Residence Inn by Marriott Washington, DC National Mall — Hotel in Washington

My wife has wanted to take our family to DC for years to see the monuments and museums. We were going to do it last summer, but we were shut down by COVID.

It's a great location. It's only a 15 minute walk to reach the National Mall, then most of the major sites are within a 20 minute walk after that.

Unfortunately, we experienced problems with the A/C and with hot water in the shower. In particular, the A/C was a showstopper because of the 90+ degree temps and high humidity of August.

Also, the rooms are starting to look a little shabby. Not terrible, but probably in need of refurbishment soon.

Here's a chronology of our stay:

Day 1:
A/C not working. Engineer advises me to turn the system on and off at the breaker panel. Works for a while. I have a family of 4. There are only 2 towels in the suite. There are only 2 sets of dishes and silverware in the pantry.

Day 2: A/C not working. Breaker panel trick no longer works. We have to change rooms. I requested grocery delivery from the front desk in the morning. That evening, th groceries are found sitting on the counter, instead of in the refrig/freezer. Milk, meat products, and frozen goods have been sitting in a hot room for about 6+ hours.

Day 3:
no hot water for the shower

Day 4: no hot water for the shower I tell the front desk about the problem with the groceries sitting out on the counter all afternoon. They apologize and tell me it won't happen again, so I order more groceries. Groceries are once again found sitting on the counter, instead of in the refrig/freezer.
I talked to a manager about this and she was horrified. To her credit, she had all of the items that we ordered replaced, and she didn't charge us for the groceries.

Day 5: no hot water for the shower

Day 6: finally hot water in the shower! My sons go to use the pool and it’s closed

Day 7: hot water in the shower! I have a sudden realization that I left some items in the safe in our original room. I call the front desk and they tell me that the room is now occupied by someone else, but they will send someone to retrieve my stuff as soon as practical. Now, while I acknowledge that this was a mistake on my part, I'll point out that it wouldn't have happened if we hadn't had to change rooms. Also, shouldn't this have been caught when the room was prepped for the next guests? To their credit, the staff successfully...

Location: very close to metro and short walk to DC Circulator bus Capitol stop. 15 minute walk to National Mall. The only negative is that there are no restaurants nearby (except for a great coffee place next door!). We used Doordash for most of our dinners which worked out great for our family of 5 with three young children after a long day of museums.

Cleanliness: The hotel is starting to show it's age but was very clean. No peeling paint or mold. Hand sanitizer readily available. Housecleaning is Tuesday and Friday and upon request otherwise. Both times we had housecleaning they didn't leave enough towels for us and we had to ask for extra.

Mobile options: Mobile key never worked despite being reset by the desk. I had to ask for a plastic key. Mobile service request (for extra towels) was marked as completed despite never being actually completed. We had to ask the front desk for towels.

Breakfast: During our 7 night stay we only had a hot breakfast twice. The other days were "grab and go" style wrapped breakfast sandwiches, granola bars or muffins, cereal, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, croissants or bread. It was sufficient but nothing special. The breakfast lady was super stingy and only put out a couple of juices (only orange juice) at a time so the "grab and go" was more like a "stand and wait" most mornings. This caused a backup in the serving line as all the children wanted juice!

Pool: was closed for repairs our first two days. It was nice when it opened but hot tub jets didn't work. We appreciated the drinking water dispenser that was provided!

Room: spacious enough for our family of 5. Toiletries were provided in bigger bottles so we didn't run out. We came close to running out of toilet paper though. Front desk was happy to help with any requests.

Staff: fantastic. Very friendly and helped with whatever we needed.

Parking: very narrow garage. Pull in your side mirrors before you enter. If you are driving a larger vehicle, like a minivan, drive all the way to the end (P2) and the spaces are a little easier to park in. There were plenty of parking spaces during our stay in August. We chose a rate that included parking but otherwise it is $50+ a night. There are two cheaper parking garages nearby. You also have to pay a parking tax...

There are two main reasons for the low rating for this hotel: Front Desk Service and Facilities. The service from the front desk is nothing short of appaling. I arrived at the hotel at 15:10 after a very long trip, expecting to be checked promptly; however, this was not to be. The person in the reception took her time to look up from the computer and acknowledge our presence there, curtly stating that it was a busy day and that check in time was at 16:00, while offering no alternatives on what to do next, or even if we could wait in the common area inside the hotel. Back and forth with this unhelpful individual took almost until 16:00 so I asked again if it was possible to be checked in, to no avail. Again, nothing to make our waiting time more amenable was offered by anyone, so we decided to ask if our bags could be stored while we went to grab something to eat, to which these people reluctantly agreed. Off we went and returned at 17:00 to find - again - that there was no room ready. Extending our patience again, we told these people that we'd go to church. Returned again almost at 18:00, at which point the manager told me that they "made me wait to make sure I had the best possible room." There was - of course - no help with our bags upstairs and we finally were able to to our room at 18:21 hrs, wondering how quickly we'd be able to find another hotel as close to the office as yours. With nothing available - within budget - in such short notice, I had a tense conversation with my wife and we decided to endure, certain that our experience would only improve from there. While it did, the improvement was not significant and everytime we needed to interact with the front desk was dreaded. Specific examples ahoy, but nothing as awful as our check in experience, by far the worse in any hotel I have ever been. The second issue - facilites - interlops with the above, as "the best possible room" was next to the elevator and the noisy service room, while facing the office building next to the hotel. This building kept all lights on all night, meaning that it took me the better part of the first week of my stay to be able to sleep for the whole night. Space is limited for this review, so I sum it up stating that I don't expect to use this...