Kellogg Conference Hotel Capitol Hill at Gallaudet — Hotel in Washington

Normally, I would give the Kellogg Hotel 4/5 stars. Our two-queen bed room was rather spartan and had little else except for the beds, TV stand/dresser combo, and a small desk. And it seemed a bit smaller than a typical hotel room. We would have appreciated an additional chair for seating. Fresh paint did not hide the fact that the carpet was starting to come up where it transitioned into the tile area. And the bathroom faucet was not attached to the countertop. Nothing huge, but some basic misses there.

I'll get to the reasons for the two-star deduction in a moment.

First the positives.

1. CLEAN! Seriously, kudos to the housekeeping staff. Not a spec of anything anywhere, including the hallways, elevators, and public spaces.

2. Safe and quiet. Being on the Gallaudet University campus is a huge bonus. There is a security gate to check-in if driving onto campus (be sure to have your hotel reservation printed or on your phone to show them). There are also acres of open space to run and play (great if you have kids who need to get some energy out), plus great sidewalks and benches to spend enjoying the outdoors. The Gallaudet University police are also very visible and present. On several occasions, I was out walking after dark and felt perfectly fine.

3. The shuttle to Union Station. If you're visiting anything in the city, you need to learn how to use the Metro. It makes movement so much easier. The free shuttle to Union Station (where you can pick up the Metro Red Line) is a huge plus. It runs often enough to be convenient, although we did have to ride back with a full load of college students one time (the kids were great, but there almost wasn't room for my family).

So, on to the negatives.

1. First, I took a star off because of breakfast. We all know how important breakfast is before going out for the day. It doesn't need to be super fancy...just decent. The hotel's breakfast isn't free (even though it is practically everywhere else). Add almost $9 per person for it. Moreover, due to the pandemic, they were only handing out pre-boxed breakfasts (which I totally get), but they were only giving out two per room (despite having two adults and two teenage boys). Each box included 1 small exceptionally dry muffin, one small yogurt, one single-serving of cereal, one pint of milk, one inedible apple, and one juice. Moreover, the food in our boxes was completely frozen. As in inedible. We brought in food for our second morning.

2. Price gouging in general. Parking is $42 per night in a garage that was practically empty. A cup of coffee from their Starbucks machine is $4 per cup, and it did not taste good. Seriously, complimentary coffee is practically the industry norm these days. There is an additional $12 "resort fee" added for...I'm not sure what. Even their desk staff seem to understand this...when my wife was waiting for something, she glanced at the Gallaudet t-shirts for sale in their "shop". $55. Per shirt. When the associate saw my wife looking at it, she told her to go to the campus bookstore where they sold the same shirt for $19.

Every business deserves to make money. But as a hospitality business, there is also the need to be hospitable. There are some positives to Kellogg, but also some very big misses and a clear sense that the money is what is most important for the institution. There are plenty of other places which offer a much greater value for my money. This was our first and last time...

First, allow me to say, this hotel caters to the hearing impaired community, and while I am not a part of that community, I sincerely appreciate all the efforts they put forth to provide an excellent experience for those who are.

I prepaid for my room through Priceline with the understanding I would be charged $10.00 at the hotel for their fees. Not a problem. I get to the hotel and they proceed to place a charge of $74.72 on my account which they stated was a hold and not charge the $10.00 ($11.50 after taxes). I disputed this with the front desk and the director who assured me it was a preauth. I walked away satisfied knowing it would drop off within a day. The front desk associate I originally spoke with then called my room and stated she needed my card to refund the $74.72 charged. I was trying to make an appointment so I asked her if we could take of it when I returned, and she agreed. I come back a few hours later to a new guy working the desk who had NO idea what I was talking about and could not verify this charge anywhere. I explain the situation for the third time and he again contacts the director who contacted accounting apparently, and assures me it's a hold. Fine. I get offered 50% off of my room, which I was satisfied with. I had to call Priceline to get them to issue the refund, which they did, and it's promised in 7-10 days. Today, two days after I stayed with the hotel, I see a DOUBLE charge of the $11.50 on my account which has posted. It's a small amount, but it's the principal of the matter. I've disputed this charge with my bank as I am done dealing with the management here. While this hotel has a decent location with a convenient shuttle to Union Station, unless you enjoy spending three hours of your day dealing with charges you did not consent to, whether or not it was only a hold (which held up needed funds for the trip) and the stress that goes along with that, stay somewhere else. The customer service, while acceptable, was not at all empathetic, and they often seemed frustrated I was looking for clarification especially after I was told multiple things about the same charge. I would not trust this hotel with my card information again.

Edited to add one additional detail: We had to switch rooms at the beginning. We were assigned a room which had a dead battery in the key card deadbolt. instead of immediately reassigning after the second set of key cards did not work (I initially assumed they just weren't magnetized properly as it sometimes happens) we were told to wait for a maintenance guy at our room who would be there eventually. After 15 minutes of waiting he finally shows up and sort of goes, yep, I guess it's dead, and not much else. Instead of anything such as an "I'm sorry, let me fix that for you" or even something close to that sentiment, it was like we were putting them out for requesting a room we could...

Absolutely nothing good can be said about this hotel. Overall, we paid an extra $11/per day service fee for the worst experience ever. My father is diabetic - has to eat when we have to & the restaurant was closed 3 separate occasions before 10:30am when he needed food. The staff informed us that breakfast was available until 10:30am, but they always close by 10:15am it seems. If you would like to know more, here are additional items. We stayed there for 7 days January 12 - 17, 2019.

BedBug bites were found on hands and back after we checked out of hotel Plumbing, no hot water pressure in sink, 10 min. for shower to heat up. We complained 3 days in a row and nothing was done about it We moved to an accessible room for elderly guest, and he couldn't bathe due to plumbing problem Breakfast never was open thru 10:30am 3x we tried. The last attempt was at 9:30am the 2nd to last day we were there and the staff did not seem to care. Buffet and tables were wiped clean

If you require wheelchair access - forget about it, the main entrance has a very small automatic door that barely fits one person through it. The accessible rooms have bathtubs, not walk-in showers either. The room we was given, the window blinds/curtain failed to work and we were told they won't be fixed for another year. Your privacy is exposed with that window.

You are located right on a college campus and people park their cars in the handicap spots to load/unload and there are also some people without the proper accessibility tags. I was never able to park my car in the front the entire 7 days I was there.

I played phone tag with the director of the hotel trying to complain about some of these issues, but after 3 tries I don't believe that anything will come out of it.

I am supposed to come back to this same area for 3 to 4 more week long trips over the next 4-5 months because I have family members in the hospital and rehab. Obviously, staying here was a huge mistake and now that we have to contend with treatment of bed bug bites, we have to deal with that.

Regarding cleanliness, there was a sticky substance near the bed on the carpet that looked like it was there for a while. The areas under the desk and to the sides where the trash can was, you could absolutely tell were never vacuumed. Hotel rooms do not have refrigerators or mcrowaves for any...