Last week we told you about our experience checking into the Marriott Marco Island in Florida and our attempts to wrestle our luggage from the bellmen in order to make a clean getaway to our room for some much needed R&R.
Now we'd like to follow that up with an account of our ideal check-in experience at the Sofitel Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. last winter.
When our taxi pulled up in front of the hotel late one evening, two bellmen rushed over to open the door and alleviate us of our luggage--much as they did at the Marco Island Marriott.
Except, when we refused their assistant, they didn't push the issue, but simply told us where to find reception and then wished us a pleasant stay.
This image here is larger than it actually appears on the Hyatt website.
Word has it the Hyatt Regency Washington DC is offering prices more in line with Super 8 than with super luxe this month. A recent email offer read:
"Plan a getaway to our nation's capital and enjoy end of summer savings. With Hyatt Regency Washington's Summer Getaway offer you'll receive luxurious accommodations on Capitol Hill at rates starting at $89 per night.
You'll also be within walking distance of the Smithsonian Museums, Union Station shopping and a number of historic DC monuments.
The offer has blackout dates from now through August 22nd but after that the $89 rate is totally bookable until September 1. But here's the fine print. Literally.
We were browsing Apartment Therapy when we came across this kickass shot of the spectacular Salvador Dali Room at the Artists Inn Residence Bed and Breakfast in Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle.
The guest rooms at this B&B are all (duh) arts-themed: William Shakespeare, Katharine Hepburn, Duke Ellington, Mozart, Da Vinci, and Monet also have rooms dedicated to them.
Check out shots of the other rooms here -- rates in the Dali room start at $279 (but the Mozart room starts at $239. Um, does that mean ol' Wolfgang is not a popular dude? Ouch.)
If you weren't impressed by Kimpton Hotels' DC offerings over Labor Day Weekend, then maybe you need to step it up a notch here.
The Hay-Adams is offering its usual "Monuments by Night" package where guests can take a private night tour of the town's best known historical monuments without having to leave their hired luxury sedan. In other words, it's a drive-by sightseeing trip.
The package also includes a specially packed goodie basket and Champagne. In the morning, a full American Breakfast for two will be served in hotel's restaurant, The Lafayette. Package rates start at $599 per night, based on availability.
If you plan on staying a little longer in DC, for the month of August, the hotel's "Summer Sizzling Package" gives guests staying four nights the fourth night free. The package also includes complimentary valet parking and a full American breakfast for two each morning. This package starts at $479 a night.
We're not sure who stays four nights in DC just for pleasure and these aren't necessarily "deals" but the nighttime drive-by tour of DC does sound fun.
If you're headed down to DC for Labor Day, two of the (too) many Kimpton Hotels down there are offering some last-minute "staycation" (groan) sort of deals. But hey, a deal is a deal and these rates are looking pretty good.
· At the Hotel Palomar Arlington the hotel offers rooms starting at $139 a night and a $50 gas card. Called the "Hop, Skip and a Tank" promotion, a two-night minimum stay is required and the offer is valid Thursdays through Sundays until September 7th.
· At the Hotel Monaco Alexandria, room rates start at $169 a night and the "Let's Make a Deal" packages includes a choice of either a $20 gas card, complimentary parking or continental breakfast for two. Guests can also add on a second room at $99 (no special perks included). This hotel is probably the best family option, thanks to the room add-on and the hotel's "Dive-in Movie" Night every Saturday night at 7:00 PM.
· Other Kimpton hotels in the DC-area are still participating in the chain's "Hot Dates, Great Rates" promotion which have starting rates ranging from $89 to $149 a night.
Also, Kimpton is still accommodating passengers by picking up the tab on their checked airline baggage fees. But hurry, that offer expires on September 9th.
Every so often we feature a hotel review from one of our readers that we feel should be shared with the rest of you dear hotel guests. These reviews are highlighted because they are timely, about cool hotels in cool places and are relatively level-headed. Think you can submit one just like this? Send it in. This review actually comes from our mother who has finally started to understand what our day job is. Enjoy.
The hotel experience was about average. It was the Liaison in D. C.
The room was small with too much furniture. The desk was opposite the bed and had a desk chair in between the two. So I stubbed my bunion on the chair while walking through to the other side of the room. The rest of the hotel is cramped with low-ceilings and it looks kinda dingy.
Yesterday, Bloomberg reporter Jim O'Connell published a review of a few of D.C.'s most well-known hotel dining - and he seemed to like what he found in hotel kitchens across our nation's capital.
First up was the "appropriately swank" CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental - which, as you may recall, proved to be too cool for the WSJ reporter last week (she couldn't get a table) - which he declared "well worth the splurge" of, presumably, both calories and dollars.
Next on the tour de delish was Michel Richard Citronelle at the Latham Hotel, which serves up innovative, fun dishes that are more than just smoke and mirrors:
The changing menu recently offered "breakfast for dessert," featuring cookies that resemble strips of bacon, apples disguised as hash browns and meringue impersonating a soft-boiled egg. Obviously Chef Michel Richard is having fun in the kitchen. Even so, the clever-looking plates he's concocted don't mask Richard's real achievement: This is seriously accomplished food.
Though this seems kind of ass-backwards, some of us eat dessert-y things for breakfast (hello cheese danishes), so why not the other way around, right?
After hearing rumor after rumor that Ian Schrager's Edition will rise in what was a former church in the Adams Morgan section of DC, the Washington DC Business Journal has confirmed it will really happen. But you just have to wait until 2012 for it's opening.
DC's Advisory Neighborhood Commission has approved the plans from developers Brian Friedman (Friedman Capital) and Beztak Properties who are working with Marriott and Schrager to build this Edition.
Friedman will present his concept for the First Church of Christ, Scientist, at Euclid and Champlain streets NW, to the Historic Preservation Review Board on June 26. The property is up for historic landmark designation later this month.
Friedman will then begin the planned unit development process. He expects to break ground on the $100 million, nearly 180,000-square-foot project in December 2009.
The developers need to wait until December 2009 because part of the hotel will be located on an adjoining property whose tenant isn't moving out until that date.
We think Schrager/Marriott should just ask the tenant nicely to move out earlier. We are very impatient and don’t like to wait!!
A second installment of the "You've Been Overserved" chronicles. Enjoy.
If you're headed down to DC for Labor Day, two of the (too) many 
