noplasticshowers

It is hard to come off a tour of Japan, featuring incredible properties like Arimasansoh Goshobessho, and try to eke something out of the Washington DC hotel scene.  The high end of the hotel food chain in DC is made up with “old lady” hotels like the Jefferson (which my mother adored) and the Four Seasons (yawn).  Now that Kimpton has been utterly digested by IHG, there are absolutely no more design-forward, bar-focused hotels that are both excellent and comfortable.  Or at least none that we can find.

But we’re in town for Rush (and we can’t begin to tell you how great that show was), so we pays our money and takes our chances.

We arrived at the Eaton where the valet hides behind a corner, moved our own car around, got ourselves up into the Duke Ellington suite (arguably the best room this property has to offer), elevator-ed up to the rooftop bar for a quick cocktail, and were met with a very surly hostess with no manners.  Literally not one. Fortunately the bar staff more than made up for that with their fun and attentive service.  But little did we know, we were experiencing pure Eaton, where hospitality seems to sometimes stop just short of the worn furnishings.

So much potential and oh so very close.  What they need is a really good General Manager to remind themselves why they exist.

The Duke Ellington suite is very nice, but it needs some attention.  Like the vinyl idea?  You can use this little statue thing to make the turntable actually function (kinda).  Want to open a bottle?  You’re gonna need to wait for an opener to be brought up.  Loose toilet seat? Uncomfortable bedding?  What?!

I mean, come on.  Do better. The Duke would not have put up with this.

Slick design.

Uncomfortable bed.

The shower is nice but may kill you when you turn it on.

But the plastic toilet seat is falling off, the sliding bathroom door has major scratches in it and no longer shuts properly.  It’s like nobody ever inspects this room.

The separate entrance dressing area is pretty not bad.  Compared to the peninsula?  Does not stack up.

We are more than willing to overpay as this blog attests—but not be ripped off.

OK, enough of that.

The show was amazing.

Dinner at Penn Rasika was workaday but delicious (here is another DC institution that is aimed directly at the people who don’t know any better), “sir and ma’am.”

But you know what is great at the Eaton?  The Allegory speakeasy is superb.  Fun. Welcoming. Open. Just good.  Thanks guys for a good time after the show.  Can you get management to copy whatever you have going on please?

Brunch the next morning came early, but Unconventional Diner was there with stellar breakfast.  Whatever you crave?  They have it.  Go there.

Four showerheads and loss of the “I really want my money back” feeling for the Eaton.  Grow to your potential.  Unlikely to return.  Which means our DC search continues.