I spent one night with friends and one night at the Hyatt Place U.S. Capitol during my trip to Washington, DC last week. I chose the Hyatt Place based primarily upon location and in that respect I still misjudged distance and found the hotel a bit further away than I anticipated. Here’s my review of the Hyatt Place – U.S Capitol.
Hyatt Place U.S Capitol Review
I flew via Washington last week to pay my final respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As such, I wanted to stay at a hotel as close to the U.S. Supreme Court building as possible. While the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill would normally be my go-to option, it remains closed for COVID-19. Rather than splurge for the Park Hyatt near Georgetown or Willard (no fun splurging when I arrived late and was traveling alone), I chose the next closest hotel, the Hyatt Place Capitol Hill.
Location
On the one hand, this hotel is very convenient to getting around DC. There’s a red line Metro station (NoMa – Gallaudet U) two blocks away which made transport from Washington National Airport very easy (take the Yellow line from DCA in the direction of Fort Totten and transfer at Gallery Place – Chinatown to the red line in the direction of Glenmont).
You can also walk to the touristic areas…as I did during a 10-mile late-night stroll.
But in terms of being close to Capitol Hill as its name implies…well, technically yes, but it’s not an easy walk to the U.S. Capitol or Supreme Court. And the process of taking the red line to Union Station and then walking takes a lot of time. So keep that in mind or budget in for Uber.
The hotel is in a gentrifying neighborhood, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Yes, you will encounter some homeless people milling about and New York Avenue seems a bit rough.
But there’s a hip new apartment building across the street from the hotel (and a great coffee shop). Do close your blinds at night or else you’ll be looking directly into the bedrooms of dozens of people and they’ll be looking right back at you…
COVID-19 Precautions
When I arrived at 8pm, there was a guard outside the hotel who let me in. Normally, the sliding doors to the hotel are locked and you’ll need to swipe your room key in order to enter. Signs posted at the door warn you not to come in if you are feeling sick and that masks are required at all times.
While staff was masked for the most part, I did notice that one staff member only put her mask on when a customer approached. Then again, there was also thick plexiglass separating customers from employees so it wasn’t a big issue for me.
Due to the pandemic, the fitness center was closed, so I have no pictures of that. I’ll discuss breakfast below.
Guest Room
A very standard Hyatt Place room. That is to say a large room with a living room area (L-shaped couch and coffee table), large desk, and a semi-partition separating a bedroom area.
The bathroom did not have a bathtub, only a spacious shower (which was fine by me). Dr. Kenet soap and fresh towels were provided.
Breakfast
Well, at least they had breakfast…but don’t expect much.
The buffet is closed due to the pandemic. Instead, you can come up to the Market/Bar and order a breakfast sandwich, yogurt, apple, coffee, and orange juice in the morning. Credit for not pulling what many Hyatts have done and simply eliminating breakfast altogether, but at this point I view this as a cost-cutting move much more than a health/safety issue.
Smoking
One reason I am a big advocate for indoor smoking areas is because it makes it less likely I will have to smell smoke. A lot of guests appeared to be smokers and almost every time I walked into the hotel I had to smell pot and tobacco wafting over from the smoking area near the entrance. Put these people in a closed room or way down the street…not right outside the door.
CONCLUSION
This hotel served its purpose in the sense that it was cheap ($84), clean, and across the street from a great coffee shop. That said, the location was not as convenient as I had hoped for (in terms of walking) and I’d probably try out another Hyatt in town next time.
If you are considering signing up for a new credit card please click here and help support LiveAndLetsFly.com.
We’ve started doing weekend mattress runs at Category 1 Hyatt properties further west near Dulles airport. Without a car, they wouldn’t have been very convenient for you, but nice to see a review of any Hyatt in D.C. Hyatt Place is my overall favorite budget hotel/brand, although Park Hyatt is what I wish for.
Like they say, champagne taste but beer budget. 😉
Nice review, but Joe Biden said there are a lot of superpredators in that part of town. Perhaps you warded them off with your score from the Newark bus ride?
The bus ride came after.
You ate that abomination? The cheese looks like pus oozing from a suppurating wound. On the other hand, the hotel looks quite nice, despite the slightly inconvenient location.
I drank the coffee. Even the yogurt was too sweet.
The hotel’s a few blocks from my office. Definitely a transitioning neighborhood. Hope you had a nice time in DC!
Now I feel like an idiot for not reaching out. You could have walked the 10 miles with me. Next time.
Yes please!!!
Hey Matthew, this is unrelated to your review so I apologize but were you planning on writing a piece on the missing UA executive? I assume there’s not much more news you can report on other than what we can google but I saw Ben’s piece and given you have a lot of friends/connections at UA I thought you may have an interesting take on the story. Keep up the good work
Hi Tom. I will write about it eventually, but I don’t see a point right now in just regurgitating the news floating around out there. I do not have access to any sort of additional info that would justify a piece.
You would think that being based in DC and having so many examples of incredible neo-classical architecture/buildings that Hyatt could have put more effort into their building, rather than another glass and steel monstrosity.
JB, that part of town has nothing historical at all, just old wearhouses with most of those being razed. Unless it’s by the mall or other monuments, there is zero reason to make everything look like it’s classical. While this hotel looks like most buildings in DC, especially gentrifying neighborhoods, the need to mimic a style from centuries ago is ridiculous.
Unless I was staying at the hotel alone, the sliding door to enter the bathroom would prevent me from booking a room at this Hyatt Place. Otherwise, this appears to be a great looking hotel. I don’t need a hotel to have “soul”, just a quiet location to get a good night’s sleep.