Club Quarters Hotel White House, Washington DC — Hotel in Washington

"A Sinister Exercise in Disrespect and Deceit - An Inconsiderate Nightmare with a Crying Baby in Tow!" Words cannot fully capture the utter contempt with which CQ White House treated us during what was, without question, the most disastrous hotel stay of my life. If there were a way to rate this place negative stars, I would. Let me start by saying this: the audacity of this hotel is only rivaled by their complete and utter disregard for human decency. I booked a room here for Inauguration weekend, fully expecting the 4-star experience promised on their website. Spoiler alert: that was a lie. What I was met with was the kind of fraudulent bait-and-switch that would make a used car salesman blush. The photos they showcase are a sick joke, depicting a swanky, modern establishment that bears no resemblance to the sad, dilapidated hellhole I actually arrived at. The entire operation is a charade designed to lure in unsuspecting guests, only to deliver an experience that’s so far below expectations, you start to question if you’re on a hidden camera show. Let’s talk about the price. $3,230 for a single room over a holiday weekend—clearly, a price gouging scheme dressed up as "premium pricing." What they don't tell you is that this place isn’t remotely worth $300, let alone $3,000. But wait, there’s more! The "customer service" (if you can call it that) was an absolute joke. When my plans changed, and I needed to add my wife and child to the booking, I called the hotel repeatedly, hoping to explain the situation and request a simple cancellation or adjustment. They flat-out refused to help, even going so far as to say “don’t bother talking to us—contact Booking.com”. I did, and was sent back to the hotel. This back-and-forth went on for hours, with zero resolution, and my family and I were left to fend for ourselves, completely stranded. No empathy, no apologies—just rude, dismissive attitudes. But here’s the kicker. We had no choice but to go to the hotel, hoping for some semblance of decency. We were not just disappointed—we were disrespected beyond belief. The room was a disaster. The photos online? A complete fabrication. The mattress was a pathetic joke, about half the size of what was shown in the pictures. And let’s talk about space: If you call those cramped, narrow walls a “room,” then I’ll gladly hand over my firstborn. It was a coffin-sized shoebox. Oh, and the noise isolation? Forget it. I could hear the neighbors breathing, not to mention a series of loud, soul-crushing coughs that were so pervasive I felt like I was sharing a room with a chain smoker. But wait—there’s more. The room smelled like a damp basement. The carpet? Musty and disgusting. The couch was old and saggy, with cushions so worn out they felt like they might collapse under you at any moment. And don’t even get me started on the bathroom—if I wanted to experience claustrophobia, I’d have just gone home and locked myself in my own closet. It was that bad. In the end, with a crying 2-year-old and no other option but to abandon ship, we left—bags in hand, dignity in tatters—at 11 PM to scramble for another hotel on the coldest night of the year. A hotel that, mind you, was kind enough to actually let us stay there without the attitude, without the games, and without the ridiculously inflated rates. I cannot overstate how incredibly inconsiderate, fraudulent, and downright disrespectful this establishment is. Do yourself a favor—avoid this hotel like the plague. The only thing more "misleading" than their pictures is their total lack of decency. Do not book here. This place is an absolute scam, and if you value your time, your family’s well-being, or simply don’t want to be treated like garbage, steer clear of the CQ White House. Trust me—there are literally hundreds of better options in DC, and you deserve to stay somewhere that treats you with basic...

I travel frequently for work and this was the most mediocre stay I've had this year. The hotel offers very few amenities, and what little they had was only available certain hours of the day - if they offered it at all.

The good: plenty of outlets (at least 4 that I counted with USB ports as well as wall plugs) and a large work station in the room. Great location, right on the metro blue line and central to a lot of major parts of the city. There are water stations on every floor so I was able to keep my water bottle filled with cold water at all times.

The TV comes with a built in Chromecast so I could watch my own Netflix on the TV (though it stopped working at one point and I just switched to my laptop rather than fight with it). My window overlooked a cute park so that was nice. Also my room came with a yoga mat! They don't offer breakfast but there were granola bars and fruit in the lounge in the morning so at least there's that.

The meh: a lot about this place felt overpromised and underdelivered. The room was cramped and really only seemed to be suited for a one night stay. There were no drawers to put clothing in - I used the tiny nightstand drawer for a few things but basically had to live out of my suitcase. Fortunately there was a closet, at least! I also had to take up most of the desk space with my personal belongings because there weren't enough surfaces on which to put my stuff. And there was no fridge so my leftovers from dinner had to be thrown away.

The app has an entire section about what to do in the hotel and it mentions - in several places - an evening reception with "free refreshments and specialty juices". The pictures on the app show a spread of juice and cookies which I never experienced in the time I was there. I went twice during the hours listed and all they had was the usual (and by usual I mean they put them out for a few hours on M-Th) peanuts and M&Ms. When I complained to the front desk staff, they said "oh, we don't do that anymore, that information is outdated."

The restaurant connected to the hotel was pricey, the food wasn't very good, and the service was slow.

There was only one ice machine in the entire hotel - it was in the basement along with the only vending machine (that had very little in it) and the gym... which was only accessible by one of the 2 elevators. And that elevator was out of service for several hours so they could clean the brass one of the nights I was there. There are no stairs guests can use, so if you wanted to use the gym that night then too bad! They had to send someone down to get me ice which I needed to keep my soda cold because there was no fridge in my room. And there was a small group of people at the front desk waiting for ice.

They also have free coffee in the lounge but the only options for milk are either disposable packets of half and half, or steamed milk out of the machine that doesn't say if it's whole, skim, or what. And there were no non-dairy options, so vegans or anyone with dairy issues are SOL.

If you need a place to stay for one night and you don't need much then this place offers great budget accommodations. But if you need to stay for more than a few days I would recommend...

I stayed here for 2 nights in July 2018 during a trip to Washington DC for a conference. I am afraid I did not enjoy my experience here for a number of reasons, the biggest being noise. For my first night I was put on the second floor (possibly room # 203) and boy, was that room noisy or what!! It is almost directly above a metro station (Farragut North I believe) and I was somewhat irritated by the noise over the course of the evening. Because I had arrived on a Sunday, the noise stopped soon but that just drew my attention to the incessant noise from street traffic. The room I stayed in is very close to the intersection of two major streets and being on the 2nd floor, with very little sound insulation, my first night at the hotel was very uncomfortable even with ear plugs. I had to request a room change during the middle of my 2-night stay and inconvenient as that was, I am glad that they accommodated my request. For my 2nd night I was given a room on the 10th floor and it was certainly much quieter up there and I had a better sleep on the second night.

The second issue for me was the spartan nature of the lobby itself and the check-in process. I am an introvert and am often happy checking myself out at a grocery store rather than converse with someone at checkout. But even for me, I do want to have a human being check me in rather than be directed to a machine for check-in. I do enjoy being welcomed by an actual human being to a new city, to the hotel and am used to that but those are non-existent here. There is a person in the lobby area but s/he has multiple roles to play - as a concierge s/he answers questions, while also handling items of luggage being left behind by guests, and helping people out who experience issues during check-in such as myself. I get the idea of reducing costs by going lean but I simply do not relish having one single person perform all of these tasks and not have the bandwidth to welcome guests to the hotel. Sure - it might save a few dollars but in the long run, I am not convinced that it leads to higher profits for the owners of this hotel.

Those would be my two biggest complaints about this hotel. There are others too, e.g. the ongoing renovation work makes both the 2nd floor and the 10th floor look very ugly but obviously the owners think it best to keep renting rooms out even as the place is undergoing renovation. The restaurant - Cafe Soleil - like most hotel restaurants, is an afterthought. I can say that with some confidence because I dined here on three occasions - once for dinner on the first night and then again for breakfast on the subsequent mornings. At least that was one saving grace - because the rooms I was staying in were on floors that were under renovation, I was provided a free breakfast voucher which I utilized.

All in all though, for the reasons I have mentioned, I wouldn't...