Friday, April 13, 2012

Westin Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

When the Missus and I last alighted in Washington D.C., a few months ago, we wanted to stay in or near Georgetown, our favorite part of the capital city. After a bit of Internet research time, my wife zeroed in on the Westin Georgetown. We had some Starwood Preferred Guest points - Starpoints - so we booked the hotel. Overall, it was a good choice.

The Westin Georgetown, it should be noted, isn't actually in Georgetown, but it's just a jot away. About 5 minutes on foot along M Street puts you there. Georgetown is one those lively places that strikes a fine balance between touristy and local. Mostly, it's a good place to eat, drink and hear live music, and the redbrick buildings and leafy side streets of the neighborhood are lovely.

Location is one of the Westin's strengths, but not the only one. The hotel staff is unfailingly helpful and polite, willing to go the extra mile. This quality goes a long way to make up a hotel's shortfalls. And the Westin Georgetown does have some.

Our room was, well, not roomy. It was all we could do to walk around the bed. Ditto with the bathroom, though it was spotless and modern. Our room had an adequate-sized desk for use by business travelers and there was, of course, the obligatory flat-screen TV. The king Heavenly Bed - a Westin Hotels and Resorts trademark - was just soft enough, just firm enough, just big enough and just cosy enough - in a word, heavenly. On the down side, we discovered a $2 charge listed for phone calls, whether the call was completed or not. Fortunately, we, like many travelers these days, use our mobile phones when calling from hotel rooms. There is also a fee for in-room Internet service, which we didn't use, either.

In addition to being located just outside its namesake neighborhood, the Westin Georgetown is close to the Foggy Bottom Metro station, Dupont Circle and a cluster of restaurants. We bypassed the beery taverns in the neighborhood and went two nights in a row to RIS Restaurant, an eatery with the animated air of an American bistro and toothsome food three minutes walk from the Westin.

For what it's worth, the hotel earned three stars out of five in nine Google reviews. It did rather better on Trip Advisor, where it averaged four and a half out of 5 stars in 537 reviews and ranked 17th of 124 ranked Washington, D.C. hotels reviewed on the site.

The Westin Georgetown is located at 2350 M Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037 USA. Telephone: 202.429.0100. Web: www.starwood.com.

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