Chris and Sammi lounging on the couch/bed
I’m sitting in our room at the Homewood Suites on Massachusetts Avenue. I opted for this hotel because of the good rate ($169), the kitchen and the fact that it’s two rooms. I like two rooms when traveling with the girls because it gives us the opportunity to spread out. I like the idea of the kitchen because it gives us the option of meals (at least breakfast in the room).
As it turns out though, breakfast in the room is not necessary as the hotel offers a full breakfast in the lobby seven mornings a week. On weekdays from 7am until 9am and on weekends until 10am. The breakfast buffet includes, eggs, bacon/sausage, biscuits, toast, bagels, donuts, muffins, hot and cold cereal, yogurt and fruit along with coffee, tea, juice and water. Seating didn’t seem to be a problem as the tables turned pretty quickly, filled with families taking advantage of the offerings.
Four nights a week (Monday – Thursday), the hotel also offers a “light meal” for dinner from 5pm until 7pm. It’s one offering and according to the schedule in our room, they have things like deli subs, grilled chicken, tacos, hot dogs, and more. They do not appear to repeat during the entire month. We opted to skip these offerings on our Thursday night stay, and instead, walked over to the Whole Foods Market on P street (about a 5 minute walk), and picked up sushi (for Becky), pasta (for Sammi), and soup and salad for Chris and I. Along with some beer, snack foods, fruit, and various cookies for dessert, we had a little picnic in our room once Chris arrived (after 8:30). Oh I should also mention that during the light meal, the hotel also offers small cans of soda (sprite, coke, diet coke and ginger ale) in addition to wine and beer.
Oh and let me mention, our “kitchen” consists of a wall with a dishwasher, sink, microwave, full size refrigerator and two-burner stove. There are a basic amount (four) of plates, glasses, bowls, utensils etc. No wine bottle opener, no beer bottle opener that we found and some glass bowls and a couple of metal pots for reheating. We were able to get a wine bottle opener from the front desk.
In the same room as the kitchen is a TV, two-person couch, and chair with ottoman, in addition to a little “bar” at which sits my laptop (because it’s where the free hard-wire Internet access is), that has two seats. Our bedroom (separate room), consists of two full-sized beds, sink, shower/tub and toilet room. There are five drawers, and one closet in the suite.
Chris and I ended up sleeping on the couch, which folds out into a bed, so that each girl could have their own bed. We found it satisfactory – not as comfortable as the beds but not horrible. The girls found the beds to be extremely comfortable (also note, the bedroom has its own TV).
It took us about 15-20 minutes (maybe more because we stopped at Au Bon Pain along the way) to reach the Washington Monument on foot – probably about 25 minutes to reach the National Archives, and the Smithsonian Air and Space would probably be another 10 minutes beyond the archives.
Unless something drastic happens in the next twenty four hours, I would definitely recommend this hotel.