I come to D.C. On business frequently. For this trip I decided to come early and actually be a tourist and see the city. After looking at reviews on TA I decided to stay here. What a lovely choice. I arrived about 8 pm and was greeted by curteous staff who checked me into my room quickly. I was given a corner room that was quiet and comfortable. The room was clean and well appointed.
I ordered room service instead of going out to one of the many nearby restaurants as I was tired from my flight. The food arrived quickly, was hot, and tasted good. The price was typical for room service but the quality of the food and service made up for the cost.
I had breakfast at the hotel and found the dining area sparsely populated. The food was hot and adequate. By the time I was leaving, however, the area filled with families and kids who were a bit too excited about eating breakfast. Since I was leaving this didn't bother me.
I spent the day walking around D.C. The hotel is situated so that you can walk to the Mall but I wouldn't recommend it if you have younger children or can't walk for long periods. Since I planned to be out all day but needed to check out, I had the hotel hold my bags. No problems with retrieving them and I fell that they were kept safe.
The only drawback of this property is that the rooms are expensive and less costly alternatives are available all over D.C. Even so, I would stay here again if only for an over night stay.

We are a family of four (kids 7 &12 years ) and stayed in this hotel for 3 nights over the Labour day weekend. After looking at several hotels and following the TA forum closely I had zeroed on 2 hotels: Residence Inn and Embassy suites. Originally I had booked at Residence Inn but closer to travel realised that Embassy Suites was having a deal and moved to them. This was about £130 cheaper than Residence Inn for the 3 nights and I thought this was excellent value.
Caught a cab from Dulles on Saturday afternoon and the fare for 4 of us with 2 large bags was about $75 plus tips.
Check in quick and was allocated a suite at 8th Floor. The suite had a proper decent size bedroom separated from the living area (sofa bed,TV and dining table ) by a door. A little bit of privacy for the parents!! Bed was quite comfortable.
A small fridge, microwave and a coffee maker were handy. The shower pressure was decent and bathroom was of moderate size. Air con was a bit loud but very effective.
As noted earlier the furnishing is a bit dated but perfectly acceptable. The room opens into the corridor so you can't really open the curtains of those windows as anyone passing by can see into your room. But there was plenty of light from the bedroom windows facing the street. The view was nothing to enjoy, a tower block of offices. Cleaning ladies did a good job.
Elevators were fast and spacious.
All the employee we met were courteous and professional. No problem getting a cab, even at 5 am in the morning for my trip to BWI to see Niagara.
Internet in room was extra and I just used the Internet kiosks at the lobby. This is fine for checking odd e-mails, Facebook, weather and airlines check in etc, although one or two computers had a tendency to crash.
Now I was fully aware that this was a family friendly hotel and not suitable for a romantic break but some of you may get overwhelmed by the number of kids, especially during school holidays. Of course some parents simply lack the parenting ability or are just not bothered so there would be some unruly kids, but overall I'd say most of the kids were quite well behaved.
I also have read loads of comments about the breakfast buffet and the dreaded queues. Despite knowing the problems we just didn't have the energy to get up early and came down for breakfast @ 9am. The breakfast foyer was absolutely jam-packed. I just didn't bother about the freshly made omelette line and just stood in the buffet side. Still it was a good 15-20 minutes standing in the queue. The staff looked harassed but kept a smiley face. Must say plenty of options and although quality of the food was not mind blowing but perfectly acceptable.
On Tuesday morning we came down at the same time and what a change when the school holidays were over !!! I had a chat with the very pleasant chef making the omelette, we all tried different varieties of omelette and strolled through the breakfast area choosing our food and eating at a leisurely pace with a nice cup of coffee.
The evening reception serves snacks only with drinks from the bar but again very handy after a long day's sight seeing.
As mentioned the hotel is about 15-20 minutes walk from the Foggy Bottom metro but be warned in summer heat even that walk would be tiring. The Wallgreen next door is very handy. I discovered that the famous Indian Restaurant Rasika had opened a branch just 5 minutes walk from the hotel and we had a very pleasant meal there ( reviewed separately).
One night we also ate at the hotel's own restaurant Trattoria Nicole as we din't feel like going out again. The pizza was average and the Pasta was nice. Cocktails were very good.
Kids loved playing in the foyer and feeding the fish. On the day of leaving we left our bags with the Bellman and came back late in the evening to catch flight back home.
In my view this hotel does provide a very good value for money for families and as a result is very popular with families in school holidays. If you can live with breakfast queue ( or have your breakfast early) then this is an excellent choice.

We recently spent a long week-end at this hotel. We love the location which is close enough to everything downtown and in the midst of international embassies and other personal residences in a charming neighborhood. Another thing we love about it is that it is located within easy walking distance between Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle Metro centers, making it convenient to just about anything you want to do in DC. There is also a Walgreen's nearby, very handy for purchasing essentials. We only needed a cab a couple of times, but when we did, the hotel staff was right there to assist us. The hotel stay includes a generous breakfast buffet and an evening reception. We love sitting in the atrium, listening to the waterfall, chatting and relaxing after a busy day of sight- seeing. The staff has been so kind each time we've stayed here. On this trip, the Manager was out and about, making sure the needs of guests were met and that we were happy campers (which we were). The rooms are spacious, the beds and pillows are comfy. The amazing part is the rates for the rooms are very reasonable for this particular area of DC. I love staying here and it will be our home away from home when we visit this exciting city again.

Went here for a quick 2 night girls weekend. The location of the hotel is perfect. Easy walking distance to plenty of places. The hotel is clean with spacious rooms. Hotel staff are all friendly and helpful. The breakfast and afternoon drinks are great. Returning the end of this month for round 2.