The Architect

Hotel

Rated Excellent, the staff, attention, cleanliness, order, convenience, and an unbeatable location!
Highly recommended!

I’ve stayed here twice now, and I enjoy this hotel. The location is great, the staff is friendly, the price is right if you catch at the right time, and the rooms are clean. Parking is a bit of a problem, but where isn’t that a problem in DC. The location makes up for that. There is a subway next door and a Starbucks on the corner.

The staff are friendly and helpful. Lots of historic charm. Given that it's a historic hotel, the rooms are a little small but nicely renovated and the bed is comfortable. If you need parking, that will be an issue, as the hotel does not have parking. But if you're just flying in and taking the metro into the district, it's perfect. Both the metro station and The White House are only a quick 2-3 block walk. There is also a bike rental/return station only a block away, which makes getting to the National Mall, museums, and restaurants a breeze during your visit. For the price, location, and quality of the rooms, this hotel is a great deal. I would gladly stay here again.

We checked in, a day later than anticipated due to unforeseen travel delays, and they were very understanding and accommodating. The room was comfortable and clean. It was sightly on the small side, but a very good size for the price. The first two room keys we received didn't work to open the door, but we were given two new keys that worked well. The bathroom in our room was beautiful and large. I would recommend this place for a budget friendly place to spend a few nights. Coffee and water were available in the lobby/lounge area. Ice is available, on the bottom floor as well. They were also kind enough to store our bags for several hours after we checked out. The hotel is within walking distance of many beautiful sights including the white house and the national mall. There is also a metro station nearby as well as plenty of places to eat (which is good, the hotel does not serve breakfast). The bathroom fan is unfortunately connected to the light switch, which is unfortunate because it is so incredibly loud. The AC was good in our room, set at a decent temperature, but the view left something to be desired. Our window looked directly on to a brick wall. There was a safe in the closet, if that's something that's important to you, then this hotel delivered. The check in and check out process was simple and optimized, and the staff were generally friendly. The shower was slightly confusing to figure out, but that might just be me.

The rooms are SMALL! I can't stress this enough. Imagine a queen size bed with less than two feet of space on the sides and four feet at the foot of the bed. That is the size of the room. For as small as the rooms are, the AC can't cool the room. In an effort to better cool the small room with the bed in it, we closed the bathroom door. This made the bathroom really hot. Sweating after you get out of a shower is not fun. Maintenance was not available to look at the AC unit until the next morning. The desk attendant came to our room and said every air conditioner in the building operated this poorly when we asked to switch rooms.

Great location, cute rooms, fair prices, and easy check-in and out process. We were able to get a late checkout. Quick walk to the White House, 7 minutes. There are plenty of restaurants and coffee shops nearby. I’d highly recommend staying here.

On a warm and rainy night I entered the lobby and it was very very warm and humid. My room was on the first floor, next to the lobby and underground. The room was also warm and humid, with the AC on high and set to 61 degrees. The room was at least 80 degrees. As I unpacked, a couple of mosquitoes started buzzing around my head. I managed to kill two, but they kept appearing. After talking to the sympathetic front desk person, I went to dinner, hoping the room would cool off. Returning around 90 minutes later, the temperature had not budged but there were a couple more mosquitoes flying around. After several calls he got authorization to bump another reservation. My new room appears satisfactory. I'm in DC on business at least twice a month and have a lot of hotel experiences in the area. Fire alarms, and even a burst pipe on occasion, but the mosquitoes are a first. I wouldn't recommend this hotel for business.

Very nice place to stay. Great location about a 5 minute walk to the White House. The room was small, but so was the price. It's old school decor, but in great shape and very clean. There is quite a bit of building construction going on outside which is loud during the day and a little at night, but didn't keep me up. Would recommend especially if looking to walk the monuments.

The room we stayed in was on the 3d floor. The Wi-Fi there was so bad that we had to go to the lobby. And the water in the shower took forever to get warm. Other that that, we were pleased with our stay. The room was small, but it had a desk with a chair and a big bathroom. Everything looked new. The staff was friendly and effective, although the cleaning lady entered the room at nine on our checkout day, while we were still getting dressed. It was not a noisy room, considering the central location. However, it is slightly overprized.

I had a great stay. I was on the 9th floor in the front and had hot water. Yes, there is construction sound in the morning but that is not the fault of the hotel — can't help who is building around them. Loved having no carpet (carpet is questionable at a hotel). Had slippers to wear. My desk had a chair. True, no coffee maker, but Nerds & Nibbles across the street is a great coffee shop. And most in room coffee makers are questionable. Front desk staff was helpful with directions. I took the Metro so it being only a block away was great. Yes, room was small but that is what a "boutique" hotel is all about. I looked at every hotel in the area, couldn't find one cheaper. Would stay there again.

This hotel is awful. We booked with an infant and told there would be a crib. We arrived and no crib was ready. We were given a playpen with regular bedsheets to place in it. This is a suffocation hazard! In the morning the water took 27 minutes to warm up… I actually timed it. There is no ramp to bring a stroller or luggage down. The cleaning staff were friendly when we greeted them in the morning but didn't actually clean the room, they only made the bed, hung up towels and rolled up the bath mat. We stayed for 5 nights so a proper clean was expected and needed. We kept having to go to the front desk daily to get an extra towel for the baby. How hard is it to keep 3 towels stocked in our room? The front desk doesn't pick up the phone and claim no calls were made. After reporting this they could have investigated but didn't bother. The final straw was when I requested a wake-up call on our final night and staff forgot to call us which set us behind and led to us rushing out to catch our flight because the alarm clock in the room didn't go off either. Would never stay here again!

Worst hotel I have stayed at In DC. Parking was expensive and far. It was actually impossible to even stop out front and drop off bags. Forgot a continental breakfast they didn't even have a snack machine. The first room they put me in was ridiculously small like a foot on each side of the bed and the wall and the closet had no bar for me to hang up my clothes. The new room the have me was a small room but not laughably small. I hated it so much I wrote a review.