YOTEL Washington DC — Hotel in Washington

YOTEL, a play on the words ‘YO!Sushi’ and ‘hotel’, seems like a clever concept but it really isn’t. We stayed at YOTEL Washington, D.C., on two occasions in May 2025 during two separate visits to D.C. for a vacation booked with British Airways Holidays. ||We did not enjoy our two visits. ||At YOTEL you check yourself in using a kiosk. It was simple enough to use and quicker than lining up at a desk. This is the first U.S. hotel we’ve been to where we haven’t been asked for I.D. upon arrival. ||Our two rooms were paid for as part of our vacation package, however there was the obligatory additional ‘facilities’ fee, payable upon check-in: $70 for each of the 2-night stays (so $140 in total), plus a $200 refundable hold on our card for each stay. We also paid an additional $55 for a late check out, extending our second stay from 11am until 1pm. That meant we had to consider an additional $395 into our busget (this is typical in American hotels, with the resort fee and holding amount varying hotel by hotel).||Visit 1: First Class King (May 24-26)|Visit 2: Premium King (May 29-31)||We did not have a comfortable stay at YOTEL. On the first night of our first visit, we were kept awake late at night by excessively loud music and noises coming from a roof-top bar. The noise seemed to reverberate off the exterior walls of the building opposite and the single-paned windows didn’t help. We had read about this online, and as residents living in a noisy town centre thought we’d cope, but this was a different level altogether! Far too intrusive. ||At 2am we were woken by screaming and shouting from other guests in the hallway. On night 2 it was even worse: it was being caused by a room full of girls across the hall. They even drew the attention of the hotel security, as they were screaming, shouting, laughing and singing so loudly. It went on for hours despite security telling them to quieten down. When we checked out the next morning it looked like they’d damaged a light fitting in the hallway near our door. Not good. ||Both rooms were modern and featured an electronic bed plus mood lighting, which got the better of us on the first visit. The motion sensor in the bathroom seemed like a great idea for saving energy, but not such a good idea when a pregnant woman is showering and the room kept going dark. It’s no fun either when you’re doing your business but have to keep moving so that you’re not sat on the John in the dark!||It seemed that we were destined not to be able to relax in our room: ||😴 On our second visit we were awoken at 9am by housekeeping tapping loudly on the other room doors….||😴 The room walls were clearly so thin that you could heard the neighboring guests using the window rollerblinds. ||😴 Every so often there was a periodic rumbling coming from the bathroom area. No idea what that was. ||☔️ On the second night we were awoken in the early hours by a loud tapping. Tap, tap, tap…. We investigated by torchlight and found that the roof above us was leaking in and the noise was the water hitting our possessions. We were on the 3rd floor, so knew there must be rooms above us, but D.C. was on flood alert that night, so assumed it was from that. ||YOTEL was clean and smart and looked impressive - it had clearly been designed for the Instagram generation - but sadly we did not enjoy our two stays there. The smell of cannabis from several other guests only added to our dismay. ||POSITIVES|👍 Close to Union Station|👍 Close to the Capitol Building|👍 Giant bed (you could roll over 5 times!)|👍 Clean, tidy and modern|👍 Friendly staff|👍 Efficient air con (reasonably quiet, too)|👍 Complimentary coffee machines (4am-10am)|👍 The steam iron was impressive: it looked like a spaceship!|👍 Close to a liquor store ||NEGATIVES|👎 Single-glazed windows allowing in loud music from a roof-top bar|👎 Sliding bathroom door that wouldn’t remain closed|👎 Rowdy guests|👎 Only one small towel per guest |👎 Noticeable smell of cannabis from many other guests||YOTEL could be so much better and while we were uncomfortable and sensitive to the negatives, we would still recommend the hotel for those on short stays in D.C. You would have to consider whether you could cope with the potential...

My stay at YOTEL Washington from December 16–18, 2024 (Confirmation Number: 809200830), was deeply disappointing and riddled with issues. Despite the hotel's claims to care about guest satisfaction, my experience showed a complete lack of accountability and transparency.

To begin, I stayed at YOTEL Washington from December 16 to 18, 2024 (Confirmation Number: 809200830). On the first night, the smoke detector or fire alarm facing the bed flashed bright blue lights directly into my face, making it nearly impossible to sleep. While this issue was fixed after the first night, the second night was even worse.

Starting at 11 PM on December 17, I experienced severe noise disturbances caused by other guests. I called the front desk multiple times—at 1:00 AM, 1:20 AM, and 1:41 AM—and while the staff finally addressed the noise after my last call, I was left with insomnia, waking up every 10 minutes until close to 2 AM. During that final call, the staff verbally acknowledged the issue and offered compensation for one night’s stay.

Despite this verbal commitment, YOTEL later denied ever agreeing to refund the room rate. They claimed their system had no record of the incident and stated that the only action taken was waiving the facility fees and occupancy tax for one night. As part of their “compensation,” they also offered me complimentary breakfast—a gesture they knew I was unable to benefit from. What’s the point of offering something that cannot be used? It felt like a hollow attempt to show they addressed the issue without actually solving it.

Thankfully, I had recorded the conversation in which their staff explicitly offered compensation for the room for the night. Despite providing this recording, neither YOTEL nor Priceline has taken responsibility for honoring this commitment. Instead, YOTEL deflected, saying that since I booked through a third party, I would need to contact Priceline to resolve the matter.

To make matters worse, Priceline refused to accept the audio recording as proof, instead requesting that I submit it in a PDF format—an absurd and impractical demand. It felt like they were intentionally complicating the process to avoid addressing the issue. Priceline also doesn’t provide an itemized receipt for bookings, which made it even harder to track what was paid and refunded.

I also sent screenshots and recordings as proof to YOTEL, showing the promises made during my stay. These were completely ignored in their response, as they doubled down on denying responsibility. Their response further reflects the hotel's unwillingness to act in good faith or honor their own commitments.

Additionally, the room itself was poorly designed and unhygienic. The bathroom door had large gaps at the top and bottom, meaning the toilet space wasn’t sealed when flushing—an unpleasant design for anyone concerned about hygiene. On top of that, the ceiling above the bathroom was moldy, which was unsightly and concerning for health reasons.

I would also advise readers not to assume that YOTEL cares about resolving issues simply because they respond to reviews. Businesses often respond publicly to appear concerned but fail to take meaningful action behind the scenes. I have provided all the details of my stay, including confirmation numbers and proof of what was said, but YOTEL has done nothing to resolve the issue. If they truly cared, they would have already acted without asking me to repeatedly call or follow up.

This entire experience, from the flashing blue lights and noisy second night to the moldy bathroom ceiling and the unhelpful responses from both YOTEL and Priceline, was exhausting and frustrating. I strongly recommend avoiding YOTEL Washington altogether and being cautious when booking through Priceline. Neither seems capable of providing the transparency, accountability, or service you...

A Brewless Betrayal Worthy of 1773

Oh, Yotel Washington DC, you sleek, futuristic haven of compact luxury—or so I thought. My stay at your tech-savvy, capsule-chic establishment was meant to be a delightful escape, but instead, I found myself plunged into a crisis of colonial proportions. On August 5, 2025, your British management—yes, British—dared to commit an act so heinous, so utterly devoid of civility, that it rivals the injustices that sparked the Boston Tea Party itself: the removal of free in-room coffee.

Let me set the scene. My wife, our kids, and I arrived—the children, bless them, content with their soft drinks and too young to crave coffee’s bitter embrace—dazzled by the neon glow of your lobby and the promise of a “smart” room that would anticipate our every need. But when we entered our pod-like chamber and sought the comforting hum of a coffee machine, we were met with… nothing. Not a single K-Cup, not a drip, not even a sad packet of instant granules. A very friendly receptionist explained that, as of August 5, 2025, the British overlords—I mean, management—had decided that free coffee was no longer part of the Yotel experience. I half-expected to find a portrait of King George III winking at me from the wall.

This, dear Yotel, is nothing short of a modern-day Tea Act. Back in 1773, the colonists tossed tea into Boston Harbor to protest taxation without representation. Today, I’m ready to fling my complimentary (but now coffee-less) travel mug into the Potomac to protest caffeination without consideration! How dare you, under the iron grip of your UK-based leadership, strip us weary travelers of the one thing that fuels our jet-lagged souls? Is this revenge for the Revolution? Are you trying to remind us who won at Yorktown by denying us our morning brew?

The irony is thicker than the foam on a latte we can’t have. Your British management has the audacity to operate a hotel in the heart of Washington, DC—mere blocks from the very institutions that symbolize our hard-won independence—and yet you’ve imposed this cruel, caffeinated embargo. It’s as if you’ve sailed across the Atlantic to tax our sanity, forcing us to either shell out $5 at your overpriced lobby café or stumble, bleary-eyed, to the Corner Bakery Cafe two blocks away like some kind of caffeine-deprived Redcoat.

The rest of the stay? Fine, I suppose. The bed was comfortable, and the rooftop pool almost distracted us from our caffeine withdrawal. But none of that matters when we’re forced to start our day without so much as a whiff of arabica. Yotel, you’ve turned a futuristic utopia into a dystopian nightmare. I half-expected to find a musket under my pillow to defend my right to a morning brew.

In conclusion, Yotel Washington DC, your decision to eliminate free in-room coffee is a betrayal that would make Samuel Adams himself rally a mob. I urge all prospective guests to bring their own beans or, better yet, book elsewhere until this injustice is reversed. Until then, I’ll be dreaming of a world where coffee flows freely and the spirit of 1773 lives on. Two and a half stars out of five—because at least the Wi-Fi worked while I Googled “Boston Tea Party reenactment ideas.”

No coffee was consumed in the writing of this review, and I’m still...