Hotel Class: 
4 Stars - 2 Reviews and 498 Opinions
700 F. Street NW, Washington DC, District of Columbia, 20004, United States
Check Rates and Availability
of people enjoy staying here
500 Opinions
karenincalifornia
User Rating
Helpfulness
In Washington, D.C., we wanted to be centrally located. We got exactly what we wanted with Hotel Monaco. This hotel is in the old Tarriff Building across the street from the Portrait Gallery, next to the MCI Center and next to the Spy Museum. Located on the outskirts of Chinatown, the area used to be on the seedy side, but has gone through a massive redevelopment. The area is quite nice now, with trendy restaurants and shops. We were right across the street from the Metro, which made everything just a few steps away from our hotel.
Unique Quality: On the outside, Hotel Monaco looks like a stuffy old government building, but in the inside the decor is whimsical and contemporary. The rooms vary - the cheapest standard rooms on the first floor are small, dark and have lower ceilings. Spring a little more for one of the Monte Carlo rooms. Those rooms are spacious, have very comfy kingsized beds, nice bedding and down pillows and have the highest ceilings I have ever seen in a hotel room. We had a room facing the inner courtyard and it was as quiet as can be.
The hotel says on its website that it will deliver a goldfish to your room upon request. We requested the goldfish - one for each of the two rooms we booked - but never got even one.
The hotel has a restaurant on the premises, which served a decent, but somewhat pricey breakfast. Breakfast is not included in the room rate. However, free wine is included at 5:30 pm., served in the lobby. The staff is very generous about the amount of wine they pour!
Hotel Monaco Washington, DC - A Kimpton Hotel Photo: Lobby of Hotel Monaco
Radiomom
Helpfulness
I'm a local, so we don't usually need a hotel in town, but this place has some interesting features and is well-located! (Well, 25 years ago this part of town was really dead after 5PM, but the MCI Center has changed all that.) Supposedly the first all marble building in the capital, it was built in the mid-80s -- that's the 1880s. From the outside, it looks exactly like what it was built to be -- a federal government building. In this case the Tarriff service used it, as well as the once serving as the main post office building.
Unique Quality: Hotel Monaco has a trendy, hip reputation in other cities -- San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Denver, to name a few. To get away from the bureaucratic exterior, they offer some good packages for weekends -- $189 per night for a beautiful room with a full breakfast is the simplest package. I'm looking at the $199 per night Spy package -- you get two tickets to the International Spy Museum (nearby) as well as complimentary wine in the evening and coffee in the morning. A fancier $419 package for REAL romantics (like maybe a proposal?) gets you a private evening limo tour of DC with a bottle of champagne along with other amenities.
Hotel Monaco Washington, DC - A Kimpton Hotel Photo: This is a hotel?
Sort by: Most recent | Most helpful
1 - 2 of 2
I stayed at the Monaco for one night in April 2004. The staff were very friendly and helpul. The room was nice, but small and oddly configured. It wasn't possible see the TV from the bed; I had to sit in the chair. That was no big deal, but I was put off by the amount of noise from the hallway. As I recall, the problem was the doors of other guest rooms closing with loud thuds. They need to adjust the doors.
Great location, snappy style, good restaurants nearby, helpful quality staff, big rooms (we had a Medeterranian Suite). Drawbacks include noisy slamming doors (c'mon people don't you ever learn?!?!?!) and stairs to lug your luggage up when you get there/leave). Overall, very very enjoyable.
We had a plesant two night stay at the Hotel Monaco in Washignton DC. The location is perfect, right across the street from the MCI Center and Spy Museum (very cool). The metro is right there as well. Smithsonian museums are three blocks away. There are great restaurants all around, including plenty in nearby Chinatown.
The hotel is chic without being too stuffy. The rooms are small, but adequate. We booked a Monte Carlo "extra tall" room and having checked out the regular rooms, I'm not sure the extra price is worth a few square feet and an extra tall showerhead. We had a corner room that seemed to loose some of its space and was next to the elevators (a little noisy).
Overall I would recommend someone staying here. If you get a good rate, its a fun, stylish hotel that's a nice change from the chain hotels in that area of the District.
I planned a trip during the summer of 2004 to introduce my english fiancee to Washington DC. After pouring over the reviews of hotels in my Frommers and Fodors guides I decided to book a room at the newly refurbished, very historical (and if the regional magazines are to be believed...oh so chic) Hotel Monaco. What a disapointment. After staying 3 days at the Harbour Court Baltimore Hotel in a room overlooking the Baltimore Harbour with a highly focused/user friendly concierge and expeditious service-oriented desk staff we were expecting an equally pleasant experience in DC. What we encountered was a bored desk staff who promised(and failed to deliver each time) to fix problems with the room (such as a non-working jacuzzi tub and dripping pipes) who spent more time interacting with each other than servicing their clientele. Unfortunately we received one of their dark and exceedingly damp basement rooms and were told, of course, that there were no other available rooms. Dark with the feel of a basement the room was uncomfortable with water actually dripping off the uncovered pipes above the bathrrom inset after my fiancee would take his steamy afternoon shower. The food in the restaurant located off the lobby was forgettable with a poor selection. The service was slow resulting in several people at a nearby table getting up to leave after complaining. Fortunately DC has so many excellent restaurants (including the lovely Zola's above the Spy Museum next door) that we were able to advoid having to eat more than one meal at the hotel. Overall I would rate the Hotel as poor with unsatisfactory service/staff. It certainly did not make for a memorable visit. If you choose to try it, make sure you don't get stuck with one of the many basement rooms.
This hotel is still fairly new, so be sure to take the address with you for the cabbies (it used to be a museum of sorts). Supposed to be located in Chinatown, but I never saw any evidence of that, but didn't walk more than a couple of blocks away. Subway station is right across the street, so very convenient. Hotel staff was very friendly and accomodating. Ask for a goldfish to keep during your stay or the yoga basket you get to take with you when you leave -- very nice touches! Newspapers every day, wine reception every evening. Rooms are neat, clean, and well laid-out. Turn-down service was also nice to have.
Free internet access is true -- wireless in the lobby area & cables in each room. Tech service helped me get set up -- we spent about 20 minutes on the phone before realizing it was a bad cable, but my issue was fixed and the guy was very patient and nice.
I would recommend this hotel. They have the right attitude to make it a nice stay!
I read with interest the reviews criticizing the Monaco, since I had stayed there several times with no problems. When I stayed at the Monaco again this week, I was especially attentive for the supposed small rooms, noisey doors, dampness, and the other negative things I had read on this site. Once again, my stay was excellent. Big, clean, nicely furnished room with high ceilings. Wonderful decor. The wide and open hallways with curtains feel like a Persian castle. The restaurant has excellent reasonably priced food, and the bar is big and hopping.
My only complaint -- contruction on side streets keeps taxis away. At 6:00 am I had to wait 15 minutes before a cab came by.
By way of comparison, I stayed at the trendy "W" hotel on Lex in New York last week and it was not even in the same league as the DC Monaco.
We stayed at Hotel Monaco around the 4th of July. I can't picture staying anywhere else as long as the rates are this reasonable. We were close to the mall and great restaurants/bars and felt safe at all hours. The hotel has wonderful public areas and the rooms and beds were quite comfortable. We stayed at one of the much-maligned first floor rooms and we were very satisfied. The king bed was great and the bathroom was spacious. And, how about those leopard robes? The room was decent sized, but got a little cramped with the large rollaway bed. We found the service to be excellant across the board. The complimentary wine hour people couldn't have been friendlier, and the French wines poured were far from swill. Our son loved the goldfish, which he named Prospector. If you have mobility problems, some of the rooms can be far from the elevators as this is a large hotel.
Poste has excellent food, but it is pricy. I would recommend Cafe Atlantico, a fantastic tapas restaurant about two blocks away, with top notch mojitos. Also, right across the street is the DC Chophouse and Brewery, which is both swank and kid-friendly, and offers huge portions of great food. I had the brisket special, enough to feed two at $12.95, and you should never pass that up here.
You are also only a block or so from Chinatown and a metro station, and a $14 cab ride from the airport. As for nightspots, Gordon Biersch brewpub is a mere two blocks away, Fado, a splendid Irish Pub is about the same, and D.A.'s (R.F.D.), which has one of the best tap selections I have ever seen, is about four blocks (many Belgium selections!). Note as well that the Spy Museum, which I loved, is across the street. Enyoy this place.
We recently spent 2 nights at the Hotel Monaco and had a fabulous stay. The hotel has quite a history and was everything a botique hotel should be and more. Beautifully decorated, especially the grand hallways, lovely rooms with all the amenities (the marble bust on the top of the armoire was a nice touch), super clean, coffee in the morning in the lobby and wine in the evening, and nice wines at that.....The Poste restaurant had great food and reasonable prices for DC. (don't miss the Brioche French Toast), and a nice bar, as well as an outside courtyard. Above all, the service was excellent. The location also couldn't be better! Definitely a one-of-a kind hotel.
Hotel Monaco has a trendy, hip reputation in other cities -- San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Denver, to name a few. To get away from the bureaucratic exterior, they offer some good packages for weekends -- $189 per night for a beautiful room with a full breakfast is the simplest package. I'm looking at the $199 per night Spy package -- you get two tickets to the International Spy Museum (nearby) as well as complimentary wine in the evening and coffee in the morning. A fancier $419 package for REAL romantics (like maybe a proposal?) gets you a private evening limo tour of DC with a bottle of champagne along with other amenities.
1163 members live in Washington D.C.
Sponsored Links
Similar to Hotel Monaco Washington, DC - A Kimpton Hotel
Near Hotel Monaco Washington, DC - A Kimpton Hotel
Step Up from Hotel Monaco Washington, DC - A Kimpton Hotel
Great Hotels for Less
Q: Cherry Blossoms "Does anyone know the best time to see the cherry blossoms this year in Washington? Thanks, Justin"
A: "depends on weather. Late March through to mid April would be about right, if my memory is good today"
Sponsored Links
Latest Washington D.C. hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
We've found that other people looking for this hotel also know it by these names:
Address: 700 F. Street NW, Washington DC, District of Columbia, 20004, United States
