Mandarin Oriental Hotel

, Washington, United States
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Mandarin Oriental Hotel

, Washington
1330 Maryland Ave%2C Sw - Washington - District of Columbia - 20024 - United States Hotel Website | 202-554-8588
361 Traveller

Reviews - Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Historical Traveller Reviews of Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Wonderful Hotel, Ok Location

from A TripAdvisor Member
I have stayed at the Mandarin Oriental seven times in the past six months and wanted to write a review because my experience is the exact opposit of the previous (negative) reviewer. The Mandarin Oriental is a wonderful hotel, with elegant furnishings, grand marble bathrooms, a pleasant staff, and amazing attention to detail.

My favorite touches: a very comfortable bed, a lighted makeup mirror in the bathroom, turndown service with a weather report and fresh orchid placed on your pillow, free bottled water, and light switches next to the beds so you can turn on lights without having to get out of bed. I'm at a loss to explain why another reviewer could not turn lights on and off: in all seven of the different rooms I've stayed in, the lights were the most intuitive that I've ever seen in a hotel - white switches on the walls, or little knobs at the base of the lamp (so no reaching under the shade to find the knob).

I can find only two negatives with this hotel. First, it's out of the way location. There's nothing around - no coffee shops, restaurants or stores, and the metro is a long four blocks through a fairly ugly area. Taxis are plentiful, though, and the main shopping and dining areas in DC are a five minute, $7 ride. The second negative, because there is nothing around, you're stuck with room service and the hotel restaurants, which are quite overpriced. The food is good and the service is wonderful, but I still can't justify $30 for the same breakfast I could get for $15 at any other hotel or $8 at Dennys.

All in all, this is one of the most elegant and relaxing hotels in which I've stayed. I travel extensively for business and have tried out most of the major 3, 4 and 5 star hotels. The Mandarin Oriental DC ranks up there with the best. As you can tell from my review, I like this hotel enough that I keep coming back. No other hotel in DC has earned my loyalty like the Mandarin, and I sincerely recommend this hotel to any business traveler or family visiting DC.

COMPLETE Disappointment despite the fact it was free

from A TripAdvisor Member
I could write 50 pages about the ridiculousness of my visit, in fact I wrote two pages to the hotel manager and never heard back even though I requested a reply and also asked for an itemized bill. I never received either. My room was dirty--tp in toilet, empty shampoo bottle on floor in in shower, hair on tub, etc. etc etc. phone was some kind of new tech that no one knew how to work, asked to get a suit pressed (since my room had no iron!!) and they said they did not know how much it would cost--and did not try to find out. I know they cater to the wealthy but I kind of wanted to know if it was going to cost more than a new suit or not. First night the TV was on all night becasue I could not turn it off. I could not even unplug it because it was connected tothe wall by computer and behind something too tall for me to reach anyway. I did not call the front becasue I was able to turn the sound down at least, when I decided to sleep. Earlier in the evening, when the thing would not turn ON, I called the front and it took them 45 min to get there. I did not want to wait another 45 as I had already gotten to bed a hour late. So I slept with flashing lights all night and was exhausted for my meetings the next day. Finally after many other problems my room was switched to an inferior room. This was a major bother and I barely receoved an apology. In this room I came back after a busy day of meetings and the lamos were turned on. I wanted to go to sleep but the lamps could not be turned off becasue they had removed the switches. Becasue of the room problems, I had a horrible time at this work related meeting which was suppsoed to be a treat. I could not wait to get back home to my own bed. I would NEVER go back there and NEVER go to another Mandarin. I recently stayed in the $47 a night Travelodge in Alexandria and was struck as to how it was actually a much better expereince than the Mandarin. The Mandarin has some kind of "advanced" computerized electric system and even the lamps are weird. It is impossible to turn these things on and off like in a normal home or hotel. They should have stuck to the basics because no one there knows how to fix the fancy phones and TVs. they would tell me I have towait til the nest day when the computer guy came in. Give me a break that sounds too much like the office.

Very nice

from A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed there in November with our little boy (4 month). Excellent service. Nice room. Very friendly staff.
We will come back.

s 5

from Johnny_C_NYC
Stayed there over a long wedding weekend and enjoyed it, although I can't say it's any different from the typical Ritz/Four Seasons experience in the other places I've traveled (have really only stayed at the MO in DC and not other 4-5 star hotels in town - did stay at MO in NYC once and all in all somewhat similar in terms of rooms and decor).
The place is clearly very new and modern with a grand main entrance and very attentive and polite staff. For me the location is pretty good, but I'm still not sure how I feel about being on the far eastern side of the Mall - it's great I guess if you're doing monument tourist stuff but a pain if you want to go over to Dupont Circle, Georgetown, etc. Then again, subway stop is close and cabs were always waiting so not really that hard to get around.

The room was fine as was the HD TV which was great to watch and had a suprising number of channels - and the bed was incredibly comfortable!! View I had was ok but not great. Room not overly large but spacious enough and the large tub and shower were very nice and modern (to be expected as this place just opened up).

Gym is pretty good but not overly large - pool is fine too but didn't seem all that special. All in all I really liked it but wasn't blown away.....the main lounge is nice but drinks very expensive (I wasn't on usual company tab so I noticed!) even for NYC standards and the view out back was non-existent.....similar lounge set up to the one in NYC but that one overlooks Central Park and has a magnificient view!

I'd definitely return, but it's probably worth checking out some of the other hotels closer to Penn Avenue too.

Great experience at the Mandarin.

from preppride1798
The hotel is really well done. The architechure is contempory, but the decorations are tastfully asian, without going overboard and cheesy. The ammenity are first rate and what you would expect from a 4 or 5 star hotel. Comfortable beds, soft thick towels, HD TV, internet phones, noise insulated rooms, and an amazing bathroom.

Yes, the hotel is new and probably needs to work out some kinks before you can truely say that it is a five star hotel. but the staff and hotel is definiately closer to 5 stars then three stars as some of the other reviews would lead you to believe.

Very Disappointed Guest

from A TripAdvisor Member
During my stay at the Mandarin Oriental in DC, I was very disappointed with the experience. Being a frequent stayer at the Miami & NY hotel I was somewhat embarrased for the DC hotel and it's service.

The phone in the room was of new technology, but very confusing to use. I would have preferred the old normal phone. The TV never did work properly and the over experience with rooms and management was very disappointing.

To say the least check it out for yourself, I wish them lots of luck but I feel until there's new management in place I will not stay there again.

Great spa

from A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed there in August. The staff was very friendly. We went to the spa and loved it. I have been to many and this one is wonderful. We stayed in a water view room. very pleasant. The bathroom was nice

Nice hotel but you can do better

from WhirldTraveler
I just got back from staying here and the Sofitel Lafayette. I liked the Sofitel better. I got a deal through the Mandarin's website where you stay one night at full price ($445 in my case for a deluxe room/king bed) and you get the second night free (this is for a W and TH stay). The room was beautiful and tv was crystal clear and sharp. I had a view of the Washington monument. The king bed was uncomfortable in one spot because there was a dip in it like too many people slept in that one spot. Luckily the bed was big enough to find a more comfortable spot. It was very close to the Smithsonian museums (three or four blocks), but not much else. There's nothing happening around there at night and you don't want to walk back at night.

Excellent

from lawahoo2001
Was instantly welcomed when we arrived. Reserved a $375/night city view room, but was upgraded to a corner suite with a view of the water. Great service all around. Empress Lounge was nice. Did request engineering to fix the TV in the bedroom (seems to be a common problem), but decided to watch one of the 2 other TVs in the suite. There is one in the bedroom, one in the bathroom, and one in the sitting area. The one in the sitting area is a flat screen plasma TV. Very clean room and bathroom. Very comfortable bed. Bathroom was spectacular--great shower pressure. Will definitely be back next time I visit DC. Great value for the money!

Beautiful hotel but service is not 5 star....

from foodiewest
I too have to agree with the last couple of reviews I just read here. I stayed with my wife for a 5 night stay at this property. The hotel itself is beautiful. Very peaceful and serene. After running around Washington DC all day long it is nice to come back to the calm zen like feeling the hotel emphasized. However there are problems. The service is very iffy. Maid carts were left in the hallways as the previous reviewer stated. One day we had turn down service..another night we didnt. We saw toiletries one day..and then the following days nothing else was refreshed. My wife called down for shampoo and conditioner which didnt show up til an hour or so later. We ate at Cafe Mozu a couple of times...and had iffy service there as well. The server Jeanine was excellent. However on other occasions we had waiters that took our order then were hardly seen until the food was delivered. And finally it would be nice to have attendants greet you at the door when you are arriving back to the hotel. On numerous occasions there was no one around at the front doors to greet you or even find a taxi. This is just not 5 star service. I rated this hotel so high due to the wonderful concierge desk (Chris is outstanding), the beautiful rooms, and the ladies at the Empress Lounge that truly know what customer service is all about.

Top Local Tips for Washington

the hirshhorn museum is way overrated! SKIP the hirshhorn and grab a cab to the phillips collection instead!

Museums and Congressional Tour Take your time ans don't try to do too much in one day. The Natural History Museum can take a whole day. The Space Museum can take 5 hours. The Congressional Tour was the biggest waste of time.

Spy Museum We bought tickets to get into the Spy Museum right when it opens. It got so super crowded immediately, I was constantly in fear of losing a child, or my sanity. My children are 13, 11, and 8, and none of them enjoyed this experience. It's hard to get close to any of the exhibits, although I bet if there were less people at any given time it would be rather interesting. Overall: Confusing, Loud, Crowded.

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Other names for Mandarin Oriental Hotel

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  • Address: 1330 Maryland Ave%2C Sw - Washington - District of Columbia - 20024 - United States
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