Off the beaten path on 25th St. NW, this small hotel was a much-needed respite from the craziness of Cherry Blossom weekend. It is in a quiet, residential neighborhood which borders on George Washington University and is close to a metro stop if you prefer not to drive.

The rooms are nicely decorated in hues of gold with dark wood. I believe that every room is a suite and includes a small kitchen area equipped with dishes and pots and pans if you're inclined to cook. I especially liked the air-tight container of coffee beans and a coffee grinder for making fresh coffee in the morning. Other nice touches include a flat-panel TV, plenty of cable stations, and an iPod dock.

Housed within the hotel is a small restaurant called DISH. Because we found a place to park on the street we didn't want to move the car to go out for dinner. The meal was delicious and decently priced compared to other good restaurants in the area. Although we didn't have time to stop, they also serve breakfast which smelled very good.

We were lucky to get a good weekend rate from Hotels.com - not sure what the rate is during the week, but a definite savings from the larger hotels in the monument area or the smaller hotels of Georgetown.

We stayed as a family of 5 for 4 nights and had a great experience. There was ample room for all of us. The staff was friendly and helpful. I'd defintely stay there again.

We were in DC this week which is Very BUSY time of year. We were glad to get a 1 bed room suite (Potomac suite) with kitchenette for under 300 dollars. Good size bedroom, living room and nice little kitchenette. This allowed my husband and I and our 13 year old daughter to have plenty of room. It was clean and service at front desk was helpful and accomodating. We mainly picked up drinks and snacks at the 7-11 since it was between the metro stop and the hotel.
Enjoyed the 1 meal we ate at the hotel. Food was delicious and the price was about the same as other good DC restaurants. We took the metro to the Crystal city stop for other evening meals. The Ruth Chris steak house with the great view was only 5-6 blocks from this stop. Also McCormick and schmciks seafood and a pub were 2 blocks and Mortons steak house was within the crystal city shops,
My complaints were that the wireless internet was erratic and when it got stuffy in the room the AC/heating unit only blew out warm air.
But all and all I would probably stay there again.

My boyfriend and I stayed at the River Inn for six nights right before Christmas. I love DC in December: weather is brisk, tourists AND politicians are few and there are great hotel bargains.

The River Inn is well situated for tourists. From Dulles we caught the Washington Flyer to the W. Falls Church Metro station and from there to the Foggy Bottom Metro and a final brief two block walk to the hotel. The block the Inn is located on is charming; lined with quaint Federal style row houses.

The front desk staff was very helpful and polite. Our room was large, bright and the kitchen was roomy. Our only problem with the room was a glitch with the broadband access and my boyfriend had work to do (and was on a deadline). We were finally able to noodle around to get it to work but that's mostly thanks to his geekiness!! However, the hotel offered to move us to a sister property if the situation was untenable.

We ate in the dining room one night and had room service two others (walking around all day IS exhausting). Everything was excellent and, we thought, the prices in line with big city America (sorry, this isn't Peoria). The first night we each had salads and then asked if we could split the special which was lamb shank. They were very easy going about it and the portion they brought to each of us was more than enough! Ask the bartender if he's the one who makes the pomegrante Cosmopolitans ... they're super!

There is a Trader Joe's a couple of blocks up 25th St (just across Pennsylvania) which is a perfect spot to stock up for beakfast or snacks. The Watergate complex (about 3 or 4 blocks) also has a Safeway, wine store and drug store (boyfriend got a cold).

I'm a jogger and the hotel is a 1/2 mile or so jaunt to the mall. Go around the mall or across the Memorial Bridge and along the paths that border the river. Or you can head out Pennsylvania towards Georgetown and hit the tow path that runs along the canal.

The River Inn was a comfortable place we'd happily stay at again.