2500 Penn, a Placemakr Experience

It turns out that the air conditioning system in the building does not allow turning on the air conditioner on heat while the whole building is cold (and vice versa). That is, the AC method is set for the entire building by the hotel and you cannot change the air conditioning method for just one room. (see photo) So the whole night we were shivering with cold because it was not possible to turn on the air conditioner on heat. The reception claimed that there is a portable heating device in each room, after we went up to the room and we did not find it (there is only a fan), they claimed that there is actually no such device in each room but they will look for it and send it to us as soon they find it. After no one came, we went back to the reception and there they promised again that they are looking and as soon as they find it they will send it to us. Apparently they are searching really well, because it has been weeks since we left and still no one has come to update us on the search results.... The reception's habit of ignoring requests was repeated once more when we asked for another chair in the room. We were promised that they would send us, but no one came. Perhaps the person in charge of the searches was stuck on the task of searching for a heater and therefore did not spare time to search for a chair... They even ignored the complaint email we sent them.

Do not stay here. The room smelled horribly like the AC hadn't been cut on for weeks a and had a very strong, mildew smell, and it wasn't just ours (I heard another group trying to rebook another room because of the odor that was also in ours and was unable to due to space). Every vent in the space was covered in dust. Everything was outdated and not well maintained. No phone to call the front desk was available and after we just started disinfecting and cleaning to the best of our ability, it still felt gross. The tub, shower head and sinks had horrible stains and the furniture were as well and while we were only staying one night, I wish we just paid the few extra $$$ to book a room elsewhere.

I cannot recommend this place. Poorly maintained, sheets where NOT changed from previous guests. Towels dirty and so are the floors. Disgusting. After requesting clean sheets we changed the beds. But it looks like the laundry is not professionally cleaned.

Awful hotel and no housekeeping service. I booked two rooms for 3 days for GW graduation at $500 per night (total 3k). Arrived at 1pm and both rooms were ready but they wanted $150 ($75 per room) for early check in even though both rooms were ready and clean. $3,000 wasnt enough for them, they wanted more even though the rooms were ready. The parking lot is atrocious - good luck getting in and out. Appliances are dirty and greasy from the 1980s. HVAC is ridiculously noisy - cannot use it at all if you are a light sleeper and dont ask about switching from AC to Heat as that is not possible, (Anthony Woods even texted me and I quote "once the room becomes available you will be notified". Well it was available but they still wanted to nickel and dime me for more money.)

I never write complaints, but I feel like it's much needed this time.  I booked a room for three people at this hotel, and during that week I came to realize that they accepted pets according to their check-in process online (my 81-year-old mom is extremely allergic to them).  I contacted the hotel, and they guaranteed that they would clean the room thoroughly.  The next morning, when we tried to make coffee, we found a hair inside the coffee maker.  I feel like I paid a lot of money for a room that's not even representative of the photos online. I actually paid for a room to accommodate three people. But it was impossible for me to sleep on the sofa bed since the mattress was about an inch thick, which made the bars underneath it hurt my back all night.  The rooms are badly maintained, in extremely poor taste, old, smelly, and just terrible (as explained by other reviewers here; I should have checked the reviews online, my bad). Finally, we also had someone knock on our door at 11 a.m. to kick us out, screaming that it was check-out time. The three of us immediately opened the door with the backpacks on our backs (we recorded this), as we were a few steps away from the door, ready to leave. I had never experienced that. I would understand if someone knocked on the door 15 minutes past check-out time or so, but at 11 a.m. sharp? That was crazy. I reached out to the hotel a week ago to express my dissatisfaction, but I still haven't heard from anyone. Therefore, the operative word here is "avoid."

The place had a terrible odor. A cross between the pot from the high teenagers and microwaved fish from the residents. Dated. Carpet filthy. Vending machine charged incorrectly for bottled water. Miserable experience.

The hotel is a great location; easy access to the train, fairly quiet, and I enjoy the proximity to the Trader Joe's, especially when staying in a room with a kitchenette. The staff have been pretty friendly as well in my couple stays here. What I will say is - do NOT stay here during transition months! When it's fully hot or fully cold outside, you're fine, but I'm here in October and I cannot turn on the heat. There is no heat anywhere in the building. They have a "one pipe" heating/cooling system, so the entire building only has AC or it only has heat. So, on an evening in the low 50s outside, my room is at 64 degrees and I have no option to turn the heat on. The staff kindly got me an extra blanket, but the only options they could offer to actually improve the heat was to turn the oven on with the door open (fire hazard), or run the hot shower (wasteful). I ended up bundling under a blanket with the hair dryer warming my feet and hands so I could get through my work meetings. This building clearly needs an overhaul, and perhaps I wouldn't be so appalled if the cost hadn't been nearly $300 a night to stay in an irreversibly cold room.

The hotel is nice looking with a convenient location, but it needs better care. Staff was friendly and helped a lot. But hotel rooms need detailing ASAP. Lots of dust and bed smell, think that housekeeping has to do better job preparing rooms for next guests.