Omni Shoreham Hotel — Hotel in Washington

As always, I try to provide highly useful reviews.

In summary, the score I would provide for the Omni Shoreham is 3.5/5. Lots of room for improvement, that said, it’s perfectly “adequate”. The big draw is the pool, especially if you have kids. Set your expectations reasonably and don’t expect the Four Seasons.

I stayed in a Traditional 2 Queen room.

Main Pros: Good for families 10 minute walk to Woodley Park Metro station About 20 minute walk to National Zoo Less than 10 minutes walk to restaurants Comfy beds Pool hours are long, opened around 6:00 am, closed at 10:00 pm

Main Cons: The rooms are a bit musty feeling, smelling, and dusty Rooms very outdated in terms of decor and tech Plugs hard to reach behind nightstand Valet Parking is really the only parking option (so they said) and expensive, $55 per night, which is outrageous

Lobby Nice seating area, couches and chairs Sometimes live music Fresh Ice tea and lemonade nice surprise after hot day out

Room Furniture old and in dire need of replacement Digital safe available Musty smell Plugs behind nightstand hard to access (like if you had a cpap machine) Rack-rate on the back of the door showed $1,500, so we all had a good chuckle about that

Room Bathroom Shower takes 3-5 minutes to warm up in the morning Not enough ventilation in bathroom Nice assortment of little tubes of hand-soap, body wash, conditioner, shampoo, and cream Issues with bathroom: no bars of soap, you have to use the tiny tubes of soap as hand cleaner, which was awkward The sink has a tiny vanity, not a lot of space for makeup or other things, so that’s another issue

Food clCoffee shop, had good salads, coffee in the AM was not piping hot though, should be hotter The only other food I had was at the pool and he pool bar was very disorganized, I get that they were busy, they probably could have used 1 more person, for a total of three people back there Food was fine for pool bar food, hamburger and chicken sandwich were perfectly average Pool bar charged me for the free kids meal we were supposed to get, they were so busy they couldn’t find a manger to reverse it, so I just gave up and overpaid At the pool bar, they also had a hotdog and hamburger all you can eat buffet for $22 by the pool that they didn’t tell me about, until after I ate, that would have been nice to know

Pool Pool had long operating hours, 6:00 am-10:00 pm which was great Decent size pool, but was crowded and can be difficult to find lounge chair or other seating area Towels are available Hot tub was average size but they had the temp turned way-up, seemed hotter that it should have been There is a pool bar where you can order drinks and some food (see food section for more info)

“Perks” Make sure you are charged correctly: Was told that kids (10 and younger) eat free, but see my comment in the Food section I also was give a $15 credit per day to use in the hotel lobby bar; note the bar only opens at 4:00 pm, so that credit is less than useful

Local Area I felt safe walking in the evening There are several restaurants within 10 minute walk, including a McDonald’s and a Nando’s chicken Fairly easy walk to Woodley Park Metro station or to the National Zoo An early morning Uber on a Saturday morning at 7:00 am only cost $8.00 from hotel to Lincoln Memorial so that was good

Service Most employees I interacted with were friendly The pool attendants in the spa where you gain access to the pool were a little snooty Front desk people nice, but some language barriers Called for towels and more soap to room at one point, and took forever, like 30 minutes for them to bring it to the room

Other There is a kids play room where they have some toys, or kids can color; it didn’t look supervised, but I saw some parents with their...

I was there for a 4 day conference and stayed at the hotel. Here's my experience: Room: The room was not stocked with toilet paper when I arrived. The bed was hard. So much so I actually woke up several times with limbs pinched asleep from the stiffness of the bed. The sheets were so starched they were uncomfortable and stiff. The room layout feels wasteful. There's an empty entry way to the bathroom but the bathroom has no counter space. I had to have all my bathroom things on the table in the room and go back and forth to get ready in the morning. I could hear the rumble of the metro throughout the night and it kept waking me up. That might just be a sensitivity on my part.

Service: At one point in time, I went to the front desk to ask for a single bag of herbal tea for my room after the initial housekeeping visit did not replace the one I had used. I asked the attendant if I could just get a bag of tea and he said he would tell housekeeping to bring one up and asked what kind. I asked him what kind he had, and he said he didn't know and to tell him what kind I wanted and if they had it, they would bring it up. I asked for something with lemon, and he said ok. A packet of tea never arrived. Besides the front desk person, all the staff were extremely friendly. It was not their fault that they were understaffed, and they really did try to do the best they could. They were clearly just overwhelmed which seems like a management issue.

Amenities: There are two elevators for each wing of the hotel, and with 7 floors and roughly 90 rooms per wing, the elevators are abysmally slow. Every day, there were several of us choosing to take the stairs (I was on the 5th floor, so it was a LOT of going up and down). The hotel seemed completely understaffed for the conference, with lines at the hotel coffee/market stand starting as early as 6:30am and taking at least 15 - 20 minutes to traverse at best. Lunch was no better, and the "pop up" grab and go option was only open during the busiest time of the day. Mind you, for anyone staying at the hotel not at the conference, this would also be their experience, and I imagine equally frustrating. The hotel forces you to valet your car. On the day of exit, the valet's were terribly behind, with a line of cars lined up well down the street waiting to get into the circle. They said it was because the luggage person had asked people to get the valet first since it would take so long, but then cars were pulled up with no drivers readily available. For a conference of a couple thousand people, it just seemed like the hotel wasn't ready to take on that responsibility. Again, this appears to be a management issue. I had to keep logging into the Wi-fi every day and every time I went to the conference or switched areas. It was a mild nuisance, and if that was all it wouldn't even be worth mentioning. But given all the other issues was irritating.

Location: The one thing the hotel has going for it is its walkability. There are several restaurants within walking distance, as well as being very close to the metro station.

Overall: I really don't think it felt like a 4 star hotel. That said, if you don't need a super comfortable bed to sleep and plan on being out of the hotel for most of the day, it's likely worth the cost just because it's so close to the metro and the staff are super kind. Just plan on getting your coffee...

We planned our vacation at the Omni months ahead. Having health conditions, including cancer & asthma, I both wrote and called prior to ensure various room specifics were handled. This included no scents, no feathers, quiet room, no chemicals used to clean, and nobody to enter our room without a mask. I was assured this was taken care of, via email and at check in too. We were also “promised” a free microwave upon check-in by our Customer Relations Manager which took 4 days to show up after repeated calls using that manager’s name who made the promise. The WORST: Room 669. Immediately on entering we noticed a foul smell and a constantly dripping sound. We immediately observed disgusting foul black mold around the base of the toilet, indicating the seal is bad. Bathtub constantly dripped. Mold in shower and shower tile was so disgusting it looked like it had never been replaced and was filthy. The odor of FECES in the room kept getting worse, filling the entire room. It was positively nauseating.

NOTE: This is a health hazard for anyone, let alone someone with cancer.

We called twice and they finally sent a “House Engineer” who entered our room - maskless. He told us 1. He couldn’t smell anything 2. He had a cold. 3. The only thing he could do was use a “completely safe” CHEMICAL the Omni “always” uses. It did nothing. At that point, we were livid and after much exhausting, time consuming debate the Omni late on a Sunday night sent one guy to help us move all of our stuff to a new room. We were so worn out and they offered a suite with a few small credits, so we accepted it. However, considering 1) the amount of time we wasted on our vacation that can never be replaced, 2) the fact that this is an OMNI Hotel - 4 Diamond - where Presidents have stayed and the Senate meets at - This should NEVER in a million years have happened. A room provided to a customer - or even accessible in an Omni this condition? Absolutely unacceptable. SEE PHOTOS. But to happen to someone with BLOOD CANCER who took the time and energy and effort to spell out exactly what we needed, is unforgivable and must be made right.. We will not know right now what effects sleeping in such HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS for 2 nights could have on my future health. But surely a hotel of this stature should have at the very least given us those two horrid nights on the house, regardless of whether we got a suite or not. It’s reprehensible that we were nickeled and dimed after being put in this situation of utter filth. We are asking Senior Management to consider reimbursing us for our entire stay at the Omni Shoreham. The Servers at Roberts Restaurant were EXCELLENT, to include Darrell, Annett, Massea, Seghe, Feli, the wonderful young gentleman from Indonesia and any others I am forgetting. The cream of the crop. They represent what the Omni name is about. If only your management was the same. We will wait for your communication...