Stay Report: Motto by Hilton Washington DC City Center (Washington, D.C. - October 2022)

  Stay Report: Motto by Hilton Washington, D.C. City Center
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I was traveling to Washington, D.C. for work and needed to stay in a specific location.  All hotels in the location I wanted to stay out were sold out so I had to look near that location and during that search I found the Motto by Hilton Washington, D.C. City Center.  This hotel is located in Chinatown right across the street from the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro stop.  Because I needed a hotel close to the metro stop and this metro stop was close to where my work was going to be, I booked the hotel.  I had not heard about Motto by Hilton brand so was not familiar with what to expect - an important tip to do your research beforehand because I was in for a big suprise.                                                                                                                                              I booked the hotel through the HiltonHonors website and app - both sites brought the same price and once booked I could modify either through the app or through the website.  Motto by Hilton is one of Hilton's newest brands and I was not sure about their brand nor type of hotels that they offered - this is something I should have read up on because I was in for a big surprise when I checked in.  When I got to the hotel and went to check-in, that is when the check-in agent let me know that Motto by Hilton is a micro-hotel meaning that the rooms are very small and the services are limited - basically its similar to a pod-hotel or an upgraded hostel.  I found out later that his hotel used to be the Pod Hotel Washington D.C. and that is still the name listed on some online maps.  In fact, on some online maps I had to put in the restaurant that was attached to the hotel to find the hotel as the online map had not been updated to the new hotel name.

The lobby was very small as it was a standard lobby but divided into two halves with one half being the hotel lobby and check-in and the other half being the bar area for the attached restaurant.  As you entered into the lobby, on the right were the two small check-in desks were you checked in and received your key.  Further along the right side was a couch that faced the elevators on the left-hand side; there were 3 elevators but sometimes it took a while for them to come.  My room was at the end of the hallway and tip - if you are a light sleeper do NOT get this room because the window faced the alley way with the garbage bins and between 4a-6am the garbage trucks came and made A LOT of noise.

When I opened the door, I did not realize how micro the room was - especially because the pricecharged was not micro but rather really expensive.  You enter into a little hallway with a coat hook and a mirror and then there is a sliding door that leads into the main room.  As soon as you enter the main room, on the left hand side is a small desk with a chair that blocks your entrance into the room.  Literally right next to the desk is the extra-large twin bed and right next to the next is another bedside table and the room ends.  The bed was on the left-side of the room as on the right was a stack of shelves for storage, the window that had black-out shades but was not noise cancelling, and TV mounted to the wall with a small ledge underneath.  The bed was decent and comfortable but there was definitely a lack of storage space and there was no room to move around the bed - it was very tight space.                                                                                                                                                             In between the hallway and the main room was a sliding door and that sliding door was the main door to your bathroom - so either the door slid to close the bathroom door but then left the entrance to the hallway open or the entrance to the hallway was closed and the bathroom door was open; not very good design.  The bathroom itself was a decent size and had a toilet, a small sink, and a small shower - the shower was decent but was poorly designed so that the water spilled everywhere outside when you showered.  The bathroom also had zero storage space so there was no place to put your toiletry kit or other storage.  There were refillable bathroom toiletries in the shower with shampoo and body wash and a soap and lotion were provided in the sink. 

As it is a micro-hotel, there were not the standard amenities that you would find at a regular hotel.  Instead this hotel offered wifi, a hotel restaurant, there was a gym in the basement, and an iron and ironing board in the room.  The wifi was decent and provided enough speed to connect devices and stream videos.  I was mainly there for work so did not time to checkout the gym nor the restaurant but the restaurant seemed very popular amongst locals, especially for happy hour.                                                                                                                              Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the hotel.  Yes, I was not aware it was a micro-hotel so that was my fault but generally once chooses a micro-hotel for convenience of location and because it is less expensive - you are getting 1/4 of the room so you should be paying less.  The room was definitely small but the price was that of a standard hotel room in D.C. - the hotel offered a micro-hotel at a standard hotel room rates and I think that is misleading and not right.  Also, I stayed there for multiple nights and I would not recommend staying at this hotel for more than one night - its convenient as its located across the street from the metro station but that is all the bonuses in my opinion.