In March I stayed at Melrose for three nights.
I really enjoyed the stay. But of course you can always find something negativ or positiv in every hotel no matter how much you pay.
My positiv things were:
Great location
The size of my room.
Price ($149 pr. night)
Really nice furniture

My negativ things were:
No breakfast included
Lack of security

I was travelling alone and I felt a littlebit unsecure in the house. It seems that everyone can come in and wandered around.
I can not recommend the restaurant.

Would I stay there again?
Definately.

We recently stayed in a deluxe room for $99 and were very happy. The room was beautiful, service was excellent and the location was great. It's close to the Foggy Bottom Metro stop and close to the free shuttle to Kennedy Center. The only negative is that the bathroom could use an update.

We're big fans of boutique hotels -- hate the cookie-cutter effect of chains. We chose the Melrose Inn because of its proximity to Georgetown (we drove to DC from Ch'ville, VA for our anniversary weekend and planned to go dancing at Georgetown bars). This place was also less than a mile from the Nat'l Mall, so we had a nice, leisurely walk to and from our day of sightseeing. Beautiful hotel! Yellow is my favorite color, so the yellow decor in the room was a great bonus. Gloriously comfy king-size bed, wonderful linens, Rusk beauty products -- top of the line in my book, huge room, beautiful artwork on the walls. It was SO quiet, surprisingly so, and we got great sleep both nights. We parked right around the corner, on the same block, for free (it was a weekend). I opened the windows both days, just for fresh air -- it's nice to be able to do that. The ENTIRE staff, EVERY PERSON we encountered, was friendly, warm, smiling, and helpful. I had a glitch with my out-to-dinner dress, called the front desk, and they immediately brought up a sewing kit. Left a belt that I borrowed from a friend in the room when we checked out -- called the hotel when we got home today, and they're Fed-exing it to me tomorrow. I could not be happier about our hotel choice. It was so good that I can't wait to go back and stay there again. We're taking our kids to DC this spring, and we'll definitely stay at the Melrose Inn. Only one caveat: I like to take baths, and the bathtub was really pretty and inviting, but it didn't hold water (I guess the stopper was broken). But that kind of thing happens with an older hotel, and I don't expect totally modern conveniences when I choose a boutique hotel, so I didn't really mind.

I say read this review as a 3.5 rather than a 4, for 2 reasons.

1. I ordered a steak through room service, with a blue cheese sauce. It just wasn't very nice, I'm afraid - the sauce totally dominated the meat and I just had to scrape it off.

2. I arrived at breakfast at opening time, only to find the door locked. The waiter in there could see through the glass door that I was waiting and obviously in a rush, and although he wasn't doing anything in particular, such as setting tables or bringing food out to the buffet, he kept me waiting 5 minutes. When he finally deigned to open up, the chap had the audacity to eyeball me as I walked in!

Other than that, I found that the hotel's pretty much as everyone else describes on here - big, comfortable rooms, good overall service, decent location and not too expensive.