We booked a room at this hotel at a 25% discount from expedia.com, and ended up paying $130/night including taxes. The location was fantastic - just one block from Union station, and one block from the Capitol. We were very happy with our room (Deluxe King - the cheapest room with a King bed available), which had a view of the Capitol. The room itself was spacious and clean. The bathroom was very well appointed. Most negative reviews I've read on this site have to do with slow service at check-in or a rude staff member. We didn't face any of those problems. Valet staff was polite - but please be advised that the only parking option is the $30/night valet. No self park. Some negative reviews also concern the restaurant and its limited hours or selection - but if you are in DC as a tourist, you are better off going to one of the great restaurants around the city anyways. Couple of things to note - there is no refrigerator, or safety locker in the room.

We found the front desk staff to be a little dull. We had a problem in that one of our rooms was smoky when we walked in (asthmatic family) and it is a non smoking hotel. That was eventually worked out, but the children ended up at the other end of the corridor instead of close by.

My FIL had a lovely corner suite with a view of the capital from the living room. There were no problems at all with those rooms, and room service was very attentive when we ordered dinner for 10. The normal person's experience may be different, however.

We only had experience with the breakfast (bar) at the restaurant. It was *very* high for what was there, and coffee seemed to be a scarce resource. Our waiter all 3 mornings had to be repeatedly asked for coffee by all who wanted more than the skimpy first cup.

The regular room was adequate, with nice linens, but a bit of wear and tear. The bath in one room had a bit of peeling wall paper and a bit of mildew. The HVAC filters had not been changed in a great while, as some of the crud was visible from the outside of the grill.

Starbuck's across the street, liquor store with relatively cheap cokes & bottled water on the corner - don't bother with the overpriced store inside the lobby. Great location. Get a good price, or a suite, or it is not worth it.

We stayed at the Washington Court Hotel between Xmas & New Year. Staff were really friendly and helpful. Rooms were a good size. You can tell that it is a business hotel, but that didn't bother us. We were in walking distance of Union Station, Chinatown and Capitol Hill so really easy for us to get around and see the main tourist sites. Would def. recommend staying here for both convenience and safety.

LOVED staying here. I have a lot of positive opinions but like other hotels, there were a few downsides. Overall, we (my sig other and I) had a great experience in this hotel and Washington DC…

Lobby, Concierge & Check-In
Great location; only took 15 minutes from Ronald Reagen airport. The front of the hotel is very nice and there are 3-5 suited men who are very willing to help you with luggage or just to open the doors. The lobby is pretty impressive with marbled floors and walls. There are a ton of leather seating areas. Check-in was a breeze and we had no problems getting our room assignment and keys. The front desk also gave out maps and a list of nearby restaurants that were very useful for first time visitors.

Room (Pull-Out Sofa Parlor)
The elevator and hallway were very clean. The room itself was very nice and was surprisingly SPACIOUS (I half expected a room with just enough space for a couch). The room is the same size as a regular hotel room but with a pull-out couch. Besides the couch, there were lots of additional seating available (1 ottoman, 3 chairs). Our view was amazing! On the 9th floor, we had a view of the city and the Capitol building.

!!!THE NOISE!!!
Despite all my positive remarks about this hotel, IT IS RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO A FIRE STATION!!! (no lie). Washington DC, although it’s a very small area of land, their emergency response system services 3.5 million people a day. So there are fire trucks going in and out of the fire stations with their damn SIRENS on ALL DAY and ALL NIGHT.

Downside: the pull-out mattress was very THIN and UNCOMFORTABLE. With two people sleeping on it, we were able to feel the metal bars underneath us. We ended up using the extra blankets that were provided for a bit more cushioning. The mattress was very poor quality and need to be replaced. I have slept on pull-out mattresses during my college days and this hotel’s mattress was by far the worst (which says a lot).

Downside: the heater was more of an AC. We set the temperature to 73degrees and it did not get any warmer than 60degrees. I have no problem sleeping in a cooler room but I can only imagine others who would be very uncomfortable and unhappy with that type of climate at nighttime.

Downside: TV SUCKS. It’s nice to watch the news in the morning. After a long day’s worth of walking a few miles, it’s nice to come home and watch a movie. This hotel does not have a full list of cable channels but they do subscribe to 20 of the more popular channels (ie: all the news channels, TNT, TBS, HBO). The sucky part is that the signal was really bad that we were only able to watch about 30 minutes out of a 2 hour movie. Whether we were watching the news or a movie, we consistently saw static (black and white, rainy-grainy) and we were unable to hear anything.

Downside: Internet or no internet access? NO internet access!! The hotel advertised complimentary internet access and indeed, there were 3-4 networks to connect to. Of all those networks that I tried connecting to, my signal was very poor and could not load a single website (yes, my firewall was down). It’s definitely not my computer – maybe it was the location of my room. But despite the location of my room, there were 3-4 networks too many that I could not connect to. BUT… when we called tech service to complain about our difficulty connecting, they were able to provide us access that costed $10/day and WAIVED our fees. That particular network was a bit better but was still as slow as dial-up.

Downside: No minibar 

Marbled Bathroom
The bathroom was very nice. It was all marble, very clean and even had a retractable clothes line in the shower. They provided more than enough fresh linens, had a coffee maker and its condiments, toiletries, a small tv (ladies, very convenient while you’re getting ready), and many more. We were very pleased with the presentation of the bathroom. The water pressure of the toilet and the shower was really light but they had a note stating that they were making efforts of saving water.

Because I brought my own toiletries, my sig other wanted me to add that he was very impressed with the shower products in the bathroom that were Neutrogena brand and NOT the generic, yucky-smelling hotel brands that make your scalp and your skin dry. Good for those who do not bring their own products.

Housing Keeping
Due to privacy and security reasons, I usually do not like when housekeeping comes in to my room. But we forgot to put the “no service” sign on our door one day so housekeeping came in and cleaned our room very thoroughly (needless to say, nothing was missing). Because they were unaware of the fact that we did not want our room cleaned, they left us at least once voicemail a day, assuring us that their service is just a phone call away (which was really nice of them). FYI, for environmental reasons, they only replace the towels that you place on the floor (not all because some are usually unused) and they only change your bed linens every 3rd day of your stay (which I feel are all reasonable). Their efforts of preserving water and natural resources were pretty impressive. “This may seem very little but it means the world” –the note in the bathroom regarding their efforts of being environmentally friendly.

Location
DO NOT RENT A CAR!!! Parking is very scarce and expensive. The Union Station is only one block away. FYI, they tell you to make a left when you step out of the hotel to go to the Union Station but if you make a RIGHT, it saves you a block of walking. This hotel is walking distance to a lot of landmarks (the Union Station, the Postal Museum, Capitol Hill and all its glory) but is also in the midst of businesses (so you will be walking with people who work in that area too). Starbucks is RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET for us coffee lovers (FYI: there are 385 Starbucks locations in Washington DC). Billy Goat Tavern and Grill Restaurant (well known for their “cheezboigerz”, founded in Chicago) is right across the street, next door to Starbucks. The breakfast menu and their burgers are average on taste and quality but for an affordable price and great location.

Downside: at nighttime, there are a lot of homeless people who sleep in the nook and crannies of the hotel’s building. Please be advised to never walk alone.

Overall, we had a GREAT stay, I would definitely stay here again (in fact, planning on it within the next 4 months) and worth every penny! We saved a lot of money but worth a million dollars for a great experience.