Conrad Washington DC {US-DC}
Mar 17, 2019, 9:21 am
#61
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
I paid about $70 on margin. At night they make cocktails to order and will run anything you want up from the downstairs bar. That $70 is about three cocktails at a nice place in DC. For a couple people, no brainer, not even to speak of the food, which was very good.
Mar 19, 2019, 5:23 am
#63
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
Regarding design, personally I liked the stark, futuristic look. But design is obviously sooo subjective. I think that they probably didn’t want to skew too far in any one direction and kept it pretty neutral. DC is a city where, well, it is hard to please everyone but important to offend no one.
Mar 19, 2019, 12:15 pm
#64
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ORF
Programs: UA 1K MM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold, CAM Card
Posts: 392
Thanks for the initial review! I'll be there in about a month. I found it difficult to get the government rate. This isn't very surprising given that it's often difficult finding any hotel offering government rate in the DC area during many times of the year, particularly in summer when these rates are low, unless you book far in advance. I don't see any government rate availability at the Conrad during the summer months.
The photos of your room look very nice. I'm disappointed in some ways with the Sakura lounge concept. Since there's no executive lounge, there's not much to draw me to this property, because I won't be upgrading to Sakura lounge eligible rooms on my budget. And with the obvious big difference of complimentary food all day (of likely high quality), it seems otherwise similar to the excellent Asian Conrad executive lounge experiences that I've experiences and which won't be available to non-Sakura guests. Still, I'm looking forward to my stay in order to try out the new property.
The photos of your room look very nice. I'm disappointed in some ways with the Sakura lounge concept. Since there's no executive lounge, there's not much to draw me to this property, because I won't be upgrading to Sakura lounge eligible rooms on my budget. And with the obvious big difference of complimentary food all day (of likely high quality), it seems otherwise similar to the excellent Asian Conrad executive lounge experiences that I've experiences and which won't be available to non-Sakura guests. Still, I'm looking forward to my stay in order to try out the new property.
Mar 19, 2019, 12:35 pm
#65
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
I'm disappointed in some ways with the Sakura lounge concept. Since there's no executive lounge, there's not much to draw me to this property, because I won't be upgrading to Sakura lounge eligible rooms on my budget. And with the obvious big difference of complimentary food all day (of likely high quality), it seems otherwise similar to the excellent Asian Conrad executive lounge experiences that I've experiences and which won't be available to non-Sakura guests.
As you note, it is not at all a selling point to travelers who are rate-constrained such as you or I when on business. Of course, those are probably not the customers that this property cares about! D.C. is pretty much a pay-to-play city these days with more than enough money to go around. I'm sure they'll have no trouble selling these rooms to expense-accounters, convention-goers, and wealthy tourist families, including international visitors. And they've provided an offering elevated above what Hilton delivers anywhere else, so I think they've found an opportunity for distinction. We'll see how it plays out.
Mar 19, 2019, 12:50 pm
#66
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: ORF
Programs: UA 1K MM, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Accor Silver, Marriott Gold, CAM Card
Posts: 392
Agreed! I appreciate that the government-rate guests are not the ones that this hotel will be working to attract. I'm now glad that I was able to find a government rate months back when searching on the property. I'm now thinking about the prospect of upgrading to a Sakura-eligible room, particularly if my wife comes up for the week!
I would likely not have stayed as loyal to the Hilton family if it weren't for one property in the DC area that's consistently treated me exceptionally well and worked with me on booking at government rate even during high-demand periods. Given the Washington Metro's platform improvement program this coming summer, I'm not going to be able to stay at that hotel for several months and I'm looking for properties downtown at which to stay. The National Mall (old L'Enfant Plaza) property is opening later in the summer and I look forward to trying that out, particularly since it's only about two blocks from where I work.
I would likely not have stayed as loyal to the Hilton family if it weren't for one property in the DC area that's consistently treated me exceptionally well and worked with me on booking at government rate even during high-demand periods. Given the Washington Metro's platform improvement program this coming summer, I'm not going to be able to stay at that hotel for several months and I'm looking for properties downtown at which to stay. The National Mall (old L'Enfant Plaza) property is opening later in the summer and I look forward to trying that out, particularly since it's only about two blocks from where I work.
Mar 19, 2019, 6:30 pm
#67
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
And definitely interested in trying the L'Enfant property when it (re)opens. I feel like it's really dragged on at this point - seems like they did the Conrad from the ground up in less time.
Mar 26, 2019, 8:58 pm
#69
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Benicia, California, USA
Programs: AA PLT,AS,UA PP,J6,FB,EY,LH,SQ,HH Dmd,Hyatt Glbl,Marriott Plat,IHG Plat,Accor Gold
Posts: 10,820
Thanks very much for this useful review.
I'll be staying there next month. Anyone with any additional reviews, comments on Diamond treatment, recommendations re which side(s) of hotel has best views or least noise, etc?
I'll be staying there next month. Anyone with any additional reviews, comments on Diamond treatment, recommendations re which side(s) of hotel has best views or least noise, etc?
Indeed, the Conrad is open. A few photos attached. I'm generally rather bashful about geeking out taking photos; this was exacerbated by the fact that this property is in a soft opening and thus occupied at about 20% but staffed as if it is at 200%. Hopefully these give a bit of an idea; surely others will post more details soon. I also long ago gave up on trying to manage how photos present themselves on FT, so what you see is what you get. 
In short, this property is very nice. Design is a blend of mid-century and contemporary; the atrium reminds me a lot of the QR lounges at DOH actually in terms of the starkness and amount of white stone, wood, and metal. The room designs are similar - very clean and crisp, but nothing avant-garde - this being DC, we wouldn't want to push the envelope too far.
Rooms are very functional - super nice bedding, easy to use digital light controls, double vanities, very quiet AC, and great soundproofing on the windows.
The lobby bar occupies a nice circular spot against NY Ave; looks like it should really be a hot spot to gather once the word gets out.
Sakura Club is much nicer than any other US Hilton club - table service for drinks, cocktails mixed to order, etc.
In terms of service, they're going for very high touch - hard to tell if this is just due to the soft open or if that is the standard; either way it is beyond anything I've ever seen in DC before - handlers at every step, definitely choreographed interactions, etc. I'm not a big "service" person - I generally just like to be left to myself - but the people who appreciate this sort of thing should be pretty well served, I'd think.
House champagne in the club is Taittinger, for benchmarking purposes.
Happy to answer any questions...
In short, this property is very nice. Design is a blend of mid-century and contemporary; the atrium reminds me a lot of the QR lounges at DOH actually in terms of the starkness and amount of white stone, wood, and metal. The room designs are similar - very clean and crisp, but nothing avant-garde - this being DC, we wouldn't want to push the envelope too far.
Rooms are very functional - super nice bedding, easy to use digital light controls, double vanities, very quiet AC, and great soundproofing on the windows.
The lobby bar occupies a nice circular spot against NY Ave; looks like it should really be a hot spot to gather once the word gets out.
Sakura Club is much nicer than any other US Hilton club - table service for drinks, cocktails mixed to order, etc.
In terms of service, they're going for very high touch - hard to tell if this is just due to the soft open or if that is the standard; either way it is beyond anything I've ever seen in DC before - handlers at every step, definitely choreographed interactions, etc. I'm not a big "service" person - I generally just like to be left to myself - but the people who appreciate this sort of thing should be pretty well served, I'd think.
House champagne in the club is Taittinger, for benchmarking purposes.
Happy to answer any questions...
Mar 27, 2019, 6:25 am
#70
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
I found the rooms incredibly quiet. Given, again, the mid-rise format necessitated by DC, I was curious about street noise but there was nothing. AC is silent too.
Mar 27, 2019, 7:26 am
#71
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 3,723
Please get some photos of the Sakura Club lounge fare if you book a SC room! I'm very curious about it, and would like to see if lounge food presentations are worth the price differential. Thanks!
Mar 27, 2019, 9:43 am
#72
Join Date: Aug 2005
Programs: AA LTP, UA, DL, HH, Marriott/SPG
Posts: 585
I just had a wonderful stay at the new Conrad. It really is a nice property and the service was excellent. For those asking, the diamond breakfast benefit is $15/night ($30 for guest+1). You could get breakfast in the Estuary restaurant. You could also use your $15/$30 credit at any other time of day at any of the food/bar places - the hotel will just apply the credit to your folio.
Mar 28, 2019, 10:28 am
#75
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: IAD...and loving it?!
Programs: UA Platinum (1MM Gold), HH Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 858
Still not clear...
If the Sakura Lounge cooked-to-order breakfast, lunch and dinner mentioned on the Conrad site is an extra cost feature (i.e., access to) or included at no extra cost.
We'll be there in November on an award certificate stay and the upgrade to a somewhat better room plus Sakura Lounge is $120.
We'll be there in November on an award certificate stay and the upgrade to a somewhat better room plus Sakura Lounge is $120.