My wife and I, from Maryland, decided to celebrate our one year anniversary in DC. We ate the The Palm, near DuPont Circle, and decided to make it a more special evening by getting a hotel room at the Hotel Madera.

This hotel is the closest we have come to a European hotel while still in the United States. Most of the hotel is fairly minimalist, with a small and intimate lobby and public areas (in contrast to the large areas of many American hotels). The room, however, was quite big and nice and our king-sized bed was very comfortable. The WC and shower are in a very tiny room that just barely fits them (again, very European). The room had a TV with many channels and any movies available for order and the clock-radio had an iPod dock so you could wake up to your own music. The staff was wonderful and very friendly.

We had drinks and dessert in the attached restaurant, Firefly. They have a good selection of fairly exclusive beers and good mixed drinks. The desserts were delicious (the fruit cobbler comes with excellent fresh ice cream on top). The dinners that we saw all looked very carefully prepared and we heard many compliments from the large amounts of guests that were present.

We had no issues with hotel. We were treated wonderfully and the entire stay was very relaxing and calming, exactly what we wanted for the weekend. Well done, Hotel Madera.

I recently stayed at this hotel mainly due to it's location to sites and friends who live nearby. I also based it on the reviews on this site, which were mostly positive.

I booked a king deluxe room on an upper floor with a view. My room was at the back of the hotel on the 8th floor. I believe some people did mention about the noise of the trash pick up, I will say this was a bit of a problem some mornings, and as far up as I was, it was pretty loud, but I didn't consider it something the hotel could really do anything about. The room itself was clean and contemporary, with cool furnishings, and my view was great, especially at night. I did order breakfast the first morning I was there, but at nearly $16 with tip for a continental style breakfast, I thought it was way overpriced, in fact, the entire roomservice menu was beyond overpriced I felt. There are so many dining options for less outside the hotel, I just decided to eat out. I did have a drink at the bar at Firefly, the restaurant located in the hotel. It's seems like a cool place and very popular with the locals.

It's location almost can't be beat. There are so many restaurants near by I had a tough choice somedays on where I wanted to eat, and all within walking distance. If you're a sushi lover, stroll down to Sushi Taro or Raku, both are close by and both have awesome sushi! There's also a great Chinese restaurant nearby called Mei Wah which not only has great food, but has been popular with many political stars.

The metro is near by, but I only used it once and that was coming back from my day. I simply didn't need it. Dupont Circle is a five minute walk away, a great place tro just sip coffee from the Starbucks close by and people watch for a while, especially on Sundays. The monuments are a bit farther if you're not much of a walker, it took me about 20 mins or so to walk to them, but I didn't mind the walk at all, and it didn't feel like it took that long. If you don't want to walk, the metro is five minutes away and a cab ride wouldn't take but 10 minutes.

There is plenty of nightlife close by, both gay and straight, in which I did both since all my friends there are straight. Check out K Street Bar (straight) which is a short cab ride away, great place to dance and strong drinks! If you're looking for the gay scene, the gay area is just a 10 minute walk from this hotel, with plenty of bars and clubs to go to. Check out Jacks Restaurant and Bar, great outside patio to watch the boys stroll by and AWESOME crabcakes! They make mean drinks too :o)

Besides the roomservice issue I had, everything was great. Very friendly and personable staff who were always willing to help out with any questions I had. They also had complementary internet which I had no problems with, and a business center downstairs with a printer to print out boarding passes if you need it. All in all I look forward to my next stay at the Hotel Madera.

I usually stay at the "normal" chains. As a matter of fact, I almost booked at the Holiday Inn-Capitol. But the reviews and descriptions of this hotel led me to take a chance. I played around with all the usual sites to find the best rate and ultimately went with the Kimpton site. Though I had asked for a room with one king, I got a the normal two queen room. I also was a bit nervous that the quiet room I asked for was facing the street right above the restaurant. Turned out to not be a problem. It was two very quiet nights. The room and bath were fine - clean and comfy. It took me a moment to get used the automatic lights in the shower area. I was surprised that was the only place they used that type of energy saving switch. The emphasis is on being eco-friendly, but I did not notice anything extreme being done. Heck, they even took away my used soap and made me open a new box the next day.

The staff are VERY nice and friendly. I wish I had been able to interact more with the "newbie" Ann.

And who can complain when you are given a nightly dose of milk & cookies.

We really enjoyed our stay at the Hotel Madera. I was a little disappointed when I first walked into the lobby. I expected it to be small, but it also appeared somewhat shabby and worn (carpet & sofa). However, our room was spacious, clean, with nice decor that did not appear old or worn at all. The staff and service were good. I always enjoy the little extras that Kimpton hotels provide such as the wine in the evenings. We were traveling with two children and felt very comfortable at this hotel (yes, it doesn't have a pool but it is definitely not one of those snobby hotels you can't bring children to). The location couldn't be beat - many restaurants very near the hotel, a metro station just a few blocks away, and we even walked from the White House once (about a 10min walk) always feeling very safe.

Like other reviewers, I felt the price of parking overly excessive - $35+ tax!?! I thought the $25 I paid in San Francisco was high but now I guess that was a bargain. I guess the whole city of D.C. decided to charge high prices for parking and the hotels and parking garages can charge what they want. They know we don't have much of a choice. Oh well, it didn't put a damper on my trip and like someone else said, the valet was great - quick and friendly!