The Royal Sonesta Washington DC, Dupont Circle

The location is very nice and the room was very spacious. That's about it. When I have arrived I was instructed that I wouldn't need a wifi code. I spent my first evening trying to connect my devices without success. The morning after I passed by reception to ask and they told me that I needed a wifi code. Clearly some of their staff doesn't know what they are talking about. The first day there I had the do not disturb sign on my door until noon. Then I removed it and I left. I came back ay 6pm and my room wasn't done. I didn't make it a big deal as the room had been barely used so I didn't say anything. On the second day I also worked in my room in the morning and so had the do not disturb on. I left at noon again and removed the do not disturb sign. I also bumped into the cleaner on my way out and told her my room could now be done. She said yes. When I came back at 5pm and removed the do not disturb before leaving. When I came back my room was not done again. I called housekeeping at 5 past 5. They apologised and said they were coming asap. At 6pm still nobody had showed up. I passed by reception on my way out and asked them again. They said again they were going to take care of it asap. When I came back at 7pm I asked reception if finally the room had been done and they told me they couldn't do it because the do not disturb sign was on. I invited the person from reception to come upstairs with me so he could see there was no sign on my door. He told me he was fine and he would speak to the manager. When I went back upstairs my room was done. So not only they are disorganised, but they also have issue communicating between each other? On day 3, I left the room at 11am - and again removed the do not disturb sign before leaving - and came back at 7:30pm and found the room not done. I then proceeded to call reception and after 30 minutes still nothing had happened... As a business traveller, I have sincerely never experienced anything similar anywhere in the world. And what it's more worrying is that by looking at their reviews, the issue with housekeeping seems to be a structural one. This is not one off... Oh, and I almost forgot. On day 3 at around 10am the water strangely stopped running from my bathroom tap while I was finishing to get ready. Is this really a 4 stars hotel??? :-(

We picked this hotel because it was reasonably priced and within walking distance of our relatives in Georgetown. We rented a car because we were going to be taking other relatives to nearby events. Our first shock was when we pulled up and were told that parking cost $74 a day — more than the cost of renting the car! (We parked on streets in Georgetown.) We had rented a “junior suite” which turned out to be a cut up room with a tiny den with nothing but an uncomfortable sofa and a TV. The air conditioning in the den didn’t work, not even the fan. The bathroom had a jacuzzi tub, which was the source of the next surprise. The tub turned on suddenly at 9:50 PM and made alarming sounds. We reported this to the front desk and were told that it was programmed to turn on once a day for maintenance purposes! Getting to our room on the 10th floor took a long time because the hotel has only 3 elevator cabs and one was out of service because people had become trapped in it the day before. The bed was comfortable but the room had been poorly renovated as you could see the places on the ceiling where light fixtures had been removed. In sum, we were very disappointed.

This is an excellent hotel located within walking distance of downtown Washington. The staff are extremely friendly and helpful. The rooms are exceptionally roomy with all the facilities in excellent condition. The restaurant is is Italian and the food is very good.

I went there with my child's last minute for a little staycation. Hotel is quite nice and I have been to its previous incarnations when it was owned by other companies. I was hoping for a little bit more service given that it's a higher-end hotel. However the rooms were great, the decor is very artistic and inventive and I liked the eclectic and artistic elements of the hotel. The great location close to Dupont Circle or if you want to walk into georgetown.

I would like to rate Ray and Shamar five stars for the wonderful hosting of each board meeting we have in DC. They both extend a very warm welcome to me upon my arrival and through out my entire stay. My company vote is to always select this hotel as our prefered property when ever our board will meet. Thank you to the entire Royal Sonest team and the outstanding job that both Ray and Shamar are doing. Mr. M. McNear