Great Location - Great Hotel - Affinia Hotels will make it better!!!

Well....... after reading the reviews of this hotel when it was the Holiday Inn on the Hill - Washington, I thought I had made the biggest mistake in the world. I have worked in hotels for the past 18 years, and took advantage of reduced staff rates availabe at other Holiday Inn's. On the 1st April the hotel changed from a Holiday Inn to an Affina Hotel and rebranded as The Liaison Capitol Hill. I was very surprised by this and contacted the hotel about my reservation, I was informed that they would still honour my reservation at the staff reduced rate - THEY WERE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO DO THIS - this was fantastic news. Obviously I was still concerned about comments I had previously read about the old named hotel (bad staff/refurb noise/room issues). WELL let me tell you how great our experience was at The Liaison. We arrived by the Super Shuttle from Washington Dulles airport and was met by a very helpful Bellman who assisted with our extensive luggage. Inside the hotel the receptionist was extremely helpful and chatty, asking where we had come from, what we were planning to do whilst we were here. She also noticed we had booked 2 rooms and they were not close to each other, without even being asked she offered to move them so they were connecting rooms - which was great as we were travelling with our 2 friends. There was also a welcome cherry drink she invited us to try. Our rooms were allocated on the 2nd Floor (which in the USA is actually the 1st Floor - as they class the ground floor as 1st Floor!). Ice Machine just down the corridor. These rooms were just great - 2 double beds with duvets, feather toppers on the mattress and 4 lovely pillows. the hotel also had a pillow menu, where you could choose from one of 6 different types of pillows. Bathroom was nice with tub and powerful shower over. Toilet and sink unit. Room had coffee maker, safe, 3 drawers and hanging space. We still had the old style CRT television, but thet were actively changing them in rooms to the new large screen LCD ones. We also received a new alarm clock radio in our room during our stay. I also know they are putting fridge in the rooms as well. Yes, the restaurant was still under final stages of refurbishment - but wo comes to Washington on a holiday/short break and then eat in the hotel, we certainly didn't. You come to a city to experinece the different restaurants etc. People had complained about noise from refurbishments - well we were immediatley above the restaurant and heard no noise before 9am and then it was only a little hammering. The hotel has a business centre (well a room with colour printer and PC with FREE internet access) this was very useful for checking emails and checking in for our internal flight. The hotel is opposite the Hyatt and very very close to the Capitol Building - also Union Station was only 2 blocks away, where there we plenty of eating establishments and also access to the Metro. Once Affinia Hotels have finished adding the final touches to this hotel it will be even better than it is now. Its not perfect and not a 5 Star hotel, but very resonably priced (even on standard prices). I wish the general public would realise that you get what you pay for in life - and this is also true of hotels. If you rae paying £500 per night, then yes you should get exceptional service and facilities, but if you are paying around £100 then you are getting very good value for money - and YES, thigs might go wrong occasionally - as no one is perfect. I will be writing to the General Manager at the hotel and thanking him for a very enjoyable 5 night stay at The Liaison. (Please note from reading previous reviews, he takes interest on the reviews on here and replies which I think is excellent customer service.) I have pictures that I will try and upload

Good stay

We stayed at The Liasion 4/19-4/23 for 4 nights. We enjoyed our stay very much.

There was only one problem, at check in. They had us down for 3 rooms instead of 2 adjoining we requested. Problem quickly fixed. So we go up to the rooms, and see there is not the flat screen tv's the hotel website said, and there are no fridges as promised. The fridges were vital as we brought water bottles and juice. The fridges were brought up though within a few hours. There were not flatscreens because the hotel "had not installed them yet." An apology was given.

The rooms were incredibly clean. Housekeeping was top-par. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed for renovations, but the Hyatt across the street is good, but VERY pricey for breakfast.

Business Center was nice, not a center but more like a computer in a small room, but the room was very cozy.

Gift Shop was very small, but still had most goods like meds, ice cream, stamps, postcards, some t-shirts, etc.

Ice machines were not installed on our floor, so we had to go from our floor (4th) to the 7th to get ice, although as we were leaving I saw them installing the machine.

Lobby was nice. A DELICIOUS complimentary juice drink was offered in the lobby.

Front Desk could not be nicer, and neither could the bellhop at the front door. Overall, we enjoyed our stay here, and would return.

Thank you so much for your feedback. We appreciate your comments and feedback and are pleased that you had an enjoyable stay. We hope you'll return this summer to enjoy the completed renovations, our rooftop pool and our destination restaurant!

Best regards,

Dani Elhachem

General Manager

Still a Holiday Inn

Still feels like a Holiday Inn. They are trying to upgrade the hotel but it definitely doesn't feel like anything close to upscale. It fit our needs for a hotel close to a metro stop in the area, but I wouldn't go back. Still doing renovations so we heard quite a bit of drilling and other contruction noise up until about 7:30 at night.

I appreciate your feedback. Each experience, the good and the not-so-good are valued and help us to perfect the way that we bring you the Affinia experience of providing you with customized comfort. I apologize that your experience was not as enjoyable as it should have been. We are currently going through minor adjustments that will be completed soon and we are confident that if you return once they are completed you will be pleasantly surprised.

Best Regards,

Dani Elhachem

General Manager

The Liaison Capitol Hill, An Affinia Hotel

A Great Location & Great Room

I was recommended this hotel from a friend who travels the Capitol HIll area often as a family friendly hotel. When I booked the hotel it was Holiday Inn on the Hill. After booking, I found this site & was shocked reading the reviews, I did read that they were changing the name as of April 1st. Well a pleasant April fools day joke!

We found this hotel very clean with a friendly & helpful staff. The rooms were clean & large enough. Yes, we did see some construction in progress, but not on our floor. We never even heard a hammer. We were out during most of the day . The restaurant was not open yet, but I bet you could walk across the street & eat at the Hyatt. Everyday we took a quick 2 block walk to Union Station that had several sit down restaurants & a large food court. Lots of shopping & several tours originate there.

We would definitely recommend this hotel depending on your needs. We did not see the pool area. Mainly we were interested in a clean, safe hotel with a great centralized location to the sites. We walked to the Capitol, the Mall, Air & Space Museum, Natural History Museum, National Achieves (during daylight hours) and felt perfectly safe.

The Liaison topped a great spring break!

The Liason ????

I was really looking forward to this hotel because it looked beautiful. The Liaison site said that it had just completed renovation on April 1st. I booked a room for April 11th. When my husband and I got there, it looked great. Awesome location, about 5 blocks from the national mall area. But......it wasn't even completed. There was no restaurant (still being built), so we had to fend for dinner at 8pm in DC. There were no maps available through the hotel, so bring your own. Also, the room wasn't even finished being painted and the AC wasn't working as well as the TV channels. Another issue was that I did say I was disappointed and felt that Liaison misrepresented themselves by listing all these amenties that were not available. All I got was a blank stare from the receptionist. Oh, well. Hopefully, it will be completed soon because it definately has potential as being a really nice hotel, just not yet.

We strive to have maps readily available for guest at the front desk, I'm sorry if this was not the case during your visit. While Affinia hotels took over management of the hotel on April 1st, there are still adjustments that are being made to the property. Our restaurant is currently under renovation, but we offer our guests detailed information about the many restaurants that are close by and within walking distance. We are very excited about our soon to open restaurant and hope that you will give us another chance and come back to enjoy a spectacular dining experience in our restaurant.

Thank you,

Dani Elhachem

General Manager, The Liaison Capitol Hill, An Affinia Hotel

delhachem@affinia.com

It was very nice

I was very worried about staying here, based on the reviews I had read. But, I had already made my reservations a month or so before, using a special they had. Well, I was pleasantly surprised by the polite and friendly staff. They were very responsive to my requests, though I only had a few requests. The room was nice, and roomy enough for my son and me. Yes, there was construction going on, but we were rarely in the hotel during the day, and when we were, it wasn't that loud.

The location was great - a short walk to Union Station, where there was a food court, the metro, and the tours that we took originated there, too. Additionally, it was only .25 miles from the Capitol building - and what a sight. There were Capitol police everywhere, so walking on the Mall was very safe. My son and I spent the evenings on the Mall and I always felt we were safe.

For you smokers... This is a non smoking hotel. However, there are benches on either side of the front door for smokers. It was never crowded, and it was very safe.

All in all, I would say this was a great hotel. I suppose it depends on your expectations. If you are looking for a hotel with a good location, that is comfortable, clean and safe, then this is good place for you.

Just before we left, we saw a new name go up on the hotel. When I asked, they said the hotel is changing it's name to The Liaison on April 1, 2008.