Location: 14th Street a few blocks from either the Red or Orange/Blue metro lines. CVS across the street for late night snacks but no booze available. There is a package store down the street on L Street. (I think it was L). Anyways a little further down L Street going west is a "nice" dive bar called the Post Pub. The breakfast place across the street from the lobby was bleh. Small bagels and too long a wait for an empty store.

Check in: As usual, a professional and courteous agent. No suites available

Room: The room was nice and it overlooked Thomas Circle. Huge windows to see the Circle, National City Church and Luther Place Memorial Church (had to Google those to see what I was looking at). Quiet room. No street noise either. The bathroom was different. A big free standing tub to the left and a shower to the right with the sink and loo in the middle. The shower was like an "s" with curved walls, no door and a rainfall only shower head coming out of the ceiling. The outside shower wall was the bathroom wall. That was different - something I hadn't seen before.

Amenities: Close. I received an email from one of the managers asking what I wanted. The email was a a play on the namesake who was an early head of the OSS (William "Wild Bill" Donovan) - agent X kind of stuff. I was supposed to reply all with my requests so that the front desk would get the info too but my email was kicked back as undeliverable. No messages getting through to the front desk for me . I tried again - no go. Next try was a call to the hotel. I did speak to someone who said that she would take care of the amenities. We joked a bit. I asked for the Presidential Suite and an open bar. I got drink tickets, wine and cheese. The CVS noted above was useful to get gummy bears late night b/c they never made it to my room.

Wine Happy Hour: Kimpton white - ugh. The red isn't much better. There was also some sangria and that was much better than either the red or the white. For the first time at a Kimpton, I was asked to show a room key at happy hour. Apparently, this (all?) Kimpton happy hour was noted in a print article as a DC hang out leading to non-guests enjoying some free booze. Very understandable behavior.

Restaurant/bar: One of the few Kimptons that I've eaten at. What a great meal. Zentan has small plates rather than appetizers and main courses. I ate a lot. It was really good. And the cocktail menu was real drinks rather than a chocolate martini and the like. The waiter was great too. Even got a Moroccan recipe from him and a better technique for making preserved lemons. The bill did climb with the food and drinks so be careful. It got expensive fast but it was a lot of fun and well worth the cost (I hope ). I also visited the rooftop bar to use my amenity drink tickets. Same great view as the room but outside with a bar and a pool. The pool was not open for swimming at that point. The bar had a clubby feel and many non-hotel guests were enjoying a beverage or two. It was a younger crowd with bouncers. Much better than the W in DC (IMO a ruined grand old hotel b/c of the clubiness), but still kind of odd to have bouncers in a hotel.

Check out: Professional. How was your stay/do you need X, Y or Z.

Another win for Kimpton. Note that this is a "new" Kimpton and is eligible for a freebie night For IC.