Staff (esp female Concierge)- best thing about hotel- approachable, genuine smiles, professional, sympathetic and helpful with sick daughter. No itching for tips, no delays, extremely polite.
Room-11 th floor unobstructed picturesque view of Potomac- Wow! No street noise high up- couple of noisy aeroplanes in 3 nights. Spotted presidential looking helicopter. Ample closet / room space TV, Phone, iron, safe, Sealy posturepedic (Pref memory foam!) Well stocked with toiletries, linen, coffee. No wait lifts . Stiff bed bug control- no evidence of bugs/past infestations! Decor standard, armature/ controls outdated/shabby. No malfunctions. Real plants.
Lobby -Nice-marble, Xmas tree kids love, plenty of seating space, Starbucks stand, Gift shop,Pub. Restaurant food okay- not 5 star /pricey. Lifts from hotel go down to small shopping mall, with bargains,eateries, CVS, USPS and Metro. Pool open, staffed, quiet. Exercise room not 24hrs.
5-10 minute walk from centre of Smithsonian strip with 1 ped crossing. (Beats queues/stress). 10 min drive to Alexandria.
Price- $30 cheaper than others in same category during Thanksgiving. Suggestion-teabag provision with coffee. Change bathroom fittings then bump up price.

I looked at some reviews the day before we left for DC and got nervous when I read some of the reviews of this hotel.
I know some of my comments will be redundant, but hope helpful.
The hotel room was fine....Needs updating as others said, but certainly met our needs. We had a hot water problem our first evening, but the hotel offered us breakfast buffet comps, and the problem was resolved before morning.
The location is just fabulous for site seeing. The hotel sits near the National Mall and Smithsonian.......Be prepared to walk a lot though, to see the mall highlights (2-3 miles easy)
You can take the Metrorail easily to other locations as the hotel sits right above the station. It is 1.35$ a trip and it is easy to figure out. Pick up a little map at the rail station. It takes you every where, including to and from the airport.
A couple things I would suggest, that would have saved us.....do your drinking and eating out. There is really nothing around the hotel at all. No place to get food, or a drink. One has to take the Metro to even get to a convenience store. The hotel Brew Pub is OK, but expensive, and it was overcrowded when we were there over Vets Day. We couldn't get service, went to the Lounge, and it is very expensive too. The hotel's Americal Grill is expensive too....So I would suggest taking the Metro to another location. We went to Foggy Bottom, and walked around 4 blocks to a bar called McFaddens. We couldn't walk another step. It was a college type bar, but fun. The next night we went to Georgetown. We took the same Metro and walked, about 8 blocks to Georgetown. The Metrorail won't go all the way to Georgetown. You can take a bus called the Circulator.
SO don't worry about the hotel if you are going there. The location makes up for any imperfections. Just know that it is a place to sleep and sleep well, when you are done with everything else.
Have a great time in the great city, in the greatest country in the world! Lynn

My wife and I were not expecting much based on the prior reviews seen regarding this hotel. We booked two rooms for two nights on November 8 and ninth directly with the hotel at an incredible rate of 109 bucks nightly! Everyone we came in contact with was pleasant and went beyond the norm to make us feel comfortable during our stay. Yes, this is a somewhat dated hotel that need some refreshing of their rooms and common areas. However, everything was clean, organized and neat. You can't beat this location if you're traveling to see the sights around the mall, which is only five minute walk away. The area is safe and we enjoyed the fact that the Metro stop is literally at the hotel. We are able to travel throughout Washington, DC easily on the Metro. We had no problems with either room, whatsoever. The showers worked fine and we had plenty of hot water and towels. Clearly this hotel is not worth $250 nightly in my opinion, however, if you can find a special or discount on the Internet, it's certainly worth a stay. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Property in bad need of update. I stayed there 25 years ago and I don't think they have done a thing to it since. Shower did not drain properly and it never got fixed in the 5 days we were there. It is supposed to be a non smoking facility but they were smoking in the courtyard which is supposed to be smoke free and again when we told them about people continued to smoke in the area. On the day we checked out there was no hot water. Great location for the Mall and the Metro but there are no resturaunts within walking distance of the Hotel