Review: Capitol Hilton, Washington, D.C.

This week I had to come down to Washington, DC to work with a customer.  Now, I've been to loads and loads of Hotels, and most of the big ones in Washington, DC.  This week I decided to stay at the Capitol Hilton.  It's about three blocks North of the White House.

So, being the traveler I am, I am a Diamond member with Hilton, for the past three years, which is the highest you can get as a "premier traveler" with Hilton Rewards.  I'm not saying that to brag, I'm saying that to illustrate a point.  As a diamond member, you automatically get certain things.  Free Gym access, free breakfast, free newspapers, and free room upgrades just to name a few.

So, and you might call me spoiled, but whatever, I'm not trying to act that way, I'm giving a review.

So, I get my room.  No refrigerator, shower was dirty, shower head sprayed water every which way (indicating that you have hard water, and the shower head hasn't been cleaned), and no electrical outlets in the bathroom.

Now, how do you not have electrical outlets in the bathroom?  God forbid I should be a woman and need to plug in the hair dryer!  Where was the closest outlet? Behind the TV. Which was on a TV stand, which was immovable. So, there was no way to dry your hair (and curl it, with a curling iron, cause I think of stuff like that for my wife) anywhere close to in front of a mirror. Matter of fact, the only place you could have plugged it in, was behind a TV stand in the middle of the room.

There were four outlets available in the whole room. Two on the lamp on the desk, and two behind the night stand. So, if you are technical person like me, you have stuff plugged in all around the room. Fairly annoying.

The TV was ancient, you couldn't hook up any external media to the TV, which, is also annoying.

Room service food was so-so. The menu consisted of things like foi-gras and the like. Seriously? Who is going to eat food of "that" caliber from the room service menu? People that order room service want things like wings, and quesadillas, pizza. Room service is like, a last resort and you just want something good. Oh, and by the way, a sandwich for 19 dollars? So, you add delivery fee onto that, drink.. You have a 30 dollar dinner? A bit much for a regular sandwich. I order room service fairly often (because I get tired of prowling through a city trying to find food -- you travel as much as me, you'll know what I mean) and the average price is around 19-25 bucks. 30+ dollars for dinner is overpriced for simple food.

Internet. The Internet speed was pretty good actually, but it was something like $15 dollars a night. Again, not what I am used to, and not comparable to the other hotels in DC. The room rate per night was reasonable, (for DC), but the other things they charge you for a the hotel was overpriced.

Now, saying all that, there was a note on the desk of my room saying that the hotel is currently undergoing a 36 Million dollar renovation. So let's hope they fix some things. The biggest request I have, of all hotels, is: PUT MORE OUTLETS IN THE HOTEL ROOMS. Accessible. Easy. In the Desk or something.

So, until the renovations get done, I recommend the Marriott Metro Center.  It's nice (without going higher to the Mandarin, W hotel, or JW Marriott), or either of the Hyatt's.  They are nice, but they have the 'lack of outlet' problem as well.

So, my review is pretty unhappy.  Now, finally, as I said in the beginning, I'm a Diamond member.  Would you like to see my view out of my hotel window of the lovely Washington DC?



Lovely eh?

I stay in a lot of Hilton's.  Most are nice.  This one is obviously old, and we'll forgive them for that.  So, maybe I'll try them again after they complete their renovation.