District hotel — Hotel in Washington

Please read this review before booking a stay at the District Hotel. BEWARE!

As a small business owner, it pains me to leave anyone a negative review, I know how it can negatively impact a business, but this place left me very unsettled and I'd hate for any good paying customer to waste a dime here.

I often travel for work staying at budget hotels. My hotel standards are not high: clean room, safe location, good price. We'd rather spend extra dollars enjoying our time on food and fun than splurging on a room.

As soon as I got off my flight to D.C. I had work to do and wasn't able to check into my room until around 11pm. Checking in was a breeze, location was great, and the lobby seemed good enough.

I got my key card and headed to Room 208.

Upon entering I was startled at how run down the room was. Parts of the carpet near the bed had been cut through and unraveling, exposing the subfloor. It looked nothing like the photos I saw on Expedia. Even so, I'm too tired to really care, I head to the bathroom and start changing into my pjs. I did notice there was hair (more than a few strands) on the floor. I questioned if the room had been cleaned at all and to be safe I rest my backpack on the sink to keep it off the floor.

I walk over to the bed, pull up the blanket and notice there are dozens of tiny holes in the corners of the flat sheet. Also notice there are several strands of hair stuck on the polyester blanket. At this point I'm getting nervous and decide to pull up one corner of the mattress because those little holes look like big bites (I think) and there it is, a dead bed bug underneath a FILTHY mattress probably from 1980. No exaggeration.

Never having a bed bug situation or having seen one in real life, I sit on the desk and start googling what they look like. It's a match and I start packing my belongings carefully.

I took a photo of the bed bug but decided to scoop it up with a plastic cup to show the man at the front desk.

I stood there for several minutes waiting for him to wrap up his personal cell phone call (terrible) to explain that I wanted to cancel my room. He gives me a lot of attitude, calls me a liar, and so I hand him the cup with bed bug. He doesn't seem grossed out or surprised, but tells me that I must have planted it there. Wow, really? Why would I do that? So I can go spend more money somewhere else at midnight?

He tells me I need to call Expedia to cancel the room so I do and they call him to verify. He tells me they will charge a cancellation fee worth one nights rate, which really means there is no refund at all and that's when I start getting angry. Eventually he agrees to cancel the cancellation fee, I receive an e-mail from Expedia confirming the cancellation and I leave.

1.5 blocks west (?) there is a Holiday Inn and a Courtyard Inn. I get a room at the immaculate and CLEAN Courtyard in for $139.00.

The next morning I walk back to the District Hotel to verify I won't be getting charged a cancellation fee. Before he even asks which room I was in or who I am, he says that I won't. I ask him to actually check and he starts getting very defensive.

When I explain what happened, to this seemingly decent human being, he gets angry and calls me a liar. That they inspected the room and found no bed bugs. I tell him it's because I physically handed the bed bug to the prior night's clerk. He says "No way. You're lying. There are no bed bugs." This guy (bald guy w/ glasses) is an idiot, sorry but he is, and so I leave again skeptical they will really cancel the booking.

I realized today that I'm not the only person who have complained about bed bugs this year. Educate and protect yourself. I wish I had dug a little deeper and read a few negative reviews. These people aren't lying.

DO NOT STAY THERE! DO NOT STAY THERE!

Spend the extra $30 and stay at the Courtyard just 1.5 blocks away. Their staff was wonderful and the place was...

I had to go to DC for one day to take care of some business, I was getting there around midnight and had to get up the next day at 6 to be able to do what I was there to do in one day. Basically, all I needed was a bed and a shower. This so called hotel was the cheapest in the area that I had to be in, next one up was twice as much. I booked a room for $105.40 total through travelocity that was non refundable.

Upon check in I was given room 214. I had set the alarm on my phone but also asked for a wake up call as a backup, attendant looked at me like what's that? He reluctantly hand wrote my request on a piece of paper, not inputting it into their "system".

Room was micro sized but then again I wasn't there for room service or a jacuzzi.

I did not bother getting under the blanket and crashed right on top of the bed, two minutes later I felt itchy, got up and looked and saw bunch of little brown spots on the bed, I thought maybe it was dust so I grabbed a towel from the bathroom (complete with a hole in its middle) and swept the bed and tried to go to sleep. That lasted a minute, same itchy feeling, got up and looked and spots were back. I looked closer and some were moving.

I then went to the front desk and asked if they had anything to help, bedbug spray, Lysol, rubbing alcohol, anything. The guy looked and all he could find was a can of spray starch. I then asked for a couple of clean sheets to lay on top of the bed, I was thinking that way maybe by the time bugs find their way through to me it would have been time for me to get up anyway. He looked and looked, no sheets and both housekeeping closets were locked and he did not have a key. He offered to switch me to room 109 to which I had to agree.

Second room was even smaller but I wasn't worried about that. Bedbug population was considerably less, I was down to one bite a minute. At this point I said f... it, I'll live, let's get some sleep. I was wrong again, for the next hour or so I brushed up on my Russian listening to people not next door but ACROSS THE HALL until they decided to go to sleep or leave or something around 3:30.

I woke up promptly at 6 o'clock feeling fully rested and energized of course, took a quick shower and got the hell out.

I never received that wake up call either but to be fair maybe they called and the phone in the room did not ring, I noticed it was missing half of the buttons.

If you are a cheapskate like myself and want to stay at this dump plan ahead and get a TSA approved travel size bedbug spray online. I live in Dallas and local stores here only have the full size bottles that if you get caught with those at the airport you may end up writing a review...

VERY NICE if you want just a CLEAN ROOM to rest your head and shower and maybe watch a little tv. The District Hotel surprisingly gave me all of that for the price. One of the budget hotels near the downtown vicinity of attractions and local eateries, it's on a pretty quiet residential street in a brick building with an awning. I looked at reviews before hand just to check out the pictures and what people say. I called immediately to discuss the reviews and told them I expect a very clean room, and that's important. I don't need extra amenities, just make sure my room is CLEAN!

When I arrived in the night, Juan checked me in. He was pleasant. He explained that there is Wi-Fi only in the lobby area and coffee and tea is complimentary. The furnishing and carpeting is dated with I'm sure second hand finds but it was an eclectic cute cozy décor that served its purpose. On the side is a coffee/tea station with chairs and table to convene and sit.

I proceeded to my room to the elevator which I expected the cosmetic interior to be sloppily repaired/painted. But let me tell you when I went to my room and opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised. It was immaculate! Wooden floors, corner room, moderate size, furnishings were simple with a desk, a flat screen tv above it and 2 chairs and end table next to the bed. The queen size bed had white fresh linen sheets and a blanket with multiple pillows. The mattress was firm but that's how I like it. There was a flat screen tv which only had a few cable channels but I wasn't there to just watch tv. There is an old air conditioner under a window next to the desk. The manually controlled heat was a God sent during the cold weekend! Next the bathroom was exceptionally clean and the décor was decent. The fixtures were modern, the shower stall was clean. Hot water was hot. I went back to the room area and saw an extra door. I walked over to it, unlocked it and turned the knob and it was a BALCONY! I never knew there were balconies in the building. Too bad it was cold I would have lounged out there. It was a good size balcony that could hold at least 8 people. Over all I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't expect from the reviews for it to be nice. But I booked anyway because I was on a budget and the location is ideal. It's not the best hotel but it's decent ran by professional sweet staff just offering a place to stay for someone with no desire for a bunch of amenities and only a low budget.

I give this place 3 thumbs up out of 5 for the room and staff. I'll be booking again! I INCLUDED PICTURES WITH...