L Enfant Plaza Hotel Washington D.C.

October 2005 - This hotel was not the cleanest or updated at the time I stayed here, but the location was great. Within a block or two of all the train lines, moving about the city was made easy and fairly inexpensive. Close to the Mall, I was able to easily figure out how to get to the Smithsonian museums, the Lincoln landmark, and quickly catch a cab at night to get to a larger selection of restaurants and night life.

The room was comfortable and spacious, but lacked cleanliness. Since this review was for a stay 3 years ago, changes may have occurred to improve this property (I hope). Bedding was not the cleanest.

At the time of the review, cost of this hotel was quite expensive at $200.00 per night. Now I see it is much cheaper.

I likely would try to stay here again because I did appreciate the access and convenience to the train.

The shopping mall underneath the hotel was sparsely occupied so was kind of creepy, but safe. There was a liquor store in the mall which helped us to save on wine expenses on our trip :o) Also in this mall was a really great sushi place with some of the best sushi I've tried to date. What a surprise!

Concierge desk was very helpful here!

The hotel was within 1 block to National Mall where all of the museums are. If you walk to the right you'll see the capitol and you even have a view of the tip of the Washington Monument when standing in front of the hotel.

The metro is conveniently located right below the hotel. To get to many of the local sites only costed $1.35 one way. Or you could opt to buy the $7.50 all day pass and ride unlimited. And if you purchase tickets for the double decker bus, it stops right in front of the hotel starting at 10 AM running every 30 minutes.

The hotel has a pool and fitness center. I felt the fitness center closed early. The hotel is also pet friendly; however, I did not see anyone with a dog. They have an open park area on the 12th floor for walking your pet.

The only downside I found to staying at L'Enfant is that the nightlife and surroundings are not catering to tourists. The hotel is situated on the business side of the tourist attractions. Being there is not a huge tourist base during the week, the few restaurants and stores that are located below the hotel (did not find this until the last day) close rather early. There is Froggy Brew Pub downstairs, a small bar that also serves burgers, salads, and appetizers. They stay open late for returning tourists, but other than that you'll have to venture out to the other side of town for restaurants and nightlife.

The room was decent, but a little smaller than some rooms I've stayed at. The bed was very comfortable, or I was super tired from all the walking, but I did sleep very well.

There was always a taxi waiting in the front driveway. Getting around was easy, but in the future, I'll probably opt to stay in Georgetown or on the opposite side of National Mall.

L'Enfant was a little cheaper than other hotels though, so for economical purposes, this place was not bad at all.

Great Hotel. Good location to the National Mall.
Access to metro and bus. To main station.
Only bad aspect its far from entertainment areas.
No bars/pubs or restaurants in immediate area. However you make up for that being right on the metro. Plus theres a small mall just underground below the hotel, That has lots of shops and eateries in the daytime.

Overall I would stay here again.