jefftiger

I stayed at the Embassy Suites Convention Center, diagonally across the street from the new Conrad, last week. I agree that the building design is a disappointment. It doesn't fit at all with any of the other buildings around it. It's a very active construction site, mostly now inside the building. I didn't actually see any Conrad signs, but there was a huge Tiffany sign on the northwest corner of the building. The area has a lot of high end shops and I guess that Tiffany will be on the ground floor of the hotel. It looks like they still have a fair amount to do before opening. The mid-March date on the Conrad website looks like a reasonable opening date. I booked in mid-April when government per diem rates are available. I'll be interested to see how this hotel works out. It's not in my favorite area of the city, but I'm a big fan of the Conrad brand.

Abidjan

arlflyer

Agreed! Looks like things are moving quite nicely. The last few times I've been in CityCenter, I've noticed that they have some rooms on higher floors fully built-out and staged, presumably as models for the rest of the work. Hopefully they're on time with completion, because I have an opening weekend stay booked.

v702

Seems you need to book an eligible room to get access into the Sakura Club:

BlueZebra

Glad I booked it then...It was not a big price increase.

arlflyer

This makes me actually wonder what is included. The description doesn't explicitly say that the F&B offerings are included (complimentary with access) and the price differential is sufficiently low that if they were, it would seem like an absolute steal (I'm seeing a roughly $70/night differential for what would, if it includes the above, amount to full board).

So it makes me wonder if the asking price is just the cost of admission?

BlueZebra

From the room description...

Enjoy access to the Sakura Club offering complimentary a la carte breakfast, afternoon tea, snacks and evening cocktails

If you look at the Sakura Club description, it never mentions complementary, and yes, it sounds pretty fantastic. I was beginning to wonder (the Club description was not there when I booked the room) if it really was complementary. The room description still says it is...

Could the very reasonable pricing be an introductory situation as the hotel is new?

I will report in September when we are there.

arlflyer

Yes, will be curious to see. I didnt see the language you quoted either so thanks for that. Though, interestingly, for one thing what you quoted there is less comprehensive than what is in the Club description, as it does not mention the lunch or dinner offerings I quoted above. So perhaps there are both free and paid offerings, like an Admirals Club?

Currently booked for the first weekend they have loaded (Mar 15-17) though the page says the property is to open in Feb, so if that opens up I will move up my reservation; love the Conrad brand globally and so am very curious to check out this new addition right down the road from me.

amazingjames

In case it's helpful to others, I shot the hotel an email (very quick response BTW) to confirm the answers to a couple questions I had on the Sakura Club since we'll be staying as a diamond in March and didn't want any surprises.

1) There are no age restrictions for the club, though I'll naturally assume an adult should be present with youngsters.
2) Confirmed Diamond status will not get you into the club. "The Sakura Club will be an elevated experience featuring diverse programming including customized meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner), concierge service with private check-in and check-out, dedicated staff, evening cocktail reception, and an afternoon tea ritual. Based on such an extensive offering, we will forego upgrades for our valued diamond members. The experience will entail so much more than the traditional executive lounge.
Diamond members who do not book a room on the Sakura Club level will receive access to a lovely continental buffet breakfast in our signature restaurant, Estuary. We will also make every effort to provide a room upgrade upon arrival, based on availability."

I guess we'll see what happens in practice down the road for diamonds, but that's the word for now.

BlueZebra

Thank you for the research. As they aren't open yet (March?) surprised they had a staffed up e mail, but I guess as they are taking bookings, and offering higher levels of service....

arlflyer

Thanks for reaching out to management - did you get any indication as to whether the aforementioned, particularly lunch/dinner, are actually gratis or that the fee is just the cost of entry? As noted above, for the differential in price to essentially equate to full board, if true, would make it quite a bargain (though eating 3x a day at a hotel when in DC would be an absolute shame given the wealth of fantastic restaurants in walking distance).

jefftiger

Other than the "customized" lunch and dinner (assuming that they're included in the cost), the Sakura Club appears to simply have the services that Conrad executive lounges in Asia offer. I guess that expectations in the US are very low. So, this Conrad won't feature an executive lounge? That's pretty disappointing. Nonetheless, I still look forward to trying the hotel out in April, assuming that the furlough is over by then.

amazingjames

I didn't ask as I was more concerned about access, and the room description says it's included. "Access to the Sakura Club includes: ?Complimentary gourmet à la carte dining for breakfast, lunch and dinner by a dedicated chef"

Maybe I should take a screenshot of it just in case it changes later :-)

dman22

Anyone have any stays here since it opened last month?

dmarge18

Also interested in what the experience was like for a Diamond. I'm in DC monthly for work and was thinking of tacking a night on here this month since I'm extending to do some exploring in the city one weekend. Worth it with no exec lounge (which is one of the biggest perks of Conrads)?