My family stayed here for our recent vacation and loved every moment of it.

I can't say enough about the staff. They were gracious, friendly, and worked quickly without ever seeming harried or rushed.

The room was spectacularly large. Since we booked this hotel on Hotwire, we were expecting the traditional "discount" room that we've received at other chains. (ie, giving "discount" customers the absolute worst room regardless of how full the hotel really is) But there was none of that at the Palomar. Not only did they accomodate our early check-in, they also gave us a corner room that I swear was larger than my first apartment. It was so large that our family of four never felt cramped.

My only complaint about the room was the water pressure in the shower. The pressure was virtually nonexistent.

The location is perfect, being a short walk from the Metro station. And there are so many great restaurants nearby.

I'd highly recommend the Palomar to anyone visiting Washington DC

I had not previously heard of the Kimpton chain of hotels, much less the Hotel Palomar before this trip. I found it while reviewing the list of favorite Washington DC hotels – it is currently listed as #4. A visit to their website convinced me to give it a try. – I’m glad I did. Before reserving a room, I first joined their frequent guest program. – this paid off well. A week before arriving, I received an email offering a variety of room upgrades at very reasonable prices. I did not respond but was upgraded for free upon arrival anyway.

I took the DC Metro from DCA and walked a few blocks from the DuPont Circle station. The hotel is on P St – which appears to be thoroughly yuppified. The lobby was crowded & loud when I arrived – it was time for the nightly managers wine reception. Nonetheless, my reservation was processed quickly and I was on my way upstairs.

My original reservation was for a “King Deluxe” room. As mentioned above, I was upgraded to a “King Spa Suite” on the 9th floor. The room included a Jacuzzi tub, an in-room exercise machine, and a variety of other simple, but very nice amenities. An arrival gift consisting of a handful of cherries, an apple, and a bottle of spring water was accompanied by a hand written card from the hotel manager – it was all very, very nice & classy.
Overall, the room was enormous, well furnished, nicely decorated, and extremely comfortable. The exercise machine was a top-of-the-line elliptical machine placed alongside a floor-to-ceiling length mirror and in front of a small flat panel television [I noted the same remote control problem as the previous review - the main television had two remotes, one for the DVD player and one for the TV. Strangely, the TV remote only worked some of the functions while the DVD remote handled the rest]. The bedroom came furnished with a desk, chair, two end tables, credenza with flat panel television, and another small table next to the chair. The TV was attached to a DVD player. An iHome iPod clock radio sat on the end table next to the bed.

The bathroom was spotless and nicely decorated. Unfortunately, I did not find time to check out the Jacuzzi tub. The stand up shower was great – hot water + a strong stream – just the way I like it.

The folks at Kimpton apparently strive to think of everything. I found a pair of animal print bathrobes hanging in the closet along with animal print nightgowns and boxer shorts (sizes up to XL) – the latter are for purchase. There was also an umbrella, fuzzy socks, and a safe that could easily accommodate a laptop.
A few minor hiccups I noted during my stay: I was not provided with a key to the minibar – the desk agent explained that they had “run out”. They have ice machines on most floors, but do not have soda machines. The receipt that was slipped under my door did not show a zero balance – since my accounting department demands this, I had to visit the front desk before departing. The attached restaurant/bar (Urbana) is pretty high-end, and doesn’t have a lot of room in the bar area. I had to wait for a while to snag a spot at the bar. It was, however, worth the wait – the bartender made a great mudslide martini and the wood-fired pizza was delicious.

Another surprise came the next morning – my wake-up call was from a real, live person, rather than a machine. That was nice for a change.

Overall, the Palomar was a great place to stay – easily one of the nicest hotels in DC. I’d definitely book it again

On the downside:

Low ceilings, small room, slow elevators, very brown decor, and a lobby constantly FULL of various conference attendees. Also, a bar at the end of the block with pretty rough characters hanging around outside of it.

On the upside:

Gracious, friendly staff.

I'm surprised this hotel is rated so highly on Trip Advisor. I wouldn't stay here again when there are so many other choices in WDC.

I think all of the previous reviews sum up the Palomar in D.C. It is definitely not a 5 star hotel(or even a high 4 star) but it is absolutely very nice and beats staying in a cookie cutter chain. It has a personality along with some charm and a staff that tries very hard.
We checked in at 12:30 knowing full well that check in was not until 3. When we were told our room wasn't ready , we were not surprised. The front desk took our bags and asked for our cell phone # and told us they would call as soon as our room was ready. Well, the call never came in and when we returned after 5:30 that evening our room was still not ready. Eventually we were told that there was a problem with the lock on our door and no one could get into the room. We had been traveling since 8 that morning with 2 children and the staff seemed to be just as upset as we were that we could not check in. To rectify the problem, they gave us the Presidential Suite along with a fully comped dinner, champagne, nuts and fruit, snacks for the kids and a hand-written, hand delivered note of apology from the manager. Now that's service! Our suite was very large and comfortable but lacked the polish of a true luxury hotel. The towels were terrible but the bed was very comfortable. The lighting is non-existent. The T.V. remotes only worked sometimes....The location was great and again, the staff was very nice and tried very hard but just kept making little mistakes( bringing us the wrong car from the valet)(not taking old half eaten food and drinks out of our room)(never bringing the extra towels we kept asking for) but none of these things put a damper on our trip because everything was done with a smile. So, overall if you are not going to stay at the Four Seasons or St. Regis this is a nice upscale hotel in a great area with a staff that will bend over backwards to make things right.