The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center

Washington, D.C. is a city that every American should visit in his or her lifetime. It serves as a monument to the founding fathers and the ideals of our nation. As long as you stay in the right area, it can be a truly breathtaking experience.

The Westin Washington, D.C. City Center is located in the heart of the city. It is at 1400 M Street. This is just a few minutes walk the White House. The Washington Monument and the museums of the Smithsonian Institute can be reached in under a twenty minute walk. The US Capitol Building is not much farther than that. If you want to go to a site a little farther away, taxis can be easily called by the doorman. The restaurants in the area are also superb. I recommend Old Ebbet's Grill, which can be reached in about fifteen minutes on foot. The seafood there is amazing.

The hotel itself was a great place to stay. The staff was friendly and very helpful. One problem we ran into was that they could not park our car. I'm not sure if it was due to the size (I was driving a Yukon XL) or because they did not have any parking arrangements at all, so that may be something you would want to look into before arriving. They helped us find a place to park easily enough though, so it was not a big problem. The atrium of the hotel stretched all the way to the ceiling, and looked quite impressive.

While walking to our room, it was apparent that the building originally had a different purpose and was extended for use as a hotel. The inside walls in the hallways were made of brick, which gave it an older, almost colonial feel. It was quite nice. The room itself was average size for a double. It had two very comfortable beds, which all Westins seem to have. There was enough space to fit a cot in the room. The room had a flat screen TV. The ice machine on our floor was easy to find. Our room looked into the hotel, so we had a view of the atrium and lobby. Directly outside of the hotel there is not much to see, so we did not miss much having this view. The bathroom had a large shower/tub, a countertop with mirror, and a standard toilet. Overall the room was clean and comfortable.

Overall I would recommend staying at this hotel if you want to visit Washington, D.C. The hotel you should stay in while visiting the U.S. capitol really depends on what you want to see while visiting, and this hotel was close to all my top sites. Rooms can be had for as little as $179 a night, which is quite good for a clean, comfortable and central hotel in Washington, D.C.