Homewood Suites by Hilton Washington DC Capitol-Navy Yard — Hotel in Washington

My friend booked me a room here for the inaugurations at the Capitol, and we asked whether it was possible to get early check-in when we called the night before. They said that if we came at 11AM they would be able to put me in the room.

We arrived the next day after an early morning train trip and the woman at the front desk denied that anyone would have said such a thing - it had been less than 12 hours since we were told that an early checkin was OK. She said they were at full capacity (but they hadn't been at 11:40PM the night before when we spoke to her male co-worker?) and refused to even apologize for their giving us the wrong information. With meetings to go to, we ended up having to find a place to store our luggage all day.

My friend told the woman at the front desk that she had booked the room but I would be coming back later on my own, and would it be OK for me to check in. The woman said yes, with no other info given.

When I arrived back at the hotel at 4PM, the woman refused to check me in, saying my friend had not authorized a credit card for payment and demanding I give my own card. I asked why she hadn't said this earlier, as my friend had made it clear that she was renting the room and I was staying in it, and asked whether I could give her my card then and get my friend's card later. Surprise, surprise, the answer was "no". I ended up having to give her my card (as my friend was, by this point, across town) and then having to get cash from my friend, when she had already booked everything on her membership card.

Great, so now I have my room key and a giant unexpected hold on my credit card. I head up to my room, and start unpacking my things, then head around the corner to go into the bathroom...

AND IT WAS A CONSTRUCTION ZONE. There were tools and equipment all over the place, the worker had left a walkie talkie and wallet, and the bathroom couldn't be used. I called the front desk and told her, and she first didn't believe me and then said she would send someone up to clean it up - I had 45 minutes between meetings to rest and put myself back together and had already been going since 6AM because they had lied about letting me check in early. I said if there was another room they could put me in I would prefer to do that as it would be quicker. She argued with me and finally said okay.

So now I'm re-packing my stuff up, and all of a sudden THE DOOR BURSTS OPEN AND THE WORKER WALKS IN. He had NO idea I was there, that was clear, but he started saying "oh just let me clean up oh just let me clean up"; I said I was packing up and would be out of the room in a few minutes and he CONTINUED TO COME DEEPER INTO THE ROOM and I finally had to say with quite a bit of force that I was putting my things together and he needed to leave right that moment. It was EXTREMELY disturbing that he kept trying to stay in the room after I told him to go and only left after being asked to go multiple times. I did not feel safe.

I went back downstairs and got a key to the new room; again, they were unapologetic. Headed BACK upstairs (at this point we're down to about 30 minutes before I have to be back out the door) and to the new room, where the light switch didn't work. I had to call down AGAIN to have someone come fix it, leaving me about 15 minutes to clean up and get ready and head back out again.

I let the woman who checked me out the next morning know that it had been VERY unimpressive and asked if there was anything they could do thanks to the multiple issues with check-in. She said sure, they would give me some points, but she had to ask her manager how many when they came in. We confirmed my friend's cell number and she said she would call her to let her know how many points.

It's been over a week, my friend just got her statement and not only did she not have any points but they never called her, and she got an email from corporate saying they had been told the hotel had reached out and resolved the issue. They had not, but at this point she's...

UPDATE TO FIVE STARS ONLY BECAUSE OF GREG!!!!

This review is specifically for Greg - my goodness is this an angel who walks among us!! As my previous review stated, I had a horrible experience at this hotel. I went through a whole dispute process with my credit card company, got a hold of Hilton corporate, and no one would help me. All I got was a "sorry, you need to talk to the manager" runaround.

Until I called the hotel directly today when I got a hold of Greg. He was the one who helped me originally, and said to not worry that he'd be able to help out. Not only did he help out, he was SO kind, gracious, compassionate, warm, and understanding. The kind of quality customer service we used to have, but rarely see nowadays.

He heard me out, told me he'd talk to Antonio, and within a few hours, I had the full refund for the last night (the night we did not stay at the hotel). I am completely blown away by his humanity, kindness, and wanting to help out another person. Greg - if you're reading this - I ADORE YOU, and will always remember your kindness and compassion. THANK YOU times a million! And if you're Greg's higher ups - please give him a promotion. He deserves it.

My experience at Homewood Suites by Hilton, Navy Yard was an absolute nightmare, and I feel obligated to warn you and others to avoid this place at all costs.

We were forced to leave early due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles and had clear documentation, including plane tickets and receipts to prove our very urgent need to return home. Despite their refund policy explicitly stating that "should you choose to depart early, price is subject to change," the general manager, Antonio Chirico, refused to issue any refund for our final night (a night that we DID NOT even stay in the hotel. In fact, we left early that day to get to the airport). What's worse is he used the excuse of "Inauguration weekend" - something that was not stated anywhere in their policy - as a reason to deny us basic decency.

We just requested to not be charged for the night we were not staying there - and Antonio scoffed at us. Can you imagine?

Not only that, he was cold, dismissive, and utterly devoid of empathy during a time of crisis. Shocking given the nature of what's going on in Los Angeles.

He was completely unwilling to help or even have a reasonable conversation, making an already stressful situation even worse. It's baffling how someone in hospitality could lack such basic kindness.

The only saving grace of our stay was Greg, a kind and understanding staff member who went above and beyond to try to help us the night before. Unfortunately, he wasn't there the following morning when we needed him most. If only the rest of the staff and management could follow his example.

Instead of having all of my focus go to dealing with my life in Los Angeles, I'm now in the middle of disputing this charge with my credit card company. Thank you, Antonio - your lack of kindness is now wrecking havoc on my mental health a week after I had to deal with you and your lack of compassion! You're truly a GEM.

This hotel clearly prioritizes profit over people and has no interest in treating guests with respect or compassion. Do yourself a favor and stay anywhere - quite literally...

I am three months into a four-month stay. You can trust this review.

The rooms are clean and nicely decorated and the bed is comfortable. The best day to stay here is a Wednesday because they have really good cookies (and free beer if you're into that).

However, the hotel is right across the street from the Bullpen, an open-air concert venue, so there is often music so loud you can make out the words in your own room all the way to 11pm. There is nothing you can do about it. There aren't as many concerts as the weather is getting colder, though. But when there is one, there will also be honking cars due to traffic and police sirens responding due some disturbance.

They do have free breakfast but there is something off about the orange juice, and their omelets and breakfast sausage are always tough.

The sink in the room's kitchen is literally not as wide as a dinner plate so good luck washing anything without flooding the countertop. Also the water pressure is not good. Photo included, hand for scale.

I literally bought a lamp because despite the giant not-soundproof windows, the sun barely gets in the room thanks to the other buildings, so I felt like it was dark in my room all the time, even in the middle of the day. There is no overhead light in the main part of the room.

The front desk staff is about 50/50 people who are knowledgeable and helpful vs people who will tell you that someone else will address your issue tomorrow because they don't know what to do about it. I have a personal card and a work card on file and they have repeatedly charged my room to the wrong card, and I've had to ask them to fix it probably four times so far, even after they told me they were taking the extra card off my file.

The room TV only allows Netflix and Disney; even if you have your own login info for other apps it will not allow you to use them.

The fitted sheets often come loose because they aren't actually the same size as the mattress. Photo included.

One time the housekeeping staff messed with my alarm clock by setting the alarm to go off around 5:30am. The clock is not set up in such a way that this could have been an accident. I told the front desk and they said "I do apologize" but to my knowledge they did not look into it beyond that.

The hotel gym is actually pretty nice, and the green line metro stop is right across the street, so it makes getting around the city very easy if you don't have a car, and there are a bunch of restaurants within walking distance because the ballpark is...