I stayed in this hotel because I was attending a meeting at the Convention Center down the block. Starting with the positives, this Embassy Suites appears to be very new, had a very nice sized room with a flat screen TV in the livingroom (and regular TV in bedroom), nice bathroom amentities, a very nice breakfast buffet and excellent sushi available for take out/eat in in the restaurant in the lobby.

On the negative staff, the front desk staff was brusk and seemed to lack the customer service standard that I have come to expect at Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt properties (this is a Hilton property). Also, unless one was attending the Convention Center (which is about two windy blocks away), the hotel seems a little out of the way of DC attractions.

Given a choice between this hotel and the Homewood Suites property (also a Hilton Chain) in DC, I'll return to the Homewood Suites. Better room, amenities and staff.

We stayed here in early March-a larger corner suite room that accommodated my husband and me, plus mother in law and 2 young kids (ages 4 and 7). I highly recommend this as a choice for DC if you have a young family and don't mind a short cab ride or healthy walk to the Mall and other locales in DC. We ate dinner our first night at Capital City Brewing Co, which was fine. Other nights, we ordered in pizza at the hotel from a local chain they recommended (great price, fast delivery), and still another, we went out to Hard Rock , which is a crowd pleaser when you have little ones.

The free breakfast was very convenient and I never waited more than 5 minutes for a custom omelet, or in the buffet line that served hot, fresh food. The staff was constantly watchful of food running out and replaced empty bins immediately with new ones.

Pool is on the smaller side but the plus side is-it's shallow for little ones ( just a bit over 3 feet deep) all the way across. Even with 5 other kids in the pool from another family we did not feel crowded out at all. Towels everywhere and staff nearby to check in on things. Exercise room-didn't use but looked very clean and was used by other patrons.

Manager reception was adequate--snacks were of the popcorn/chips and salsa variety, but drinks and service were plentiful.

There is apparently a laundry facility onsite that I never searched for, but heard about from the man who works in the gift shop. They sell tiny bottles of Tide in the gift shop.

Housekeeping and room service were excellent. We asked for an extra towel and the maid brought up 4. Bell caps and other service reps were knowledgeable and helpful.

My only "con" is that there really wasn't a convenient drugstore nearby, where we could purchase snacks and drinks. Perhaps I was not completely aware of what was around us in that area, though, since we literally spent most of our days touring and were never back at the hotel except at night. Speaking of night, we did not feel threatened walking around the hotel vicinity with our kids and stroller in the evenings. We come from a large city, so are mindful of our surroundings. But you'll be fine in this neighborhood.

One key piece of info: a hotel staff person told us the White House was a quick 2-block walk. Well, it wasn't. It was more like 15 minutes briskly, and 6-7 blocks plus. If you are headed to an early morning White House tour, give yourself plenty of time, because it is a hike, and you should allow enough time to find the correct entrance for tours as well as clear the proper security checkpoints.

I recently stayed at this hotel with a group of friends. We booked it for a weekend stay in Washington DC. We arrived at the hotel 10:30pm Friday night and found out our hotel room was given away to a group of kids who were also staying at this hotel. We originally booked a two double bed room with a full-size pull out. What we got was a one king bed room with a full-size pull out. The front desk claimed this was an upgrade and the room was bigger, but it sure wasn't what we reserved.

Besides that little problem, the suite itself was clean. The bathroom, bed and living area was all clean. Once we were settled down we contacted the concerige to find out about any local resaturants. The guy on the phone just told us that there was a "Chinatown" a couple of blocks away. He didn't elaborate what it consisted of, or what direction it was in. We had to actually find directions from the front desk at a Marriott a couple of blocks away (while we were walking trying to find our way to Chinatown)! The lady at the front desk in the Marriott explained to us what Chinatown was, and precise directions on how to get there. She even explained how to get to Georgetown!

The housekeeping staff was rude. It was like they didn't want to give us extra blankets or pillows. During the morning time, using the elevators can be quite a hassle, especially when there is an event going on at the convention center. Everybody trying to make a mad dash to the ground floor, can definetly clog up the elevators. The complimentary breakfast is a wonderful addon. Please take advantage of this if you can.

The hotel is overall in a good part of the neighborhood. If you want to park, it is best to valet it (even though its $30/night). If not you will have to find a space on the street. The hotel itself was great, and I would definetly stay there again for the hotel. But the staff was not so great. This hotel would be excellent if it wasn't for the staff.

I stayed here with my husband for an extended weekend. It was great - excellent staff, room was perfect, and breakfast was good. Close enough that we walked to all the sights. The check-in kiosk in the lobby was handy when we needed to check into our SWA flight 24 hrs. in advance; printed out the boarding passes too!