Location, location, location!
Written: May 30 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: location, staff, dining, general amenities
Cons: room size, some rooms need touchup here/there, comfortable but not overwhelming. Business Center is unimpressive.
The Bottom Line: Comfortable place with nice folks, good food and great location. If you're a perfectionist, you'll grumble a little- but if satisfied with the odd small compromise, it's a decent property.
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| ncsuprof's Full Review: Hilton Embassy Row |
I am finishing a stay in the Hilton Embassy Row, Washington DC, and find myself torn re: how many stars to give the place in my Epinions review (by the way, there's another entry called "Hilton Washington Embassy Row" that doesn't have any reviews; I think this is a duplicate entry... note to Epinions staff). I was stuck at about 3.5 stars for reasons noted below, but then realized that my 3-day stay here has been relatively pleasant... LARGELY because of the hotel's placement just off Dupont Circle and easy access to the DC Metro, which I consider one of the most efficient, clean and pleasant metropolitan city subway lines in the US. As such, and because I just got a free breakfast out of them on one of their weekend "package" plans (grin), I'm going to award them four stars. The Applewood smoked bacon was the deal-clincher. :)
GETTING HERE: the hotel website has good info about those who're driving, etc., but from National Airport, I like the fact that it costs $1.65 to jump on the Metro Yellow line to Gallery Place/Chinatown and then catch the red line toward Shady Grove-- get off at Dupont Circle-- and you then walk more or less straight across Dupont Circle onto Mass Ave NW, and you're here (about 5 min. walk, though you could ALMOST see the hotel from the Metro stop!). It's a nice area tucked away right across the street from the Indonesian Embassy, and other embassies (in keeping with the name) surround the neighborhood on this and adjoining streets. The Dupont area itself has a good selection of restaurants, bars, etc., and a regularly life-saving major brand pharmacy on the Circle itself (open 24 hours) for soft drinks, sundries, aspirin or whatever else you need and want at respectable prices.
CHECKIN: mine was pretty quick and effortless. About 5 min. at the front desk with no line, I was greeted with smiles and fun banter from the desk staff and given a room key and buffet coupons all at once. Small problem with the type of room on my original reservation was immediately corrected with no issue. I could write a separate paragraph entitled "Staff," but since the front desk folks were so pleasant and that was the standard throughout my visit, suffice to say that the hotel's people are a great asset... helpful, pleasant, and I think genuinely concerned about taking care of guests.
ROOMS/FACILITIES: well, here's where we go down to about the 3-to-3.5 star range; it's not that the rooms are uncomfortable for a single business traveler, and i suspect they might even do for a couple who just want a comfy place to crash while in the nation's Capital. But I'm a regular traveler to DC, and a regular patron of Hilton, Hyatt and that sort of hotel. On those latter bases, I have to admit that I found the rooms noticeably smaller and more cramped than comparative properties-- particularly in the bathroom-- and for some reason, there was a good bit of big, bulky furniture in mine that made walking around leisurely in my own room a minor inconvenience at times! Admittedly, in this part of DC there's only so much you can do with the space you have, but I think room layout, or at least the amount and size of FURNITURE they put in the darned things, could have been thought out a little better. Electrical outlets were mostly covered by this large furniture and/or had lots of room amenities (lamps, TV, two-cup Lavazza coffeemaker, MP3 clock/radio) plugged into them; I wound up ironing in the tiny bathroom which, by the time i got the ironing board AND myself in there with the clothes, LITERALLY had no room left to move!
Speaking of the bathroom, by the way, it's adequate, but nothing about which to write home eagerly. Quality of soaps /shampoos/etc is OK, and water pressure at the sink was good. I was on a higher floor, which may or may not have had something to do with minimally acceptable water pressure in the shower and a gently slow flush time on the toilet. Response time for hot water at sink and tub, however, was pretty good and with ample supply of the stuff.
Some of the amenities are mentioned above; I like the fact that they have coffeemakers in the rooms. Iron and ironing board are OK, as is closet space for hanging clothes. My room had a room safe with a removable key (like they have in airports, etc.), which was a nice touch. Room decor was pretty standard but tasteful, done in a pale gold wallpaper with little fleur de lis imprints on it. The video system has a bunch of different movies on it as well as Nintendo if you're traveling with kids; also offers free HBO. Channel selection on their TV system is a LITTLE underwhelming (about 20 channels that cover the basics, but I missed seeing The Daily Show, for example, with no Comedy Central), but I survived with what they gave me.
FOOD SERVICE: Actually, y'know what? I think the food service at the Hilton Embassy Row may be sort of a hidden secret of the place. First night I had a room service bacon cheeseburger that was a fair price, served promptly, and was pretty tasty w/ steak fries. The breakfast buffet the next day was respectable, although it seemed more like sort of a Holiday Inn-sized buffet than something I expected from Hilton (I'm not complaining about the food though-- I have pedestrian tastes, and found all the basics there to be hot, fresh, ample and tasty). The restaurant is smallish by "premium brand hotel" standards, but I get the impression that it rarely if ever is packed, and I always got seated immediately with no crowding or waiting issues on two mornings' worth of breakfast buffets. Service was very good, and free coffee (better than in the room) and orange juice was pleasant.
I ate dinner with colleagues in the dining room last night, and I have to admit that the chicken parmagiana w/penne pasta was delicious (and again, a fair price... I think $19.95, which isn't bad for hotel restaurant dining). I don't know that they pack 'em in here for dinner, because the dining room looked sparsely populated, but there's more going for dining in the hotel, IMHO, than merely its convenience. Last but not least-- I'm not excited about the fact that the only vending machines they have are on the 3rd floor and I had to "elevator" to them, but the prices are reasonable. Also, remember the drug store up on Dupont Circle and you can bring back a pirate's plunder from it to get you through your stay. :)
CHECKOUT: well, haven't done that yet, but the front desk was kind about giving me a 2-hour late checkout so I didn't have to sit around the airport for 4 hours. Looks pretty standard, with video, key drop and/or personal checkout options available. I think valet parking, for those with cars, seems a bit pricey, but they have respectable on-site space for parking in any case. I'm glad however that I DIDN'T have to use it b/c of the ease of accessing the place via Metro.
LOCATION: and last but not least, sort of to finish where I started, the location of the hotel gives it a nice edge for DC stays in my book. There's a fair amount to do and see in and around (or within walking distance at least) of Dupont, but you're also very near the center of the Metro's hub/transfer system to any other line-- so getting to your favorite attractions by rail and/or getting "home" to the hotel again after a long day out isn't a problem at all.
I'm not sure I'd pay top-dollar rack rates for this property given what else I know is often available in the area... but if you're happy with the rate you're quoted from the Hilton Embassy Row, I'd say you can have a pleasant and productive stay here. As long as you're not hyper-claustrophobic once you get into your room, that is. :)
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ncsuprof
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Member: John
Location: North Carolina
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 0 members
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