Hotel Review: Hilton Garden Inn Located in Washington, DC

While traveling to see a play at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C., I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn with a friend from February 22 - 24, 2007. I made the reservation through hotels.com and I didn't have any problems during check-in, except for the fact that there was nowhere to park to check-in. I left my vehicle partially in the street with my friend while I went inside.

I was angry when I found out that the Hilton Garden Inn has required valet parking since I do not like just anyone driving my vehicle. However, I didn't have any choice since it was too late to find a room somewhere else. Not to mention I wouldn't have received a refund if I had cancelled with them. Someone helped us with our bags, and I handed over the keys to my vehicle.

Entering the room, it was breath-taking. It was the nicest hotel room I've ever seen. Not long before my stay, they had replaced the bedspreads in the rooms with fluffy white comforters. Along with the decorative pillows and the soft mattress, it was like floating on a cloud.

We had breakfast at the hotel the first morning that we were there. It was a little high at $15 for the breakfast buffet, but you can't beat the convenience. Otherwise, you have to have your vehicle brought around and then drive to somewhere to eat. The freshly squeezed orange juice they serve makes it worth it.

The hotel also has a place where you can buy food such as sandwiches and hot-pockets to heat up in the microwave in your room. This was very convenient since the hotel restaurant was under renovation and wasn't open for lunch. But really, it's also nice because it's cheaper if you only want a little something to eat. The rooms also have refrigerators if you want to bring your own food and drinks. Also, there are some nice places to eat within walking distance of the hotel.

The hotel takes your credit card number to charge you for incidentals, as they call it. This is your parking fee and basically anything charged to the room. They told me this upon check-in. But for some reason, they feel it necessary to slide a bill under your door around 4:30am and knock on the door, which of course woke me up.

I got up to see what was slid under the door, and I hit something, which also woke up my friend. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't. A few hours later, I went downstairs and asked for a manager.

The manager insisted that the person shouldn't have knocked. However, she admitted that it was their policy to slide the bill under the door. The point of them doing this is so you can look it over, and if you agree with it, you can simply leave the room key(s) in the room and leave the hotel without actually checking out.

I told her that the policy did sound nice in theory, but that I had to drive about four hours on only about three hours of sleep. She offered us a later check out time, but we had to leave. I told her that since this happened over that bill, that she could take something off, like one of the two days of parking fees.

She was very nice about the whole situation. She gave me one day free parking (worth $32) plus two tickets for me and my friend to each have the breakfast buffet for free (worth $30).

I highly recommend this hotel. But, you might want to mention to them not to slide a bill under your door. But, really, it's one of the nicest places I've stayed. The valet people were very careful with my vehicle. And, when I asked about them calling us a taxi to go to the play, this one guy who worked there said he'd drive us and only charge what a taxi does. You can't beat that kind of customer service.