ten minutes at a time. Bar is styled in the chic-cool style which does not appeall to me. Location is very convenient to WhiteHouse and Capitol Bikeshare station.