Omni Shoreham Hotel

Clean rooms-​friendly staff-​great pool-​taxis at the ready-​COOKIES and milk are complimentary-​free wifi if you join their club (which is free-​just an email sign up, otherwise $ 50
I have to admit, after reading several of the reviews for this hotel, I was a little concerned about staying there. Even so, I was able to get a nice rate using the
app and was very pleased with our stay. From the beginning, we were greeted very warmly by the valet staff and also by the hotel check-​in staff. Additionally, our room was very clean and was appointed with very nice amenities. I didn’t see any bugs the entire time! LOL
Before we had to go to our meetings, my friend and I took her children to the pool and it was a very pleasant experience. It was a lovely day outside and the poolside food was actually fairly decent. The only complaint is that the pool attendant/​cabana girl was not as attentive as she could’ve been. I had to ask for napkins and for a menu, but other than that, she was quite pleasant and helpful. Towels are provided when you go down to the pool, so you don’t really need to bring anything with you.
On the main level of the hotel, which has a beautiful lobby, there are several shops where you can purchase food items. There was also a little coffee shop where you can purchase breakfast pastry items and coffee. There is also in room coffee and tea. Additionally, when we came back from our meetings for the evening, there were milk and cookies in our room. It was such a treat to have such a nice, unexpected gift at the end of a busy day.
Another reviewer mentioned that was very difficult to get a taxi in the area. I completely disagree – they were always taxis at the front of the hotel whenever we needed one.
Other than the reasonably inattentive poolside girl, the only real complaint I have about the hotel is that it was almost impossible to get anyone on the phone at the front desk or at the concierge from the phone in the room. I needed to call the front desk for something and the phone rang and rang for several minutes and no one ever answered. I eventually called the 1 – 800 number from my cell phone and requested to be connected to the front desk and then I was finally connected to someone live. This is actually quite concerning as if there had been an emergency in the hotel room, we would not have been able to reach anyone. This is the reason why the hotel is getting four stars instead of five.
Overall, I really enjoyed my stay at this charming, vintage (but very large) hotel and would have liked to have been able to stay longer to enjoy the spa. I would definitely go back again as this hotel is in a nice location away from the city a little bit but only about 10 minutes away if you want to go downtown.

Terrible service, when I checked in the lady at the front desk seem disturbed that she had to help me like she did not want to be there she had a terrible attitude much everybody in this hotel had a terrible attitude there’s nothing to see that great at this hotel and it was very dirty I will never come back here

Not a pleasant experience to say the least. Probably the most unfriendly hotel staff I’ve ever encountered. Getting a smile from these ppl would have been a minor miracle. Not a big deal, but not exactly the presence you wanna give off at your establishment. On to more pressing matters, housekeeping. The «cleanliness» of our room left a lot to be desired. Seems like the house keeping staff kinda does the bare minimum here. Bathroom was not as clean as it should have been and the toilet was slow to flush and had to be flushed more than once. Elevator issues as well. Believe 1 of the 2 elevators on the west side were down for a while which made it torture with conventions going on all day. Would not ever stay here when I come back to DC. Too many nicer and more friendly properties to chose from.

Update: I got really bad food poisoning at the hotel. I only ate here all day because I’m at a conference.
Beautiful and historic hotel. Great service and atmosphere.

Historic but that’s about it
Difficult to get taxi
No free wifi in rooms unless you are member
They don’t answer phones
Difficult to get back to airport

This is an updated review after my trip.
I booked rooms 3 months ago for an upcoming stay for a venue near the Omni, called to confirm 1 month ago and was okay, and then received an email that they oversold rooms and that they were moving me to a random hotel 10 miles away, letting me know 1 week prior to the event. Extremely unprofessional considering that it is now too late to get another hotel nearby so there are no other options.
In case you think this was an isolated incident, I have pasted a response from Omni to the late notice on cancellation: «The reason for late notice is based on history with the groups we have next week, we typically see a lot of cancellations. We were hopeful our inventory would wash and we would not have to relocate anyone however this was not the case.»
Based on the email exchange this suggests it was not isolated, they do this regularly — at our event, I have heard approximately 100 – 150 guests were moved. Worst part is that I got dumped in a random hotel 10 miles away at a higher rate because there was nothing left by the time Omni notified me 1 week prior to the event.
I understand mistakes happen, but the attitude that their manager takes is frustrating. He shows no remorse for the error but acted like he did me a favor by relocating me to a crappy hotel for a higher price with no other options.
Be careful of this place or else you may also find yourself at a random hotel far from your desired destination.

Wifi down. was advised that they are short staff at my location, which is way I was directed to a call center. Room smells. was advised that they are completely booked and best they could do.
Service sucks. I spent more time on hold then talking to a live person. Going from one person to another after placed on hold. Crazy. I have never experience such poor service at a hotel

The walls are thin. We could hear our neighbors talking all the time. Then there are heavy doors slamming all around. On Friday night there was no wifi service. I called the front desk about the wifi and they redirected my call out of the country to some guy that I could barely understand whom was also insulting telling me «the wifi wouldn’t work due to technical reasons I couldn’t understand and he wouldn’t explain». We even found the crawl space above the closet open and a mousetrap under the TV stand. The room seemed clean but the mousetrap was unsettling and made sleep a little more restless on the wafer thin pillows.
The only good things about this hotel was friendly staff on premises and a nice looking lobby.
Don’t forget to double flush for #2 if you are staying in a room with someone. One flush is for #1 and no paper only!

Think of a time when you’ve stayed at a fancy hotel and as you walk through the halls to your elevator and press the button for your floor, you think to yourself «I wonder if someone famous has ever walked thru these halls as me?» Though it might be just speculation in some establishments, this one is one you know that they have, everyone from the Beatles, sonny and Cher to great leaders and presidents. And in case you were wondering who?! Don’t you worry your curious little imagination, everything from museum like posters with tid bits of cool pop cultural information to placards with the names of famous people who performed in the infamous blue room are abundantly on display throughout the hotel lobby and main entrance.
As far as my stay goes, the weekend was magical for many reasons, but for the room amenities and modernness it was not. The main lobby though extravagant and luxurious, the rooms were sub par. very simple with just a table, dresser bed and TV. But Alex, what wrong with simple?! And why should that warrant a sub par review? Worry not my fellow Unilocalers! I’m not just being biased towards modern hotels! My review is based in overall cleanliness and experience. This review based on stay and staff would be higher but not only is a hotel room a place to rest your head but it should be a place to rest your head in comfort. Try and not let my one review be the end all of reviews but here it goes… I found what looked to be a baby roach or silver fish in both the bathtub and bed!!! GASP! Yes yes I know. But I had to mark the review with this in consideration as much as I wanted to let it slide.
I travel a lot I mean a lot for work, I’ve stayed at hotels ranging from huts in the woods to 5 star suites in the Middle East and not once have a run across an insect problem (other than mosquitos in Africa, then suckers are everywhere) so omni, please address the silverfish or whatever they were. But Id rather than stay at the Marriott down the street :/

Stayed for 2 nights/​3 days during what seemed to be a pretty busy weekend but that should not justify the bugs and dirty linens (and not changing them even after we requested the room to be serviced).
First off, 1 star for the front desk, as service was great yet the doorman seemed like they couldn’t be bothered to crack a smile. Another star as lobby space is beautiful and the reception is quite welcoming with fruit infused water. The space is big and looks like it’d be great for meetings and events. Lots of DC history which is great for visitors.
Why not more than 2 stars?
Not one but two bugs had found themselves visiting our room in the east side of the 7^th floor. In addition there were residual stains and hairs on the bed (even after we requested for house keeping to come through). I would have checked out but considering it was part of a surprise celebration, it was a bit embarrassing to try to move accommodations during the weekend. Which also deterred me from making more of a fuss as I was with the BF the whole time.
We found the first bug in the bathtub (it looked like a baby cockroach) and 2^nd bug the next morning on the bed linen (I thought it was a cockroach but BF said it wasn’t).
Unfortunately I also know the linens weren’t changed, because BF dripped a very tiny dot of chocolate on the corner of the bed (by accident) but alas, room was serviced and chocolate dot was still there.
Unfortunately will not be staying here again.

Very nice place to stay when in DC, the rooms are nice and spacious, always plenty of hot water for showers. Bed and pillows are comfortable. Rooms are cleaned daily.
The lobby is impressive and the folks at the registration desk are always helpful. The Omni Shoreham was probably the place to be in early years. It is rather old, the outside yards are well kept and the pool is nice. This is about the first time that I h
Eave been here for a conference and the weather is in the 70s in March. That makes it all better.
Rather costly but it is worth it. Room service is fine but they do pester you coming to pick up tea or coffee pots.

This is an old hotel. It has the smallest bath room I have ever had in a hotel. I’ve been to Europe and stayed in many old small hotels, but not had as small of a bathroom. The rest of the room is just OK.
Public areas are fine. Actually good dining close to the hotel

This hotel is quite nice. The rooms are nice and quiet and I was able to see quite a bit of the city from the 7^th floor. If you join their gold club then you get free wifi, morning coffee delivery, newspaper during the week and they’ll press your clothes for free. It seems pretty rare these days that the higher end hotels will give you free wifi so that is nice. It isn’t the fastest, but gets the job done for emails and lite surfing.
The lobby is incredible and they show all of the historic figures that have visited over the years. I was here for a convention and everything is very well organized.
The one downfall is the elevators. There are only two and they are small and slow. During peaks times you may be waiting a minute, but the stairs aren’t far away so not a huge deal.

I recently stayed here for a work conference. Great hotel. Vintage, DC, historic old school feel.
Pros:
Great Restaurant and bar
Huge, Clean Rooms
Super accommodating and friendly staff
Perfect location for bar, restaurant hopping etc.
Fruit Infused Water
Cons:
Ummmmm…little elevators? It is an old hotel.
I’d stay here again. Not my favorite Omni ever, but definitely up there!

I cannot speak to the rooms, but I have attended many events here at the Omni. As far as an event space, I give it a four star rating for these reasons:
1) It’s in a great part of DC just off of Rock Creek Park making it easier for almost anyone in the District to drive or take the Metro to Woodley Park.
2) It has a historic feel to it with a beautiful lobby.
3) There’s a nice bar inside.
4) The rooms are large so you can have any size event here.
Enjoy!

Omni Shoreham Hotel was our backup plan after our sleeping arrangements fell through during a recent trip to DC. We booked for two nights, the Saturday and Sunday night of Memorial weekend and found an awesome deal (for two nights) of $ 92.65 a night, and granted we booked our room the day that we needed it (total with taxes for two nights was $ 212.16).
Walking into the hotel, your breath is a little taken away, or at least mine was! I rarely stay at hotels now that Airbnb has taken off, so this was a luxury, and well worth it. It’s all luxury at Omni Shoreham: beautiful bathroom (mini-​shampoo/​conditioner, soap, shower cap, lotion and cotton balls) and comfy bed with writing desk and of course a telly (vision and phone). What Omni Shoreham DOESN’T offer are any out-​of-​bedroom perks. You can procure free wifi by signing up for their «VIP» club, but the club no longer offers beverages or anything else until after multiple night stays (stay 20 nights and you’ll earn a free night that you can redeem at any of our Omni Hotels & Resorts properties across North America. Plus, stay just 10 nights during the year to be upgraded to Platinum level and earn double night credits toward free nights on every stay!) The one perk they DO offer: cucumber and strawberry flavored water in the lobby.
This particular location does include a small gym and swimming pool (although the pool is closed during «off season»). They have a little coffee/​gift shop downstairs for those desperate for coffee in the mornings, but Omni shore is long walking distance to Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle (or a very quick Über/​taxi ride). The location is great, but I recommend making sure you have car parking accommodation, they charge $ 40/​night to park here. They also have interesting historic facts throughout the hotel and a lovely Marquee Bar and Lounge (that feelings secluded after the busy hustle and bustle of the city). I would definitely stay at Omni Shoreham Hotel again.

Two words: bed bugs.
Do not stay at this hotel.
Management wanted to make things right by changing rooms and offering a free night.
We checked out hours after checking in.

I have an equal number of likes and dislikes for this hotel:
YAY:
Close to the Metro station
Close proximity to restaurants and shops
Nice valet staff
Spacious room
NAY:
A/​C and heating didn’t work in my room
Not so friendly staff at front desk
Wifi didn’t work in my room
Was given a room on the first floor near the back parking lot (as a single woman)

Elegant, friendly, and a great location. I hope to return to this gem again soon!
My room was huge, the shower was hot, and I forgot q-​tips but I was happy to see they provided those (and mouthwash).
Every staff member I encountered from the bellhop to the front desk to the food staff was friendly and professional.
I stayed her for one night, but I wish it had been more. It was a lovely home away from home when traveling for business or sightseeing.

We stayed here for two nights. Before returning to the room on the third night, we realized bite marks on our legs. We suspected they were bed bug bites. So when we got to the hotel, we looked all over the mattress and the sheets. Not only we found live bed bugs, there were many larvae in the exterior seams on the mattress. I have posted pictures.
When we called the front desk and asked if anybody else has complained about bed bugs, their response was «not recently,» which suggested to us that this was not news.
They were nice about it and offered to give us another room free of charge for the night but we were not going to take the risk.
We asked them to refund all charges for the remainder of our reservation and they did (takes 3 – 4 business days for the charges to reverse).
We left and checked into another hotel.
Our room also had a foul smell, which we thought it was because the hotel was very old. After doing some research online, we learned that rooms infested with bed bugs can also have a musky odor.
The hotel is very old and not very well taken care of. Their prices are not cheap. Staff is nice and helpful.