Loved It & Travel A Lot!!

I stayed at the Hotel Palomar from October 6th to 9th. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there. I was extremely skeptical b/c of the bad reviews, but all of my fears were put aside when I arrived.

Not as bad as all that

Stayed here for three nights on business in mid-September. The room was comfortable and clean with plenty of space to spread out and work. Nice beds, although the down comfortor was stiflingly hot for Washington in late summer. The bathroom was a litte worse for wear with grimy wallpaper and old-looking tub, but maybe just hasn't been renovated yet.

Not ready for guests. period.

This hotel was not ready for business at least when we stayed there one of the August weekends.

Great Choice!

We were nervous about our decision to chose the Hotel Palomar, given the August reviews. What we found was a beautiful hotel, wonderful, friendly staff and an outstanding location. Our reservation was for a room with 2 queen beds however, when we got to the room it was a single queen bed. The staff was very apologetic and quickly changed us to a corner room on the 9th floor. Great room, extremely comfortable beds, but with a very small bathroom. Only real complaint...the hallway/room doors are very noisy when they shut. We were awakened nearly every morning due to hallway noise. Don't bother bringing swimsuits (or kids that want to swim) - the pool is tiny with little/no sunshine. Great resturants nearby and metro is a 5 min. walk. Very safe neighborhood. Highly recommend this new DC hotel.

This hotel is a gem!

We have stayed at the hotel Palomar as our 9th hotel on our trip through the US. What a design hotel the Palomar is - a true gem! Although there is still some work going on, had absolutely no problem with it. When we complained about some minor deficiencies in the bathroom we were moved to another ultra design room (we could choose) of a size we have never experienced before (even the Bellagio in Las Vegas was smaller). The Palomar is and will become a top boutique hotel (once their advertised rooms with whirlpool etc are finalized). Our compliments to the designer! The staff is very attentive and accomodating.

We'll be back.

Had a great stay!

We just returned from the Hotel Palomar. We were there from 8/26-8/29. We had a fantastic visit. We arrived early and our room wasn't ready yet so they upgraded us to a wonderful, quiet room on the 10th floor. The staff is fantastic, and had wonderful recommendations for dinner and clubs every night. The staff recognized us when we came in after sightseeing each day and asked us how our day was. There is a free wine reception every night from 5-6pm and wonderful upscale bath ammenities and a paper every morning. The rooms are clean and fresh and the beds are so comfortable.

Not quite there yet

My husband and I just returned home from a week long stay at the Hotel Palomar in DC - we checked in 8/18 and checked out 8/25. It is obviously still a work in progress as we had a few issues during our stay.

Almost there!!! But Great Staff and Location!

We stay at many Kimpton properties scattered around the US, and pick them for "boutique" feel, and lack of Starwood-ness! Originally had booked a Suite with spa tub through Kimpton. Upon our arrival however we were notified due to the Hotel's recent opening, a few rooms were still a work in progress, including ours. The Manager was very very apologetic and went above the cally of duty to find us room of similar caliber at some of the sister properties in DC . While we had no luck in that search, we decided to stay at the Palomar anyhow due to its great location to much of everything. Our replacement room was excellent!! Large, airy, and enjoyed the L'ocittane toiletries....high end touch. Would certainly visit this Kimpton property again, especially due to excellent staff and Front of the House Manager. Keep up the good work.

Extremely disappointed

Stayed at Palomar for three nights at the end of a two week trip around the US. Booked due to location but also to use pool and fitness centre. Neither is available and we were not told this in advance or we would not have booked.

Still a mess (staff great, management must be nuts)

Here is an update from June 2006:

I attempted to stay at the Palomar on a business trip.

The hotel is still under heavy construction (the hammering

starts at 0700). In the first room the bathroom flooded

through the recessed light fixture. In the second room,

workers were scraping plaster outside the door at 7am.

No restaurant, no room service, no booze in the minibar

for attempting to forget the bad mistake you made by reserving

a room there.

But I must say: the desk staff are really wonderful.

Fantastic attitudes, polite, friendly and very sympathetic.

They should give training classes on how to put

up with bad management with a smile.