Waldorf Astoria Washington DC — Hotel in Washington

Rating Trump International is difficult because I believe you need to place them in a like category. It wouldn't be right to compare a $500/night Trump room with a $200 JW Marriott. So keep that in mind.

First off the hotel is beautiful and full of grandeur and splendor. I will say having all but the valet entrance blocked off with security barriers takes significantly away from the aesthetics but it is still an impressive building. The decor is great and you feel almost regal when you walk in.

I don't think you can find a better service or staff. They absolutely go out of their way to ensure you are taken well care of. It's very difficult for you to do anything for yourself...even pushing a button for the elevator is done by a staff member seeing you heading to the elevator. They are top notch.

We had a double queen room because there were three of us and we were celebrating our daughter's birthday. That's important. The room was one of the nicest I've been in...25 ft. ceilings, curtains that opened and closed at the flick of a switch, plenty of outlets, marble bathrooms and a chandelier over the bed made it feel like a presidential suite.

So why not a five star rating. Two reasons really. a) the mini bar prices were laughable. Now I realize that I am not the demographic or tax bracket so I get it...but a .75 bottle of water is $10. Come on.

Remember I mentioned the birthday thing? They did too. At night there was a nice desert and note from the hotel manager for our daughter wishing her a happy birthday. Very nice. Oh, and the salted caramel chocolates on our pillows were REALLY good.

The other reason is that while opulent there are a couple things that just weren't designed well. The lighting for example. A couple of lamps they turn on during turn down service aren't controlled by switches. You have to go to the lamp and turn them off. If they really wanted the power curtains to be effective, put the switch near the bed so you can open them and close them when you wake or go to sleep...instead they tucked it away in the corner...if you're going to have "automatic" blinds that you have to walk past to open it kinda defeats the purpose.

The other thing is the shower...and this is REALLY dumb. It's a beautiful glass and marble with a large rain forest shower head. Beautiful...except for the fact that to turn the shower on you are half in the shower (and I'm 6'3" with long arms) and it's impossible to avoid getting drenched with ice cold water. Horrible design. Being a Trump hotel, I'm sure they would be happy to have someone run your shower for you but that's just not my style.

All in all an amazing place...location was great (I will say though that Uber had a VERY hard time finding us because of all the entrances being blocked off, we had one guy give up and cancel the ride, he was literally around the corner). It was definitely an experience I was glad we had. Would I recommend it? Yea, if you're the kinda person that could care less about paying $10 for a...

The location is probably the best in DC. Many noteworthy attractions in DC are well within walking distance. The building is stunning with a story to tell, and standout from many of its competitors. Unfortunately that's about it.

You can still easily tell it was a Trump hotel from the decorations and the overall "vibes". It can be a little bit "tacky" but it's subjective, I think some people would enjoy it more than I do.

The room is not very well insulated from the loud music in the lobby, you can hear every person walking down the hallway and the music from the lobby if you're at a lower floor. There are many minor details that lack attention, some broken fixtures and burned out lightbulbs to name a few.

These are just minor complaints nonetheless. The service is the major letdown.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be Karen complaining about every single nonsense. Considering it being supposedly THE flagship hotel brand in the Hilton line up with a matching price tag. I don't feel the service lives up to the industry standard. And the staff is the bread and butter for a 5-star hotel to stand out among its competitors and lower tier properties.

Upon my arrival, the valet team seemed to be unsure about my intention and very little direction was given about how to hand over my car, being at the dead end with cars parked in front certainly doesn't help. Granted they are polite and eager to help shortly after. We were escorted to the queue at the check in desk and told the bellman will takeover and handle our luggage. There are some minor delays but that's not a big deal. The scripted part was good, but once we got our keys, there were some awkward silent. The bellman was nowhere to be seen and no instructions were given, not even telling us where to find the elevator. It's a minor detail, but these minor details do add up to break the experience.

Let's talk about housekeeping. Cleanliness is acceptable but not great. The timing may also be an issue... As a top tier hotel, 24hrs housekeeping and turn down service are pretty standard. On the second night we went out for dinner at 6pm, turned on the "make up room" sign for more than 2 hours, housekeeping never showed up until we were just about to return to our room. Many in room amenities were not replenished on the second day, such as the mouthwash and the espresso pods. Also, the shampoo bottles were not topped up (and they were running pretty low to begin with). Yes, I could easily ask for them but I'd expect the staff to pay attention to these details without the guest asking.

I'd definitely give this place a 5 star rating if it were a Hilton Hotel but as a Waldorf Astoria, I am unsure if it lives up to the...

I'm a freelance Event Manager and Producer, who works with corporate groups and recently organized a board of directors retreat in DC. We decided to stay at the Waldorf Astoria- to say the least it did not disappoint by any means. ||||This is my 2nd year organizing retreats for this particular corporate group, and I can say hands down I absolutely LOVED working with staff at the WA. They made my job much easier with little to no stress. ||||Group Sales Manager, Nicolas Leon is a superstar! He assisted with the group reservation and went out of his way to accommodate us in every way possible. He was very easy to work with, on top of being very professional, efficient and just an absolute pleasure to interact with. The attention to care from him was unparalleled, he will go down in my personal book as one of the most special people I've had the opportunity to work with. ||||Senior Sales Catering Manager, Jessica Garcia was my right and left hand regarding all the events we had planned at the hotel, and anything I needed really! We had the best communication, always on the same page with everything and she was a key component to the success of the events we held at the hotel. I seriously could not have not pulled things off without her, she was a wonderful support throughout the process. I have a hard time trusting people when it comes to the details around my work, but I was able to whole heartily trust Jessica let go and not think about anything twice- says a lot ! ||||Other key catering staff that really went above and beyond to ensure we had the best experience is Rodolfo who made sure my events were running smooth day of and Youseff who was attentive to my group + made me the best Moroccan coffee ever! Seriously would love to hire these guys to be part of my team. ||||My fave bartenders were Jose and JC, who always greeted me with a smile and exchanged friendly banter with. ||||Aside from the amazing staff, the food at the hotel is excellent - especially for hotel food, my group was very happy with the quality and often made comments on how they really enjoyed their meals. ||||The hotel itself is beautiful, historic, classy, well located and the event spaces are to die for. It was so much fun planning all the events at the hotel, and what was even better was seeing the faces of the board members in awe with everything and a permanent smile always on their face. This is when you know you not only did your job, but an amazing one at that. ||||A HUGE thank you to all the staff at the Waldorf Astoria DC for every single little thing! The Waldorf Astoria group/chain will always be top of my list for fulfilling any hotel needs...