We just returned from a 4 day stay at the Hilton Washington. We were able to get a great rate from Hotwire and upon arrival requested a room in the Towers on the 10th floor. This upgrade cost us $30. a day and included a really nice breakfast from 7-10am (yogurt, hard boiled eggs,muffins/ bagels, toast coffee, and an assortment of fresh fruit) and happy hour appetizers available at 5pm. When I stayed at Hilton Towers back in the early 90's happy hour included free drinks (wine/ beer/cocktails). Now acoholic drinks are extra and charged to your room, but soda, water and coffee are free and available all day. The staff very accommodating and friendly--the only complaint is our room seemed a mile away from elevaters and breakfast room---but we did come to DC expecting to walk---a lot!
We also recommend checking out the various happy hours at Dupont Circle restaurants ----Grill Fish (5-7pm every day) on New Hampshire Ave, across the street is David Gregory's on M Street (5:30-7:30) and Logan's Tavern (M-F--3-6:30pm) 1442 P St.---great drink prices ($3-4) with 1/2 price delicious appetizers. Check out the Washingtonan magazine online for more information on best of DC.

I read some reviews that were awful and was aprehensive of my stay and it was already booked and prepaid. I booked on Hotwire and paid $88 a nite. The hotel was very, very nice. The staff was great. Room was great. They did give us an uncleaned room at first, but within 5 minutes we were in a clean room with a great view of DC.
Good location in Dupont Circle. Would stay here again and recommend it to anyone.

As a business traveller, I am used to staying in hotels. However, for the corporate rate that was paid for the room ($200 p/night excluding room taxes during mid-late Feb 2006), I must say this is one of the worse hotels that I've ever stayed in during the past three years! The problems started the moment I checked into the hotel:

1. I had requested for a king size non-smoking bed, instead I was assigned two queen size bed. Fair enough that there were no vacant rooms with a king size bed available, that happenes, but it took the hotel clerk over 15 minutes to check me in. This is excluding the time spent waiting behind the line.

2. The hotel and the room is old and is in desperate need of some renovation. There was a yellowish stain on one of the bathroom walls. I was too tired to change rooms.

3. When I wanted to shower, there was no hot water when I turned on the tab. Needless to say, being the winter, I wasn't too pleased. I later realised that the hot water is actually at the cold tab, and the cold water was at the hot tab. I couldn't believe the hotel couldn't even get this right.

4. The carpet felt dirty and grubby.

5. The cleaning maid forgot to refill the shampoo and conditioner

5. When I had asked for a softcopy of the bill, I got a bill with my name and check in/checkout dates, but no charges. No - not because they didn't charge me, more because they were incompetent. The hotel clerk could not explain why I'm receiving a blank bill.

On a positive note:
1. When I asked for a refill of the shampoos/conditioners, this was done promptly and was followed up by a courteous phone call.
2. The room was relatively spacious and quiet.
3. The pillows were soft and the bed was confortable, or maybe that I was too tired to care(?).

Unfortunately, due to the lack of available hotels nearby, I will be staying here again next week. Let's hope the hotel improves its services!

My friend and I travelled down from Boston, and stayed at the Hilton for two nights. We paid $155 though AAA. Overall, the stay was just alright. No major problems, but small ones added up. The beds were comfortable, and the rooms are a decent size.

One issue was the lack of water pressure in the bathroom, it just spit out literally. The heater is very loud, it's all I could hear at night. The ice machine on our floor was broken, so I called that morning to tell them, you'd think they would have fixed it, but the next morning it was still broken. We wanted to order a pizza, so I called the concierge to ask for numbers and she said "I have a list at my desk, you can come get it". She wouldn't give me the numbers on the phone. They definitely do not go out of their way to help guests here, maybe they do if you are staying in the presidential suite! Upon checking in the front desk attendant was kind of rude to my friend, he said she had reserved 3 rooms when of course, we only reserved one. He kept insisting that there were 3 reservations in the system.

It was okay, but for the money we certainly could have had a better experience. The only reason we stayed there is because we attened and event at the hotel Ballroom that friday night.

P.S. When in DC, do not order a pizza from a the local Papa Johns! It arrived nearly an hour late, *and* on the back of a motor cycle no less. I specifically asked for plates on the phone, which they didn't bring. When I called the manager to complain about it being very late, he was incredibly rude. We sent the -- thing back, and ordered room service!