Fairmont Washington DC, Georgetown

We stayed at Fairmont in early June and as usual had a wonderful stay from start to finish. On arrival we were checked in swiftly and kindly upgraded, then given a complimentary cocktail to start our weekend. From front desk staff to food and beverage, everybody was so friendly. Spacious clean room with lots of natural sunlight, plus nightly turn down. A special mention for Eric the chief concierge, he gave us great tips on the city and booked all our restaurant reservations which were excellent. Thanks again Eric. If we are back in DC, we will only stay at Fairmont.

Definitely not a 5* hotel! Lobby is beautiful, but the rooms are so dated and honestly, not that clean. My room had tape on the walls and water was left in the ice holder. So things were not cleaned properly or turned over properly. I had a short stay so it was not worth telling the front desk. Room service was fast and came in 5 minutes, but the club sandwich wasn't that great. Overall it was okay for a short business stay, but I wouldn't be back to this hotel.

Despite the score, there were many positives of our stay and the score is more a reflection of service from the hotel, not individuals we spoke with. Good points Clean nice room Comfortable beds Nice toiletries Fantastic breakfast and service (ignore the negative reviews) Located in nice area, easy 10 minutes walk to Georgetown and about 30 minutes to White House Nice meal in Courtyard restaurant/bar All staff were very polite and friendly Bad points USB charging points in room - very few actually work, which is especially not great after a long flight to awake to a flat battery Dogs! As a dog owner I had no issues with staying in a dog friendly hotel, however the room opposite had a dog that barked at all hours day/night, presumably it was left in the room without its owner. This went on for the first 24 hours but ceased after speaking to front desk, or they checked out? Unknown charge made to my credit card after checkout. I spoke with the front desk a few minutes before checkout and agreed statements for both rooms, but after checkout had a charge of nearly $100 to my credit card (and complete - it’s not pending). Despite contacting the hotel by email (reservations, front desk and manager), I’m yet to get a response.

Staff pounced on our taxi and remove bags without lurking for cash and check in was very helpful. The foyer is lovely and has a bar (some oddball cocktails on offer) that then leads to an open air courtyard that can be seen from most of the rooms looking that way. The room was decent too and it was all very comfortable. There is also a pool although we had unfortunately had a delayed incoming flight so didn't have time to use it. There are a few issues that drag it down a point. Whilst pretty good the buffet breakfast was pricey. The hot offerings (different each day) were too limited also. WiFi had to be paid for if you weren't a member of something - and we couldn't find out what that entailed as we had no WiFi. And the mini bar is one of those sensor types. We only picked a few things up to read their description but then had to make sure we weren't charged. More annoyingly, it also means that it is hard to store your own milk! We asked for a fridge as per their notes, and they actually brought us a full size one. But there is no getting over the overrall "niceness". It's in a pleasant area with easy short walks to various restaurants.

This is a lovely hotel and it’s my third stay when I come to DC for work. This time I felt that the bed linens quality was not on par with the fairmont quality, they were rough and had a weird smell. Also the bathroom lights only have one switch that control all the lights; in the vanity area the light is very dim, impossible to put makeup on there. There is however a ridiculously bright light on the wall in the shower that points directly to the eyes, not comfortable