Conrad Hotel DC
It was time for another quick jaunt to Washington, DC. My planning was easy for this one. I had a fixed timeframe for the trip, as I was primarily going to DC to see Mogwai, my favorite band. With that show date set far in advance, I looked at my hotel free night certificate situation. I had a Hilton cert expiring the week after concert date. Using it on this trip was meant to be, and I quickly settled on the Conrad Hotel DC. It’s not too far from the 9:30 Club, and it’s probably the highest-end downtown Hilton property I hadn’t experienced. I went into this stay due more to logic than genuine interest. Let’s take a look at my experience.
Front Desk(s)
I arrived at the Conrad Hotel DC just before 1 pm. Immediately upon entry at ground level, I noticed a small sitting area and desk, too tight to be the main lobby. The desk rep immediately made eye contact, and I inquired about check-in, where he was delighted to assist. He mentioned a room was ready, and unexpectedly, it came with a small park-view upgrade. As a newly-minted Hilton Honors Gold member in April (down from years of Diamond), I didn’t have high expectations for an upgrade. Frankly, it wasn’t high priority on this one-night stay, anyway.
Additionally, he offered a room on the tenth floor with access to the Sakura Club for a “discounted” rate of $170. As many know, this lounge isn’t accessible with Diamond membership, and I must say I was mildly intrigued. Still, I’d hardly be in the room on this trip, and I found the Hilton elite daily food and beverage credit an adequate enough perk.
The hotel does a great job of informing guests of its services and amenities. The agent provided an info sheet covering all of the usual topics where I focus – restaurant and fitness center hours, wifi, etc. While the main lobby is located on the third floor, this agent provided exemplary service in a lower-key setting. I thanked him and headed up to the room.
The Room
As I approached my room, I noticed a dirty entryway – what appeared to be white crumbs and/or lint stood out on the dark carpet. Entering the room, I passed two large closets on the left and bathroom on the right and arrived in the room’s main space. The second queen bed faced a large mirror and generously-sized sofa, table, and chair. I admired the efficiency of this setup – much like the Conrad Los Angeles, the table and seating are effectively useful for working, dining, and other things. The floor to ceiling windows provided outstanding views of the small park and buzzing DC intersections.
The Conrad Hotel DC opened about six years ago, and at first glance, the room and its decor didn’t feel dated or show wear. But upon further inspection, the white walls, especially edges, could use a fresh coat of paint. A closer look at the bathroom was more concerning. The flooring appeared dirty, to the point where I requested housekeeping provide a more thorough cleaning. The floor gave off a shiny, sticky look, some stains looking like they more deeply set in over time. My buddy coming into town for the show noticed the same when he arrived soon after. I’d find this unsatisfactory in a standard Hilton property; seeing it in a Conrad is even more noteworthy. More on this later.
Breakfast
We enjoyed breakfast at Estuary, the Conrad’s main restaurant on the third floor adjacent to the main lobby. I appreciated the restaurant’s spacious dimensions and spectacular views. Our two-top against the windows was a perfect complement to the morning fare. As I generally do on any first visit at this property level, I went with a traditional breakfast. Everything was on-point if not necessarily memorable. Portions were generous; I was full with just over half of my breakfast. Maybe that was due to my higher-than-usual coffee consumption – it was deliciously strong. My buddy liked his pancakes, but he was underwhelmed by the chicken sausage (that surprised me zero).
All-in with tax and gratuity, breakfast was about $90 – not terrible. I enjoyed the overall return – a solid breakfast in an attractive setting covered with a $50 food and beverage credit and Hilton gift card remnants.
Housekeeping
Of all hotel amenities, I enjoy housekeeping service perhaps more than any other. It’s one of several reasons I pick traditional hotels over AirBnB/Vacasa/etc. I also feel that housekeeping staff are vastly underappreciated. Quite often, they have made my hotel stays truly special. When there’s a disappointment, it truly sticks out.
I noticed my room key offered a phone number for requests via call or text, and I decided to try the latter. After texting, I immediately received a response stating, “sorry, this service is not available.” Wanting to explore the hotel more, anyway, I went to the main lobby and front desk to request additional cleaning of the bathroom floors. About 15 minutes after I returned to my room, a housekeeper arrived.
As I greeted her, she abruptly interrupted, telling me she had already cleaned the floors. I pointed out a few areas, and she hurriedly ran over the stains and stickiness with a clearly-inadequate Swiffer-like tool. Her technique led me to believe this is how it was done many times before – rapidly, lightly wiping over areas without truly cleaning them. I thought of the Pulp Fiction scene where Winston Wolf tells Jules and Vincent to, “wipe down the upholstery. It don’t need to be spic-and-span. You don’t need to eat off it. Just give it a good once-over.”
The housekeeper’s wording and tone indicated that she had cleaned this room before my check-in. While I was conciliatory, she seemed more interested in defending her previous (in)actions rather than truly resolving my concern. Seeing this was going nowhere, I thanked her for her efforts. The floors looked about the same after.
She asked if I needed anything else. I noticed a vacuum holding the hotel room door open. I asked her to please vacuum the room entryway. She was quick to mention that’s something the “house man” (a term I’ve never heard before) does, but she would take care of it for me. Again, I simply thanked her. While I took her “anything else” offer at face value, she was going significantly out of her way to do me a tremendous favor, apparently.
I must say that other housekeeper interactions, such as in the hallways and at turndown, were excellent and met the standards of other Conrads I’ve experienced.
Conrad Hotel DC – Conclusion
I’d wanted to try out this property since it opened, but I was careful to come into this stay not expecting much. Like many properties, I was open to returning or avoiding it based on the first experience. Dirty floors and one prickly housekeeper swayed me to the latter. While I did use a cert on this stay, the hiked rates the Conrad Hotel DC charges – cash money (ranging from the $400 to $1k neighborhood) or in points (starting at 90k) – should come with a more refined experience, including housekeeping.
I’d only recommend this property for others in a similar position as I was – visitors needing a quick stay in that particular region of DC who also hold certs without any higher-priority, near-term uses. Others can probably do better elsewhere. Indeed, after this experience, I’d rather return to the Waldorf Astoria DC, something I never expected to say.
How was your experience at the Conrad Hotel DC?
I had a similar housekeeping experience at the DC Conrad on a one night stay for New Years’ Eve last year. Checked in about an hour early and was greeted by dirty towels on the floor of the bathroom. In my case though, the front desk staff aggressively took care of me when all I asked of them was to have someone clean it up while went out for happy hour – refunded me the total points cost of my room, bought a round of drinks at the bar for me and my date, and left a bottle of prosecco in the cleaned room. It is a bummer to see that their housekeeping woes might not have been a one off – it is otherwise a solid property.
Glad things worked out, Mark! Thanks for reading.
I can confidently say that if I owned a hotel, restaurant, car dealership etc I definitely would not want any of you as customers. You want everything, complain about anything, and want to pay nothing. Ok I get it(or maybe I don’t) it’s a $500 hotel. You should expect more. But I’m sure if the price started with a 2 or even a 1 your review would have been the same. Perhaps I just have low standards. Granted I stay at Motel6 (or a casino comp). I’ve literally never walked into a room and thought it was dirty let alone enough to have to call housekeeping. I would have assumed any complaints about your trip would have been directed at the completely disappointing 9:30 club. Try the Anthem next time.
I’m more interested in acts than venues. Regardless, I don’t think Mogwai’s booking agent reads MtM or the comments. But we can dream!
I had similar issues at this DC Conrad. I asked for a rollaway bed for my son on check-in. About four hours later, nothing, so I called again. Waited two hours, still nothing. Finally, around 10:30pm it showed up from the initial request 7 hours earlier. I shouldn’t have to make three follow-up phone calls.
The people answering the phone are also super rude. I called asking for a concierge question, but they would not forward my call to the concierge desk. I needed the time changed on a ticket and wanted to see if they could help me. The person answering the phone said I needed to come to the desk and speak to the concierge in person. I was about 45min walk from the hotel and wanted to address the issue over the phone, but she refused to forward me. I eventually spoke to hotel manager, who connected me to the concierge.
I will never stay at this location again.
Yikes, Tim! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Benjy, a houseman is an industry term for someone who does general hotel jobs like moving tables and chairs, emptying garbage, cleaning and maintaining public bathrooms, etc. It’s a common term, especially in union properties, where there are strict rules as to where some job responsibilities begin and end. As a guest, you shouldn’t know or care but as someone who travels frequently you should probably brush up on some hotel lingo.
Bravo, Adam! Unfortunately, I doubt knowing this term would’ve improved the outcome.