The Royal Sonesta Washington DC, Dupont Circle

Seriously… if you are renovating your hotel, don’t you think you need to tell people that. When you approach the hotel you think you’re in a disaster zone. Then you walk into a homemade lobby until they finish said renovation. The people checking you in our belligerent because they’re expecting you to be quite annoyed by finding out their hotel is under renovation. The furnace in my room made horrible noises. They fixed it, but said they’d have to turn the whole line off tomorrow in order to really fix it. My toilet ran all night. Drilling seem to start at 7:30 this morning. There are so many choices in Washington DC, I would never have chosen this if I knew they were under construction.

I stayed there for about two weeks. The staff was extremely nice and helpful. Gotta say I was kinda stressed out about the destination fee, cause I kept seeing different prices everywhere and didn’t know what was legit, but I ended up reaching out to the front desk and they cleared everything up. Also totally in love with the hotels location. It’s located in DuPont circle and extremely close to Georgetown. There’s also an extremely good bagel shop and café across the street. Room was clean and modern.

Excellent value for that money. They give $15 in free food because of the renovations. Neighborhood has inexpensive eats including Starbucks and a nice independent bagel place across the street. Room and hotel were clean. Room was quiet despite the ongoing renovations. Door attendants were pleasant and helped me just the right amount. All in all this was good. Nothing spectacular and nothing terrible. That’s how I like it.

Mature married couple stayed at the hotel over the thanksgiving 2025 weekend. The hotel is ideally situated in what seemed a safe upscale neighborhood and an easy 2-3 block to the Du Pont Metro subway station. The King Suite room was spacious and the nightly rate was a bargain because it was 'low season' apparently. The bed was very comfortable and the bathroom spacious as well. We did not use the large jacuzzi bathtub because it was inaccessible due to height constraints and depth. The attached restaurant provided pricey la carte meals- even with the $15 daily food credit offered by the hotel to offset the 'destination fee'. There are a number of affordable eateries in the area however if one prefers to forgo the hotel restaurant. Staff were courteous responsive and professional and housekeeping was offered daily.

The room was hot the entire time of my stay despite complaints to the front desk. Like every other review that I have read, I am frustrated that the hotel pockets additional fees after you leave the hotel. "Destination fee" - received nothing in value and was not informed of any benefit to this charge. Judging from the parroted responses to the many complaints about this fraudulent conduct, they don't care what you think as long as they increase their profits illegally. There are many hotels in DC which deserve your business and treat customers with honesty. Stay away from this one!