The St. Regis Washington DC

Well, let me start off by saying I called the Hotel in advance to see if a room type that we had on 2 other occasions was available 23 Nov. 25. Had the pleasure of speaking to Deborah, who had kindly given my number to a staff member here to return my call . Well 2 days later, I spoke with Deborah again, and she was shocked that the call had not be returned (I was not). So we have decided to cancel our upcoming stay. No need stay at a place that does not respect it's Titanium customers. My first call, I waited was over 4 hours. I understood that the front desk gets busy. So I called back, and was told to give it another hour or 2. To no prevail. I even waited 48 hours. Disappointing! So sad because everything went well the first 2 stays.

Really really disappointing stay at the St Regis bearing in mind it used to be my absolute favourite go to hotel brand under the Starwood umbrella. Unfortunately it seems to have lost its lustre since becoming part of Marriott especially the American ones for some reason. So I’m writing this is a great advocate of Marriott overall, with 17 years loyalty, the highest level Bonvoy status and almost 2000 nights staying with the brand. We have stayed in 10 or 12 St Regis hotels in numerous countries over the years and have always felt special and always looked after. Not on this occasion. The guy who checked us in (Syed Hamid) really showed no interest in helping us finding an upgraded room and it was very much “the computer says no” mentality and got somewhat annoyed when we asked to speak to someone more senior. Part of being loyal to Marriott means you are entitled to select suite upgrades (subject to availability upon arrival). We could see suites were available for the first night of our 2 night stay but they wouldn’t give it to us as it wasn’t available the second night. What stupidity is this? We were happy to move back to a more basic room the second night but as this whole road trip was to celebrate my partners 52nd birthday, surely the hotel were keen to please us? It seems this particular St Regis has no understanding of the Bonvoy programme and despite having suites available would prefer to keep them empty rather than allow loyal members like us have them - even if only for one night. Really beggars belief bearing in mind the hundreds of thousands of pounds we have have spent with SPG / Marriott over the past 17 years or so!! Anyway no one was listening and for this general apathy and disinterest I’m giving 1 star. For anyone that’s interested the hotel is overpriced, the food ok and the rooms smallish and lacking in character. To really finish is off we asked for late checkout at 4pm as we had a night flight back to London. We spent the day walking around and exploring but upon getting back to the hotel before 4pm, we found the whole 8th floor had been rented out but no one bothered to tell the morose security guard who greeted us on the 8th floor with “you are on the wrong floor”! After telling him in no uncertain way, we had the wrong floor and were going to collect our bags, he followed closely behind us making us feel like criminals!! This to me is really poor management and surely someone should have been aware we were still staying on the floor rather than made to feel like we shouldn’t be there. Not the sort of service I appreciate. I believe that hotels like this one are no longer interested in loyal Marriott members and make more revenue from renting out ballrooms and holding money making events. Don’t recommend just for the total disregard and being so unhelpful. Won’t be back.

5 Star Stay Location: outstanding. 1 block from White House & Mall. Starbucks less than a block away opens 5am. Check in: Doormen and front desk made check in fast and friendly. They managed to get me a room for noon early arrival despite being full night prior. Room: recently renovated 2nd floor. My room 222 faced K Street to north. Very quiet- great night’s sleep. Well laid out with large & smaller closet, 2 luggage racks. Plenty of electrical outlets. Large room safe. Comfortable desk and chair. Great lighting. New Italian coffee maker. Bathroom was small – very limited counter space, but with large walk-in shower, all the amenities including electric bidet, and mini fridge. Shower pressure was very low- sometimes wonder if water-saver engineers realize showers could be twice as fast with better flow. Housekeeping did a terrific job- room was spotless and well stocked with water, coffee cartridges. Alhambra Restaurant for dinner: food, service, ambience all 5 star. Check out: fast, friendly, and bill was accurate.

This is probably our 10th stay at the St. Regis, and we just love coming back! Nothing beats the beauty of the lobby, which is a great place to sit and watch the world go by. While we were saddened that Rafael was no longer working at the bar, Hamza stepped it up and was absolutely fantastic during every encounter! The staff are all very kind and accommodating, and the rooms are comfortable, clean, and luxurious! The St. Regis Bar made some changes to their menu - some good, some not so much. I do wish they'd consider bringing back Dom Perignon by the glass (or even another high end champagne). Until next time!

My husband & I had a nice stay at the St Regis after a flight cancellation. Hamza, in the lobby bar, was exceptionally helpful & courteous. We enjoyed all of his food & drink recommendations.