doctall41

I have a three night stay here in a month. It looks like a very nice hotel. Have any of you had experience at this property?

mia

My wife and I have stayed at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza three times in recent months. Is there anything specific you would like to know?

dennis

doctall41

the quality of the rooms, the restaurant, nearby restaurants, the service staff, your overall rating of the place...
thank you

mia

<<quality of the rooms>>

Typical size for the period (1920s), which is to say "cozy" rather than "spacious", but not cramped because they have chosen furnishings scaled to the space. The elevators are tiny. Pleasant "Federal" eagle motif carpeting and upholstery in gold, blue, green. We had king bed with elaborate bed covers and many, many pillows! Single upholstered chair -OR- sofa with glass table, armoire with TV and small refrigerator (at least once), safe (uses key, not combination), desk with ample workspace, adequate lamp with convenient electrical outlets which are not useable for typical AC/DC adapters (such a cell phone charger), excellent deskchair, Wayport wireless broadband ($9.95 per day, pay by credit card, not charged to room).

Bathroom is small by contemporary standards, but if you rearrange things a bit there is adequate space for your toiletries. As is typical for Holiday Inn the coffee maker is stored in the same room as the toilet, which I find off putting. However, when I relocated it to the desktop the housekeeping staff did not return it to the original position during our stay. The bathroom fixtures are an odd blend of brushed metal meant to resemble nickel with cheap looking shiny chrome.

Rooms serviced twice per day.

<<restaurants>>

The hotel has one restaurant, ground floor off the lobby. I believe we've only dined there once, it was a buffet, probably brunch rather than breakfast. Nothing remarkable, but we are vegetarian which skews our evaluations. I recall we were seated promptly, but service thereafter was sporadic, as was replenishing empty dishes on buffet table.

<<nearby restaurants>>

Many are closed on the weekend, the hotel is in an area which caters to office workers. However, if you proceed along K Street (toward the higher numbers) this changes and there are more places to eat.

<<service staff>>

We always check-in late Friday (after 10PM) and check-out early Monday (before 6AM), and staffing is "thin" at those hours. My Platinum status does not seem to have resulted in an upgrade, the first visit she mentioned it and apologized nothing was available, and it hasn't been discussed on the subsequent visits. Some billing problems (e.g. billed for breakfast which was included in room rate, billed for third night on buy-two-get-one-free plan), but everything easily sorted out. As I recall roomservice ends at 10:30PM, and once we ordered at 10:25PM without any attitude or accuracy problems.

<<overall rating>>

It's the sort of hotel we like, comfortable but not elborate. Good value on weekends, in fine location for the sort of things we like to do. We walked to the new City Museum, the Women's art museum, MCI center, etc. There's a Metro station about a block away, and it's only about two stops to the Mall or Kennedy Center. There's a 24 hour drug store about a block away, in the opposite direction from the Metro.

The hotel is directly across from Franklin Square, and it appears a number of homeless people frequent it and the nearby McPherson Square. You may be politely asked for money, but this seems fairly common throughout the District.

dennis

doctall41

Thank you for taking the time to share that with me. Not quite as nice sounding as I was hoping, but I'll see what happens.
I assumed the high speed internet was free, but I guess not. Is it safe to walk around the the area during the day?

mia

<<Not quite as nice sounding as I was hoping, but I'll see>>

We wouldn't have returned twice if it weren't "nice" <g>. I think it's the nature of these forums to focus on the disappointments. We don't know one another, I can't say "You'll love it", I can only try to tell you what it's like, that it's a fine renovation of a vintage building in convenient location.

<<safe to walk around the the area during the day?>>

Absolutely. We have never felt uncomfortable. It's fine at night, too. Directly across the street is the Coast restaurant, which seems popular and is open late, though closed on Sunday.

dennis

doctall41

Thank you for your opinions and advice. You have been very helpful.

PremExecSNA

If I may, let me add my two cents on the CP Hamilton.

IMHO, this is one of the best IC properties for the money in DC and one of my favorite CP hotels. I have always enjoyed nice service and very comfortable rooms. I've stayed there twice and was always upgraded to a Junior Suite.

I will say the staff seems a bit frazzled, particularly during peak check in times. However, a smile and understanding approach always seems to work well for me.

Please let us know how your stay goes. Enjoy!

Camino1

Has anyone visited lately? I am trying to decide for Nov. of this year. I need to be near the new Convention Center. I would like to walk.

Arishap

I have stayed there before a few times and like it very much. The rooms are small and unless you are upgraded this is a problem.

Apart from that the staff are very good. there is a good restarant in the hotel. Internet costs $10

I would stay there again

boxo

Recent experiences?

Need to make a 1nt Oct DC res for friends and CP is only $143+.

Shopfranceinc

Hi! I was there this summer. This is a great location.. (do note the homeless people sleeping in the park across the street--you do have to walk that way to get to the metro)
I think it's a good value, esp. when the Willard Intercontinental is too expensive. For Ambassadors, there is no club level to upgrade to, that was a disappointment for me.
I found the lobby staff to be very helpful and cheerful--in a more down to earth way than the Willard staff. I think you'll be satisfied with the value. It's not as nice as the luxury Willard, but a good value!

VelvetKennedy

Its very nice. The rooms are small but well-furnished and the beds are very fluffy and comfortable. The restaurant was good, too. It is in a good location. Would definitely stay there again.

Shareholder

More that you don't understand the PC program. Ambassador has nothing to do with benefits for stays at anything but IC-branded properties, so mean nada at CPs, HIs, HIXs, etc. You have to have PC Platinum status to receive upgrade benefits (normally) at CPs etc. including this one.

Must be a change since my stay a year or so ago, when there was a Club level and a small lounge where drinks were served in the evening with snack items, pastries in the mid-afternoon, and a full breakfast including eggs in the morning. Even on an award, I was upgraded as a PC Plat to this level. (Of course, it may be gone now as there were not many people taking advantage of it.)

And I would not be concerned about the park inhabitants being an issue, other than being a general statement about how bad the USA has gotten since Reaganomics and continued through Bush devaluation of the American Peso. You can always walk the block on the more affluent side of the street!

BTW I posted a more extensive review on one of the other threads that covers this property.

boxo

Thanks everyone. The flexible options are:

-- $159 Standard
-- $179 Deluxe
-- $189 Park View
-- $199 Executive

Is a deluxe $20 of more space? Is the noise level high on the street side? Is the view of the park nice? The descriptions are all generically the same, so any advice is appreciated. And FYI, this is for friends who travel maybe once every 2-3 years and know nothing about the benefits/amenities they might be missing.