Salamander Washington DC

Title: Looks Luxury. Acts Budget.

The Salamander presents itself as a five-star hotel, but the service feels anything but.

My room was fully prepaid. The only issue at check-in was a small incidental authorization when my card needed a quick call to the bank. Instead of checking me in and letting me resolve it afterward — standard practice at real luxury hotels — I was told I could not go to my room and was invited to “wait in the lobby.” Not hospitality, just policy.

Housekeeping missed basics: there was no soap in the bathroom and it took two days to replace it.

A welcome drink coupon couldn’t be used for a cappuccino — only drip coffee — until I pushed back. A five-star hotel shouldn’t debate a few dollars over guest experience.

Lobby dining? Pleasant staff, but extremely slow service for simple food orders.

This hotel has the décor of luxury but the mindset of cost-control. Everything felt transactional and inflexible.

Five-star pricing, airport-hotel judgment.

Would not return.

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If you'd like, I can also tune the tone to be more surgical (corporate complaint style) or more emotional (traveler frustration style) depending on what impact you want.

Great room. Great location. Great service.

Always excellent facilities and friendly staff at the Salamander. I always enjoy my stay for business. I look forward to my visits every time.

Room size and comfort. Attentive staff.

My company holiday party was held here. From the valet through check in to the party and check out and valet everything was excellent.

Everything was perfect

good location , room clean and nice

The property was very beautiful. I love the location. I really enjoyed the rooms. They were very comfortable.

Rachael Folorunsho in customer care was amazing assisting me with my brothers and sister's 50th birthday celebrations. Her recommendations and attention to detail was terrific! She deserves a bonus!

I have stayed at the Salamander DC twice now as an American Express Platinum customer. Both stays were great experiences for different reasons. The first time our room wasn’t upgraded which was disappointing and also a surprise since the hotel was clearly not fully booked. But we thoroughly enjoyed an evening sitting outside by the fire pits, watching the planes and drinking champagne which was generously supplied by the bar manager. The second time our room was upgraded and boy oh boy the water view is spectacular. This time we ate at Dogon, one of the top restaurants in North America, and that was an incredible experience in itself. Folks this is the place to stay. Just two blocks from the mall and equi-distance between the Lincoln Memorial and The U.S. Capital the location is great. There are other great restaurants within 2 miles. Rania and MoonRabbit are across the street from each other and only a $10 Uber ride away. We go to DC to dine out and this is our go-to hotel. The staff is so great both professional and friendly.

The location is excellent and easily accessible. The atmosphere is clean and professional. The rooms are meticulously maintained and spacious, and the beds are exceptionally comfortable. The provided amenities were outstanding. The services were impressive, and I consistently felt secure and well-cared for. Valet can be a kicker but its easily accessed .

I was very disappointed in Salamander DC. I booked the Holiday Afternoon Tea, the Sound Bath at the Spa and overnight accommodations. I was greeted by a friendly valet and was excited to start my “girls” weekend with my sister visiting from Colorado and my daughter. Dressed in our Holiday outfits ready to embrace the Holiday atmosphere and photo ready I was shocked to walk into an empty lobby with not a trace of a holiday decor. I asked the front desk at check in to see if the tea had been moved hoping for some kind of logical explanation only to find out all the decorations were removed the previous night, even so they had one more day of the Holiday Afternoon Tea booked. I spoke to the restaurant manager and the front desk manager who seems genuinely shocked they had been removed and apologized. They told me how beautiful the decorations were - gingerbread houses of all the monuments, wreaths and greenery. This did not make me feel any better only more disappointed. The front desk manager said he would look into some kind of compensation for their obvious error. I decided to go ahead with the Un-Holiday Tea, and even so the food was tasty the dismal lounge atmosphere tainted the experience. My room was pleasant enough and we did really enjoy the Sound Bath at the Spa but I was shocked at check out they still offered no compensation for the Holiday Tea - which obviously was not what they advertised it would be. I was told corporate management was still on break and had to decide the compensation. How does a place like Salamander let a guest leave unsatisfied with no resolution? Poor management from the top. There are plenty of Holiday Afternoon Tea options in DC which I highly recommend trying but I will 100% stay away from Salamander and you should too. Who know when the Salamander grinch will take the decorations away and leave you with a plain dismal lounge?

Our stay at the Salamander Washington DC from January 1st to January 4th got off to a frustrating start. We arrived for check-in around 3 pm, only to be told that our room was not yet ready. The front desk staff said they would call us on our cellphone as soon as it was available. Unfortunately, we never received a call and ended up waiting until nearly 5 pm to finally get into our room, which left us feeling quite unsatisfied from the beginning.

While the bed itself was exceptionally comfortable and the room temperature was perfect for a relaxing stay, other issues prevented us from fully enjoying our time. The primary problem was with the shower. Although the overall cleanliness of the room was acceptable, the shower was a significant exception. The water did not drain properly, which resulted in us having to shower in 3-4 inches of gray water each time. We notified housekeeping of the issue, but unfortunately, it was not resolved during our stay.

Adding to our frustration, the phones in our room were not operational. This meant we were unable to order room service throughout our entire visit. We reported this to the front desk and were assured that an engineer would be sent to our room that evening. However, the engineer never arrived. This was particularly disappointing on our last morning when we had hoped to sleep in and enjoy a final breakfast in our room, but were unable to do so.

On a positive note, the staff at checkout was very understanding. When we explained the issues we had encountered, the front desk representative was apologetic and graciously removed one of our dinner charges from the bill as a gesture of goodwill.

One final point to consider is the daily parking fee of $87, which we found to be quite excessive.

Overall, while there were some positive aspects to our stay, the initial check-in delay and the unresolved maintenance issues significantly impacted our experience. We were, however, very appreciative of the excellent customer service we received at the end of our stay.

Lovely afternoon tea. Excellent spa.

Wonderful atmosphere. The staff made us feel at home. The check in and out was pleasant. The room was nice. Malik was very charming and provided much assistance. The Dogon restaurant was very special and had a wonderful vibe.

Great stay! Excellent hotel and staff. Great location. Beautiful and clean rooms. Pool and room service were awesome. Highly recommend.