Monaco Washington DC, a Kimpton Hotel Review

It is a nice older building that was converted into a hotel. Within walking distance of museums, restaurants, the Capitol Arena, monuments, and the White House. It was the perfect location for our stay.

If you have the funds, get the biggest room you can afford. The smaller rooms are dominated by the bathroom that was added to make the room usable as a hotel. There is literally about 2 feet between the bed and the bathroom. The larger rooms have a lot more space to move around.

Hotel staff was courteous and provided decent service. Was not able to get into the hotel restaurant, Dirty Habit, due a convention at the hotel which seemed to dominate the place. But plenty of other good places were close by in walking distance. The local breakfast spots are amazing.

Make sure you take anything of value out of your car as the Valet service will make sure to do it for you. And don't bother to complain to the Hotel or Valet service management about it. You will not get a call back or any resolution. So much for "delivering top-notch service without an ounce of pretension."

Overall I would have rated it 4 stars. The tight space of the room and the valet shopping in my car kind of ruined the experience for us.

Stayed here with my wife and 12 year old son, on a first-time visit to DC. Really cool atmosphere and they served coffee in the morning and free wine, beer and snacks in the evening. Easy access to everywhere and right across the street from the National Portrait Gallery.

Great location, central to lots of good restaurants and attractions. Nice courtyard bar, very lively at the weekend!

Excellent service, clean, and great location. All what we wanted.

Seriously, the best staff, the nicest spaces, the most wonderful location and the greatest hotel stay I have ever experienced.

Hotel Monaco is one of my favorite DC hotels. Kimpton Hotels are always unique.

Great customer service! I spent the night after a company holiday party. The day of the party, my colleague who was going to change in my room and lace me into my dress (laced up the back) fell ill. When I checked in, I asked if someone at the hotel could help and the lady at the front desk assured me they could help. When I was ready, I called down to the desk and the same lady answered the phone and was at my door in minutes. She laced up my dress perfectly. It was a great party and I hope to return next December.

It is a nicely decorated exterior with a renovation of the old post office. The room also has a rather unusual feeling, such as beds, a washroom, a perfect, leopard-patterned bathrobe, a bedside with a lion's head, and a lion object made of welded metal parts.
Within 1 minute by subway station, 1 minute by supermarket, and 5 minutes by taxi.

Been coming to DC for work over 20 years now, and this is the best located hotel I've ever stayed in. Staff are super helpful, there's a happy hour every afternoon in the lobby, room was spacious and quiet. And the outdoor bar is fantastic - big, comfy and well served, though the hours of service at the outside bar seemed to vary according to a pattern I never figured out. Will definitely stay here again.

Nice hotel centrally located to WH, monuments, staples stadium, Chinatown, highways, metro stations, buses. Rooms are small but well maintained. Each room has a different theme. The bar/restaurant area seem to be an attraction for guests as well as outside patrons for a drink and ambience. Attentive, friendly and helpful staff ...definitely in tune with customer service. Would recommend.

Spent NYE with my husband.Very comfortable stay, high quality amenities. Easy check in check out process, the app is quite functional and uptodate. Good spa, good in-room dining menu. Prompt House keeping services. Proximity to many shopping locations and restaurants.

The hotel overall was great. My son enjoyed the decor and my husband enjoyed the history of the hotel. My overall stay was great however I did have a unprofessional and rude experience with a woman working the front desk named Kim. Her attitude and unprofessionalism made me feel unwelcomed. During the night our cable tv went out because the hotel uses satellite and it rained all night. So if you enjoy watching tv, bad weather may alter that agenda for you. Other than Kim being rude, I enjoyed my stay.

Worst hotel room EVER!!!!! The room had a strange smell upon entry. The next day the smell, which smelled like sewage, was growing stronger. Eventually we turned the room upside down to find the source of the smell. It was the mattress!!! Underneath all of the linen there was a repulsive strong odor of fecal matter!!! Upon closure inspection we spotted brown matter on the bed skirt! We brought this HEALTH HAZARD up to manager IMMEDIATELY and all he did was credit one night stay and moved us to a new room!!! I did not see a mattress removed from my old room and for all I know they probably left it and only changed the sheets!

Disgusting room conditions and poor customer service. I will never stay at a Hotel Monaco again.

P.S. There was also a "Honor Bar Food" (a.k.a. mini bar) charge on my room the day of my check-out which I did not charge because I left early in the morning for my flight. I called to dispute it and they hung up on me. DON'T STAY HERE.

Went to this hotel for a active duty military family of four trip to Washington DC for Memorial Day weekend, due to the location. My wife is disabled and can't climb stairs. As soon as you pull up to hotel all you see is stairs, there is no ramps. The hotel uses a very slow and inconvenient outside chair lift to the basement. So every time we left the hotel and returned from exploring, I had to leave her at the lift and find a worker to run it. Needless to say this was very taxing on my wife and we cut our trip short. I will return to Washington DC to finish sightseeing, just not at this hotel.

The hotel was highly recommended to us for our weekend away. The hotel Placed us near the ballroom. Needless to say a Christmas Party was going on, the guest made noise until 1:00A.m in the morning. The caterers walked up and down the hallway until 1-1:30a.m.
We were very hesitant to use the valet service but was assured by the Valet Company that the place was very secure. During the evening hours of our first night , one of the valet attendants stole my wallet out of our car. I totally had forgotten it was in the car. The person rummaged through my vehicle, dumping over a bag that was sitting in my car. Our glove box was opened and strewn about.
The police came, the person was still working this evening when we drive past to make sure.

Instead of wine, my turn-down came with coffee. Thank you!!!

So wonderful and unique! We were there for our honeymoon and the management gifted us with chilled champagne in our room. It was a bit of a hike to get to our room, but other than that, it was awesome. If you have your own refrigerated snacks, ask them for another fridge. I didn't know we could do that and we lost some food because the only fridge was the mini bar fridge.

Room itself was awesome, however, very inconvenient to get to in relation to the lobby.

Beautiful building, incredible staff, and I wasn't even an overnight guest. Will definitely be bringing them my business next time I'm in town.

Wonderful decor and staff was excellent. Great place to host an event.

Beautiful hotel, great location, but...

Old building, wall plugs are limited.

Beds were very firm. Very. Rooms were beautiful and clean.

Bathrooms. Single ply toilet paper. Towels were stacked in the tub shower inside the curtained area. To turn on the water you had to lean over the toilet. Shower activation is same place so move quick or make sure you point the shower head away.
Shower is also the limited kind, no pressure. Water was not too soft so rinsed well.

Neat hotel. Visually interesting throughout the entire building. Not as functional as I would have liked for the money.

In house bar was very nice also. Staff great!

Good food out of the catering arm of the hotel, and beautifully presented food as well. My only complaint is that the banquet room was a bit too warm and too crowded.

The environment feels good, but the internet speed is not fast.

The food was excellent and the staff was very polite. Everything, including rooms and the view, looked amazing as well.

Center to all the entertainment. Great staff and amazing rooms.

Nice spot for drinks after work. Cool courtyard with a bar, some tables, and outdoor fireplaces.

I visit Kimpton hotels regularly and this location is a true gem of the brand as a true example of Federal architecture in Penn Quarter. I thorughly enjoyed staying in the Robert Mills suite which is impeccably detailed including a spacious bathroom with clawfoot tub. The hotel is convenient to the Capital One Arena, the National Gallery, I-395 and the Hill. Service was outstanding. Expect some street noise as it is centrally located in busy Penn Quarter. All-valet parking.

Very friendly and helpful staff that added to the great experience. Rooms are decent.

Rooms are very nice but at the same time it's been made into a hotel from a previous space. Which means that the rooms are a little eccentric and might not be what you're accustomed to but they're a totally unique experience.

Conference bathrooms have stalls with doors that close fully flush. Kimpton out here existing in 3018, 10/10 would recommend for convention / hall rental.

I like the Kimpton Hotel and I have stayed at many Kimpton hotels. This hotel is the most disappointing to me so far. The reasons are: 1. The hotel has no atmosphere, the lobby is lifeless and has no vitality. 2, the room is very small. 3. Is it true? Are the blankets gone? 4. The air conditioner cannot be set to less than 66 degrees Fahrenheit (about 19 degrees Celsius). Some of them are just minor issues, and I estimate that my own expectations for Kimpton hotels may be higher. The room here is very average.

Modern upgrades to a historic building makes for this very classy and interesting hotel!

I wasn't there for long but was impresses with its elegance.

New restaurant space is awesome. Dirty Habit is going to be a dc nightlife staple. Only drawback is bathroom situation on 3rd floor of the hotel.

We love the Hotel Monaco in part because of its proximity to the Verizon Center and in part because it's a unique experience as a concerted government building. The halls are enormous and the rooms are on the small side and oddly shaped but we're not staying because of the size of the rooms. We've never had a complaint in our many visits.

Very good customer service! Everyone was really pleasant. Good room for people like myself who likes to sleep in a dark room during the day by closing the curtains..bathroom was a lil small but overall pretty decent

Great food catered for a wedding and nice facilities and staff.

Great service, fun modern decor, comfortable courtyard with firepits!

The service at the hotel has been great. I find that the astetics of some of it dated.

Way too pricey for all the nickel and diming they do

The best downtown hotel, hands down. They have the best meeting space for small meetings/conferences that I can think of in the area. The proximity to Gallery Place Metro is a HUGE plus for a meeting that blends mix of local and traveling attendees. The service is great and from mtg. Planner POV this is the place to be.

Supremely posh, centrally located, huge rooms, and far above average restaurant.

This hotel has charged my credit card four times for an amount that was not due to them! I haven t been there in weeks and they just charged me again! I am so upset and disappointed. I am expecting a call from their general manager, because this is unacceptable. Also making me wonder if there is an employee stealing CC numbers, why would my account from weeks ago be accessed today!?

Hotel Monaco is a heritage building with modern facilities. Hotel staff were warm and helpful. Hotel is conveniently located to Chinatown and the Smithsonian museums. Lots of good eateries at every corner. Lobby served complimentary hot drinks in the morning and alcohol in the evening for hotel guests.

The hotel is beautiful and the staff is amazing. The rooms are clean which is always welcomed.

Nice location directly by the metro and close to the convention center. Great service and staff.

Everything was very nice. The only issue is that they put a hold on my card for room charges twice.

Great hotel with character, but room service is expensive.

Keisha went above and beyond to make me feel welcome and appreciated.

Hotel Monico is located within walking distance to great dining choices and many of the DC attractions. It is conveniently kitty corner to the Metro station serving the Verizon center. We had no need to rent a car at all, taking the metro from Regan National to and from the hotel. We used the Metro during our stay to extend our range and filled as needed with Uber to completely avoid the hassle of a car in an urban setting.

The complementary 5 pm wine bar provides a great daily opportunity to unwind and plan the evening s activities. The hotel provides bicycles on a first come first serve basis for their guests. The quality is nice enough to enjoy the ride. We used the bikes to view the White House and revisit some of the monuments on a departure morning ride.

Be aware that the first floor rooms are actually below grade. We had one when we checked in, but after a short moved to a third floor room which we found much more agreeable.

Great hotel. They will even give you a gold fish if you're missing your pet at home. Wonderful location and interesting building. The rooms are a tad funky but that's what you get in what feels to be a historical building

This hotel has his own character. Very cozy feeling. Very beautiful decoration. Very intimate feeling. The staffs at the front desk are very friendly. The lobby has comfortable seating area.

The location is very convenience to many restaurants and theater.

Great service at the front desk, even before arriving at the hotel. Clean room and bathroom, though the room (a queen room) was on the small side, but sufficient. Snacks and drinks in minibar in the room - decent offering of snacks and goodies. Leopard print bathrobes. Decent area of town -- as a young female traveling alone, I felt safe. Caddy corner from a Starbucks that opens at 5am and closes at 9pm. Great restaurant (Dirty Habit) with a nice bar. Room service menu comes from the restaurant (though I think the menu may be a little more limited for room service). I'd definitely stay here again.

Good hotel. I slept well here. Rooms are miniature. Reminded me of tokyo.

Very arrogant staff. Checking in, at the bar, checking out, terrible service! I was completely ignored at bar after waiting 10 minutes! I ve received better service at much less expensive hotels in DC.

Garbage, over priced. Expect an extra 27$ for absolutely nothing at check out. Charged for drinks we didn't even have. Snobby front desk. Definitely would NOT stay again.

The staff was outstanding! The food was delicious. It was a wonderful event.

Very nice place, our sons wedding and reception were held here, fantastic memories

Very accommodating with luggage.comfortable beds. Coffee regularly out every morning. Long wait for breakfast. Unable to get dinner there.