Hyatt Place Washington DC/US Capitol — Attraction in Washington

🪳 ⚠️ BED BUG INFESTATION RUINED MY TRIP — DO NOT STAY HERE

THERE WERE BED BUGS IN TWO DIFFERENT ROOMS.

I had planned a special trip to Washington, DC with my family — we flew in from different parts of the country to celebrate a special occasion. I intentionally booked a stay at the Hyatt, trusting the brand to offer a clean, seamless, and comfortable experience.

Unfortunately, this Hyatt was a nightmare even after I left it.

From the beginning, checking in was weird: the person at the counter was clearly in the middle of a long personal phone call, and so it was a bit weird during the checkout process.

Whatever, I can deal with weird customer service if a hotel is clean. I didn't think much of it and just went to bed.

But the next day, that is when I saw the bed bugs crawling: multiple small black bugs clearly crawling on the white sheets. 🪳

I was horrified, packed up my belongings immediately and went to the front desk to report the issue. I calmly but firmly said my room had bed bugs, and that I needed another. The person at the front desk asked for evidence, at which point I showed her videos of the bugs clearly crawling.

They gave me another room three floors away from where mine had been. I go inside, look at the beds, and immediately see MORE bed bugs crawling plain as day on the bed. At this point, I now know this hotel has a serious infestation that is crossing floors, and not just isolated to single rooms.

I went back to the front desk and asked if they could just cancel and refund me for that night’s stay, as I would have to go get a hotel down the street instead.

And even though I was calm, I cannot emphasize how disruptive this was to my trip:

Because of Hyatt’s bed bug infestation, I now had: A suitcase that had been exposed to infested bedding. No clean or wearable clothing for the rest of my trip. The risk of spreading bed bugs to my family, home, and apartment in San Francisco.

I asked what Hyatt’s policy was for helping guests with decontamination processes in these situations. The agent simply said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” What do you mean you don’t have a protocol in place for something like this?

I asked for plastic bags to at least contain my suitcase and contaminated clothing. They gave me a few, and I left with all of my belongings tightly wrapped in a plastic trash bag- which is exactly what you want to do on a vacation, right?

I checked into the Hilton down the street. It was extremely clean with no bugs. But now, instead of enjoying time with my family, I spent that night in the bathroom going through my suitcase item by item, trying to sanitize what I could so I wouldn't contaminate this new hotel room now.

Despite this, over the next week, I got itchier and itchier with clear little bites along my thighs and abdomen.

Thanks to this Hyatt, I couldn't wear any of the nice clothes I had specifically packed for the special occasions my family planned, because all of my belongings needed to remain sealed in plastic until I could safely decontaminate them once I returned home to San Francisco.

Thanks to this Hyatt, my whole family also had the lingering fear I'd expose them to the bed bugs through my clothing and luggage.

This experience ruined my trip, and left me let down by a brand I once preferred.

After this experience, the Hyatt image is permanently tarnished for me as a budget motel masquerading with high-end prices. I strongly urge anyone considering this hotel to AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS.

I have videos of the bed bugs crawling but can't seem to upload them in the reviews. Here are photos from the...

I don’t stay at five-star hotels, but I do want consistency, cleanliness, and a sense that I’m being treated like a guest, not a burden. That’s why I’ve come to rely on Hyatt Place—not Hilton. It usually strikes that perfect balance: elevated without being pretentious or too overpriced.

However, what I experienced at Hyatt Place Washington DC / US Capitol was so far off the mark that I wasn’t just uncomfortable—I honestly felt embarrassed for the brand.

To start, from arrival to getting into my room took me over two hours. Valet was unavailable (there was a sign, but no person), so I had to circle the block multiple times and decode local parking signs just to find street parking down the road. I walked through the rain and was met by a security guard behind locked doors who just stared at me like he couldn’t imagine why I was there—until he finally rolled his eyes, put his phone down, and got up to open the door. When I came back with my bags in hand (still no carts available), he did it again—just sat there while I stood in the rain, unable to reach my key card.

The young man at the front desk seemed like he forgot how to check someone in—or maybe he just didn’t care. He was clearly more interested in chatting up a couple of young women hanging around the lobby than doing his actual job. That was obviously the priority of his night.

In between my arrival and final trip to my car (still no carts), the entire front of the hotel turned into what felt like a nightclub or block party: inebriated people smoking cigarettes and cannabis, drinking alcohol, screaming, loitering, cars blasting music—it was a full-on circus. I have no idea what kind of experience this hotel is trying to create, but it’s the opposite of what any working professional—or family—would be comfortable with. It was chaos.

Once I finally got inside the room, I found a mildew odor, mold in the shower, a clogged sink drain, and a broken phone. One of the elevators also shook so violently on the way down it felt like I was inside a paint shaker. That’s not “mid-tier in a major city.” That’s neglect. That’s poor management.

I’ve had very specific problems with some Hyatt properties in the past, but I’ve never experienced a total systems failure like this. That’s why I stay at Hyatt and not Wyndham, IHG, or Hilton. And Marriott is simply overpriced.

I’ve stayed at dozens of Hyatt properties. The best, by far (not the fanciest)? Hyatt Place Chicago / River North (66 W Illinois St.). That’s the gold standard. Clean, efficient, calm, respectful. The staff are actually present and you feel like you matter. Housekeeping didn’t bang on my door like SWAT at 9am. They tapped politely, closer to 11, like actual professionals.

If Hyatt wants to keep this DC property open, they need to bring in new management—or send the manager of the Chicago location here for a week or two and let them retrain this staff from the ground up. Or swap them entirely.

This isn’t just a bad review—it’s a wake-up call. If I were running this brand, I’d want to know when a location was actively damaging the trust I worked so...

I am going to start by saying I have never left a negative review in my life. I give a lot of grace to businesses who don’t fully meet my expectations. But the experience we had here was so poor that I want to make sure it’s available for others who might be contemplating staying here.

I booked my room months ago and at that time, the reviews were mostly decent so we proceeded to make a reservation for 4 nights.

We checked in around 6pm and our room temp was 82 degrees. The AC was broken and wouldn’t kick on, no matter what we did. We called the front desk and they said they would send someone. They never did. We came back from our evening plans and it was still 80 in the room so we called the front desk. I let the phone ring for a long time and nobody ever answered. We walked down to the desk and again, they said they’d send someone. By 12am it was clear we would be suffering with the heat for the night. But then I flushed the toilet and the water rose to the top of the bowl and wouldn’t go down. Having a toilet is non-negotiable so I called the desk again, and again, nobody answered. Walked back down to the desk and nicely explained the situation. They moved us to another room. At midnight we packed up and moved. We were relieved that the second room was cool and the toilet flushed. It was also much quieter than than the previous room. The first room faced New York Avenue and was very loud. The second room faced N Street and was very quiet. But then we realized that there were issues here too. There were no towels. Not even one to dry hands. There were no light bulbs in the bathroom. There was no iron, which we needed. There was no phone. There was a very small amount of toilet paper and no Kleenex. The couch looked like some sort of science experiment, it was full of disgusting stains. The blankets on the bed were so worn out that the filling was non-existent. They offered little warmth at all.

In the morning we hunted down towels, toilet paper and an iron. I proceeded to iron my white jacket, and then noticed the iron was putting stains on the fabric - there was something melted into the iron that was transferring onto my clothes.

There were one or two people that worked the desk that were helpful in resolving some of the issues, but I found most to be dismissive.

The hotel is also located in a sketchy neighborhood. Being out after dark does not seem like a wise idea. Even during the day time, make sure you’re really paying attention of your surroundings if you venture out on foot.

On our last night, the elevators were not working for a time. Our room was in the 8th floor. This was resolved fairly quickly, which was a relief.

The ad for this place mentions that they have a restaurant, but they do not actually have one.

They do offer a free breakfast each morning, which I was satisfied with. The selections were decent and it tasted good.

We talked to other guests that we bumped into in the common areas and many were also having various issues.

I would never consider...