The Ritz-Carlton, Washington, D.C.

I had a very unpleasant experience with this hotel so far. Ritz hotels are great in general, and the main difference is usually exceptional service. I travel a lot in general (ambassador with Marriott) and had various but typically good experiences at other Ritz hotels. I only stayed here for 1 night (all though planned to stay for 2). During the first night there was an electricity outage, so we woke to the dark cold rooms and no hot water. These things can happen to any hotel, but the difference comes from how you handle such cases. The communication was really bad, as we were told that everything would be fixed first by 10am, then 12am, then during the day... Once we arrived at 4pm it was still not there. We had to ask ourselves to move us to another hotel, as we had to prepare for a black tie event. We were told that we could stay at 4 star marriott nearby (Mayflower) for a twice lower rate, which is not ideal but ok. So we moved there for another night. The problem comes afterward. I still got a bill over email for 2 nights at Ritz and $0 bill at Mayflower! So we paid full 2 nights Ritz price for a night w/o electricity and a night in lower tier cheaper hotel - what a deal? I've been texting and calling Ritz for 3 weeks by now, and didn't hear any resolution. They just dumped 6k points to my account - which is like ~$50 equivalent. So, my recommendation is to choose another Ritz in D.C., as this one has to work on how they treat customers in such cases.

Clean and great customer service

Everything was great

Concierge was amazing.

The Ritz-Carlton DC (West End) is more like a Marriott than it is a Ritz-Carlton. I was surprised to learn how poorly appointed the rooms are. It was missing the basics -- a coffee/nespresso machine, a kettle, body lotion, a shaving kit, and a dental kit. I had to call down and ask for the the latter two items every morning. For a 5-star hotel, I'd expect the room to come with these very basic amenities. As for the room itself. The heat/AC unit is extremely loud, to the point of being a distraction. I had to turn the unit off to be able to sleep properly. The room also doesn't have a proper desk. They expect you to use part of the TV stand if you want to sit down and do some work / have a meal. Overall the room is very dated. Equinox was also old and lackluster but that's not really RC's fault. The toiletries are from Diptyque, which I am a big fan of and has a large catalogue of great smelling body washes/shampoos etc. I was floored by RC's choice of which Diptyque products to include in the room -- they smelled borderline bad. Service wise, the front desk was very friendly/helpful. However, I ordered UberEats one of the nights during my stay and had to call down 3 times to get the order delivered to my room, which the hotel actually charges $5 for. Will be going back to the FS DC next time I am in town. The Conrad is also a better alternative here.

I visited the restrooms downstairs in the ballroom area today. Upon using the restroom, I assume was the housekeeping lady, came in and loudly said out loud "I announced myself, I didn't hear you say anything. and this bathroom should have been locked anyways" and then continued to say out loud "I will then wait outside until you come out because I need to clean". Once I was finished with the restroom and exited, I intended to address the matter to the lady but couldn't find her. I left the hotel to catch my Lyft ride and head to the airport. This woman was incredibly disrespectful and completely invaded my privacy. I felt very uncomfortable and felt I had to rush out of the bathroom. and I do not appreciate her poor attitude and obvious level of unprofessionalism. The front desk team was very friendly and helpful, but housekeepers' team severely needs to speak to this woman to address how she should properly speak to people. You can tell she just wanted to rush me so she can finish cleaning the bathroom, and THAT is not Ok. VERY RUDE!!!

Fantastic as expected

Service

Exceptional customer service on all fronts! Highly recommend this property!! The gentlemen that are assigned to the Valet area are top notch!!