I lodged there for the entire Presidential Election Day week on the 7th floor facing 16th street, about three blocks from the north entrance of the White House. On Tuesday night it was very difficult to sleep from 11:00 p.m. to about 2:00 a.m. because of the cacophony of noise emanated from the hordes of over zealous crowds marching down 16th street to the White House screaming, yelping, colorfully cursing the loosing candidate while praising the winning candidate with equally expressive words of passion as happy horn blowing and not-so-happy police sirens added background music to the scene. Sure it was an historical week in America and human expression is to be expected, welcomed, and perhaps embraced. I agree BUT I did learn something about the Capital Hilton that I found less than adequate for a prestigious hotel located in a populated city – BAD WINDOWS! More than 90% of all the exterior noise comes in through windows and doors. So when windows face a noisy city street, then installing soundproof windows can reduce noise levels by 75-95%.
Other than the poorly acoustically engineered windows, the Capital Hilton was a delightful place to lodge in all categories – But do know that it is never a good choice to get any sleep during a local celebration or even a political demonstration on the streets of Washington.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
December 4, 2012
First of all, thank you for your review of your past stay at our hotel. I appreciate you selecting our hotel during such a historic event! We always appreciate hearing from our guests - including when comments help identify ways we can improve. I understand that the noise was an issue during your stay; while we do have additional security and overnight managers available during high traffic periods - we regret that noise was disruptive to you. I have however; taken your suggestions about installing soundproof windows and at this time we are discussing potential options that we can implement to reduce noise. I thank you very much for your comments and do apologize if you were inconvenienced during your stay. I do hope the next time you return to the area you consider staying with us again.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC.