Capitol Hill Hotel — Hotel in Washington

Wish I could say my experience was better but unfortunately while this is a cute hotel, the front desk and valet really screw it up for you. I was there today to service a client (makeup) for her wedding day. You would think that would be important or taken seriously. Per my contract, valet is to be used at the hotel. Since I saw on the website that there was limited valet, I called LASTNIGHT at 1130pm- mind you I was arriving at 8am THIS MORNING, therefore not even 9 hours elapsed between the 2. I called specifically indicating I would be there for a bride, her timeline was important, and therefore I wanted to ensure there would be a spot, or if I needed to give them any info like my car/ license plate, etc to guarantee no issues when I arrived. I was assured there was and would be no problem. I thought "ok great"- fast forward to this am,I pull up and was told by the valet there was no spots, that he literally had just parked the last car. I said, "that's interesting because I was assured of no issue today just 8.5 hours ago and asked if I needed to do something to prevent this problem???" I walk inside to the front desk to a young African-american woman who simply didn't seem to want to be bothered with me. Ironicially she sounded like the same person I had spoken to on the phone and she definitely didn't answer my question when I asked if it was her. Her answer after relaying the situation "well ma'am, that's not my problem".. not your problem?? YOU WORK HERE and this issue impacts your guest! There was no "well, let's see what we can do" or "how about we park you right there and keep your keys and move it when there's a spot" or "well we send others to park down that street".... NOTHING! Zero initiative at understanding the issue, it's importance or finding a solution... I said, "well since I have to go park the car elsewhere, can I leave my bags here to be watched so I don't have to hike as far with them?" and her answer "ma'am you can do whatever you want." Excuse me???!!! At this point I'm thinking you absolutely have to be kidding me. No offer to get the bags taken up, nothing. So I go park, come back to get my bags, and the valet follows behind me to open the door to the 2nd building (which my client or her bms could have easily done), and he didn't even offer to carry one of my bags... wth! I was so completely annoyed and the lack of initiative, customer service, and straight up just being nice even to try and help... none of any of this happened. Your guest is aware of the situation and was not impressed either. Please note that I service many dc brides who need hotel arrangements and I will be telling anyone and everyone not to stay here simply because it seems staff does not understand they have a job and responsibility to make the experience, and lord knows I don't need this...

Letter, I just wrote to the hotel email..

To whom it may concern, I find myself in need of contacting you to make you aware of our impression of our first time staying in your hotel. At first we were happy with the room, the service, and the cleanliness of your room. We were comfortable and happy with the location in relation to attractions and transportation in the city. As this is our last night in DC, my family decided to head over to Bullfeathers for dinner. My wife, son, and I are in room 204, in your second building. My mother and father were in room 205 adjacent to us. During dinner, I mentioned to my father, that we noticed that the beds were made, but in an almost hasty fashion, not really made but thrown together. His response was a bit shocked, since they said every day the beds were made crisp and clean. I then mentioned that it appeared that our rugs were not vacumed on a daily basis and they also said no, they always had fresh sheets, towels, dishes in the kitchen area cleaned, etc… So I came back to our room and upon closer inspection I discovered many interesting points. None of our garbage cans were emptied over the three days we spent here, sheets were not changed, the kitchen was not cleaned, nor was our dishes cleaned that were left dirty. I thought about why this would occur and at first I considered the fact that we were leaving the hotel in the morning at about 10 am or so, possibly missing the cleaning crew. But my parents left with us at the same time every day. After some more thought the only thing I could see that was different from us and my parent’s room, was the fact that we had our cat with us and was in our room all the time. As a pet friendly hotel I was under the assumption that this was not an issue. Sadly we had been happy at your location and we were thinking about the people we could recommend your hotel to, who also had pets. But sadly the overall housekeeping service was poor at best. Please let us know if you have a different process for housekeeping that we are not aware of, when you have a pet. But if that was the case, I would assume you would have told us at the point of reservation. Enclosed you will find pictures I just took of the locations where your housekeeping failed. Yes I will be posting my opinion on line and will include the images to re-enforce the fact that your housekeeping people pick and choose how they want to service your...

I really wanted to give them five stars, and they would have gotten five stars, but the bathroom was the deal killer for me. The amount of money I paid for the room, that bathroom was probably the smallest bathroom I've ever seen. The sink was terrible. The faucet was very hard to turn on, only ran hot, and seemed to be clogged. The bathroom was tucked away and you had to go through the closet to get there. You had to be paying attention in the middle of the night if you got up, there was a tiny bit of a lip and you'd stub your toe HARD if you weren't paying attention.

The rest of the room was huge for DC - I'd have gladly given up some of that real estate for a sink with a counter or a toilet where you could sit.

The beds were okay, not great. My TV didn't work (not that I really needed it for anything other than background noise while I worked late).

All my electric outlets seemed to work - that can be a rarity in a hotel! That was a win. The desk space in my Queen Superior Kitchenette was big, and the chair was very comfortable.

You can't beat the location! If you have meetings on Capitol Hill, this is the hotel to stay at. Fly into DCA, take the metro to Capitol South Station, and you're a very short, easy two blocks to the hotel.

Staff was all very nice. I loved how coffee, tea, water was in the lobby at all times. That was convenient. They have a little mini snack shop, too, with limited options. I didn't try the breakfast that was in their building next door.

Oh, Wednesdays, the church bells ring at 7am, so if you plan on sleeping in, heads up! ;) Other than that, the hotel was generally quiet the one night that I was there. The doors do slam when they close, there's not too much that you can do about that, other than try to be courteous yourself for your neighbors, and try to close them gently.

I'd probably stay here again, but I would try a different room to see if the bathroom situation was different, and I would definitely not pay the same amount...