Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay ?
Started bad, but reasonably happy at the end.

Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked King Classic, given Premium River view room. I was told it was a 4 level upgrade. And I guess they were happy to give me a river view room to watch the fireworks. However they did not realize I was RA. They thought I was only Diamond. I was only staying for about 15 hours, which is why I didn't reserve the Willard, so I didn't care at first. When I went down to the lobby later I saw a staff member I recognized from the past and asked her to check my reservation. She said there must be a glitch in the system, but she quickly repaired it and gave me a breakfast coupon. And an extra $50 F&B credit for the inconvenience. Later the usual AMB amenity of a bottle of wine and a fruit bowl was delivered to the room.

How are the rooms?
Modern and well equipped, but no real character. The bathroom was large and the Nespresso machine was appreciated. I noticed that on the TV Welcome screen this hotel shows my status (only Diamond), and how many points I have.

How is the exec. lounge?
N/A

How was the mini-bar?
Reasonably well stocked. No Champagne and not really great wine. Larger format vodka and average beer.

What was good and what was bad?
Good:
The Vietnamese restaurant is much improved since my last visit. Really interesting dishes that are well prepared. Even on the breakfast menu they have some cool options. But they also have classic American breakfast food.

Good service recovery from the poor check in experience.

Bad
Perhaps not the hotels fault, but there was a dog barking a couple doors away from me. It lasted for an hour and I finally went down to report this. Later the front desk called me to say the dogs owner apologized and was medicating the dog so it would keep quiet. Horrible!

Value for $ or IHG One Rewards Points? Would you return?
I vastly prefer the Willard and it will always be my top choice in the District. But circumstances may push me to the Wharf from time to time. It's not a terrible hotel, but it is also not in the class of the Willard.