When planning a two-night visit to Washington D.C., I had a problem picking a hotel. While there are many choices, not all of them are convenient. I wanted something close to the National Mall while connected to Dulles and Reagan National airports by the Metro. I was also looking for somewhere to use some of our expiring free night certificates, which left out many top-level properties.
Fortunately, a hotel is located a few blocks from the Smithsonian museums, with a direct connection to the Metro and bookable with a Hyatt category 1-4 free night certificate.
That hotel is the Grand Hyatt Washington.
Grand Hyatt Washington
1000 H Street NW,
Washington, D.C.
The Grand Hyatt Washington is a massive hotel with 897 guest rooms. It’s an interesting property as it opened as a convention hotel, with the Washington Convention Center directly across the street. However, that building is gone, being replaced by City Center DC, leaving the hotel without a source of steady visitors. This may be why it’s still a Hyatt Category 4 property.
The design is interesting, with a massive atrium surrounded by hotel rooms. This means that 1/2 of the rooms in the hotel have a view of the atrium. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
I booked our room using two free night certificates I received from the World of Hyatt credit card. One was the anniversary free night and the other I received for spending $15,000 on the card in a calendar year.
If I had paid the revenue rate for our stay, the room would have cost $950 after taxes and fees. Room rates fluctuate considerably at this hotel, so check if using points or paying cash is better.
This hotel charges a $20 daily destination fee, which was waived because we stayed with free nights. It’s also not charged to Globalist members when staying on points or paying cash.
Check-in
On one side of the atrium is the check-in desk and bell services. There’s a lane for World of Hyatt members all the way to the left.
Check-in time at the hotel is 4 PM. We arrived around 1 PM and I was hoping that my Explorist status would get us into our room a bit early. It worked out, and we were assigned a room on the 9th floor. The hotel is rectangular shaped and we had a room about the middle way down one of the long sides.
Hotel Room
As I mentioned, many hotel rooms face the hotel atrium. Here’s the view from our 9th-floor room.
We booked a room with a king-size bed but there was plenty of space. According to the hotel website, the rooms are 351 square feet. There’s sufficient space to work with a full desk and work chair. In addition, there was a lounge chair with a small table in the corner.
The decor was a bit on the dark side, which was made worse because it was a rainy day and there was less light coming in from the atrium. One negative with the room was the air conditioner, which was excessively loud and cycled on and off during the evening.
The connecting room door takes up much wall space, which I imagine is more useful in non-connecting rooms. We used it as the place to keep our luggage.
There is sufficient space for storage with the drawers under the television and a closet. There’s a mini-fridge, safe and coffee maker. We also were provided our 2 bottles of water, which are included with the $20 destination fee.
The bathroom was neatly appointed with individual-size toiletries. One oddity that I had read about in reviews is the industrial-style toilet with no tank. This stands out for an upper-scale hotel compared to the rest of the fixtures.
Dining
There’s a surprising lack of places to eat for such a large hotel. For breakfast, the hotel opens Cabinet, which serves a buffet and a la carte dishes.
The only other place to eat is the Cure Bar & Bistro. Open from lunch to 10:30 PM; they offer a French/Asian fusion-inspired menu.
There’s also a Starbucks Reserve location located off of the lobby.
Fortunately, you’re in the center of Washington D.C. and there are restaurants everywhere you turn.
Location
The Grand Hyatt is in a great location if you’re going to see the city’s main sites. It’s only a few blocks walk to the National Mall and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the White House, and Washington Monument.
In addition, the Grand Hyatt is connected to the Metro Center Metro Station. You can take a train to Dulles and Reagan National airports from there.
Final Thought
The Grand Hyatt Washington exactly met our needs for this trip. It was centrally located so we didn’t have to spend time getting back and forth to the hotel. Our room was ready early, allowing us to unpack and get in a few hours of sightseeing (because everything in Washington DC closes at 5 PM.)
Because this is still a Category 4 Hyatt property, it’s a great place to use your free night certificate. Is it the same as the Park Hyatt? Of course not but it’s not supposed to be. If you’re looking for a fancy hotel with fine dining like you’ll find at Blue Duck Tavern then you’re better off staying there or at one of the many other luxury properties in the city.
But if you need a place to stay with a large room and a comfortable bed, you won’t go wrong at the Grand Hyatt.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
