Washington Guest Suites Hotel

Awesome hotel. Had everything you could need. Free breakfast, laundry room, dishwasher, full size refrigerator, stove, and dishes to cook with inside the hotel room. They also have a pool and a workout room but the pool was closed when we stayed. Booked it via Hotel Tonight so it was a great deal. We only stayed one night but it was nice. We had a king sized bed which was super comfortable.

Yes, No, and Yes.
*Disclaimer: The hotel was in the throws of changing over to Marriot Residence Inn.*
We were a family of four seeing DC for the first time. We chose the hotel for it’s central location and its full kitchen/​all suite amenities with a pool (it was August). Would I suggest this hotel to other family travelers? Here is my answer.
YES, the location couldn’t be better if you are a tourist in DC or on business for that matter since it is so easy to get everywhere from here on Metro, cab or feet.
YES, it had a full kitchen but, NO, the ice maker made brown ice and there were no chairs for the dining table as they had moved them out already for the coming renovation. After 3 days of asking for chairs I had to give up. We did not cook. But, YES, we made good use of the fridge and coffee maker and microwave for snacks in the evening.
NO, the toilet clogged up the first night; but YES, a friendly janitor arrived promptly to fix it and it remained fixed.
NO, the thermostat seemed to have only one setting, «ICE» but YES because we were out most of the day and the weather was lovely and were not in need of the air con all that much.
YES because all the staff were very nice and patient under the circumstances. NO, because those circumstances often seemed to overwhelm the morning ‘breakfast duty’ folks and it went lacking.
YES, there was a continental breakfast every day but NO, there were no plates to eat it from. When I asked about it I was told it was meant to ‘grab and go’ so there were brown paper sacks. As few guests seemed to be ‘grabbing and going’ it seemed like a quick trip out for some picnic plates wouldn’t have been unwelcome to the full dining area.
YES, there is a pool on the roof with some nice views of the Watergate and surroundings. NO because the pool is quite small, maybe 12′ x 10′ and 4′ deep, old and surprisingly freezing for August. Only my most intrepid son braved it for one day.
NO, Inconsistent elevator service, key cards that kept failing, no in-​room hotel information, …little things. Small conveniences that you don’t notice until they are gone and are part of the whole service package. But YES, because I suspect all those things will change as soon as the hotel is finished. I was going to just chalk this up to an unfortunate choice of hotels and timing and move on. After all, we were only there to sleep, mostly. We were out at the sights all day, it was lovely weather, why bother complaining, until I met the general manager.
YES because on our day of checking out we had a bit of time to kill waiting to leave for the airport this is when I met the General Manager. She seemed truly interested in ALL aspects of our stay and listened openly as I told her of our visit. Upon hearing it she made many notes and offered to reduce our rate but as I had purchased through Expedia, and it was pre-​paid, she could not so she offered us a comp room for our next stay amongst other things.
The renovation and transformation into a Marriot Residence Inn is supposed to be finished by the beginning of Sept. (one of the contractors told me) I suspect it will take a bit more than that but I’d wager that October might be very nice. The upgrades look very impressive and if all goes well it should be a very nice place to stay this fall. For its staff and location alone, it would be worth it. YES.

The location itself was great but man did the hotel seem old and outdated. The staff tried to make up for it though. They were helpful and personable and helped a lot in that regard. It is walking distance to public transportation, but I would look elsewhere before settling on this hotel.

The good: location (near GWU), the suite are roomy and well equipped, free wifi.
The bad: going through a (desperately needed) renovation so lobby is torn up, front desk staff person rude/​unhelpful, overall shabby appearance, laundry facility and workout room are substandard, and not cheap!