Why I’ll Gladly Return To The Dupont Circle Hotel In Washington

I’ve lived in Austin for a dozen years, and I still have work and an office in D.C. so that remains my most frequent destination. I’m not there as frequently as I was before the pandemic, but there are still times that I’m there for at least a night three weeks in a row.

When I first made the move I was a creature of habit. I’d stay at the same place, like the Hyatt Arlington, and they’d even put me in the same room. That got pretty boring after awhile!

For the past couple of years I’ve been moving around much more, trying out different places like Park Hyatt DC, Hotel Zena, Lyle Hotel and the Viceroy DC.

Those last 3 are all GHA Discovery properties, and GHA has become my second favorite hotel loyalty program. I still love Hyatt for the confirmed-at-booking suite upgrades, I’m a lifetime Marriott Platinum, and I have IHG Diamond (via Chase Sapphire Reserve) and Hilton Gold (via Amex Platinum).

But I’m on a tour of hotels now, and stayed recently at the Dupont Circle Hotel. Doyle Collection is a GHA Discovery participating brand (their own loyalty program is branded Doyle Discovery) and it’s also part of Preferred Hotels I Prefer. I booked it through Chase’s The Edit.

I really liked it – far exceeded my expectations. It’s not in the true luxury class of hotels in the city, but it did have an overall luxury feel, far above the standard ‘full service’ chain properties.

The hotel is right at Dupont Circle, which has restaurants, bars and night life. Michelin-recommended Pembroke restaurant and Doyle Bar are both pretty good. And service is warm and polished. They still have 24 hour room service and turndown service. The bathroom floors are heated.

Doyle Bar

Check-in was friendly. The agent was confused, telling me I needed to pay with a Capital One card since I’d booked through their Premier Collection. I told her I thought I’d booked through Chase? She confirmed, said it didn’t matter, that each of the programs are the same (there are, in fact, nuances but I take her point).

I was upgraded to a Signature Parkview Suite which is listed at 750–800 square feet. That upgrade was clearly based on GHA Discovery status or stacked with booking channel, not Chase The Edit alone – I’ve seen data points where Chase, American Express and Capital One bookings go from Deluxe King to Executive King, and a Junior Suite gets upgraded into a Studio Suite. The welcome letter even says one category upgrade.

The letter also spells out:

• $45 per person breakfast credit (I was staying alone, but was told the credit was $90)
• $100 food and beverage credit, which I used for room service
• Noon check-in and 2 p.m. check-out if available, though I used neither.

Here was the entry to the suite.

Off the entryway was a small guest bathroom.

Here’s the view from my suite:

The living room was large with a dining table, couch and comfortable chair beside it and an electronically-controlled fireplace.

Items in the minibar, and the snacks above it, were complimentary.

And this was the coffee setup:

Drinks:

Here’s the bedroom. The bed was quite comfortable.

Attached to the bedroom was the master bath. This bathroom featured heated marble floors, good robes, towel bars and a good shower. Always nice to step out of the shower onto a warm floor!

Here’s the room service menu, which was on the desk in the bedroom. I ordered a burger at dinner, planning to use the rest of the credit later. The burger was actually fantastic. I also got up super early one morning, long before nearby coffee shops and the Starbucks across the street opened. I ordered a pot of coffee. It turns out that’s not actually available on the overnight menu, but they brewed one for me anyway. It wasn’t charged. (It also wasn’t very good coffee.)

Outside of the main restaurant is a coffee shop which I never visited, though the food and beverage credit can be used there.

Service in the restaurant was very good, though on my second morning it was going to be a wait for a table so I just sat at the bar where I was helped right away.

I should add that these complimentary snacks in the sitting area off the lobby were very good.

The Dupont Circle Hotel is a premium boutique property with unusually good service and a strong restaurant and bar setup, and potentially a great value when booked through a premium credit card platform. I’ll gladly return.