Mandarin Oriental, D.C.

[house_of_princesses]

We're interested in going to D.C. Now that DVC includes the Mandarin, I'm trying to find some info through the DVC Member site. I put a search in the II site, but no luck. Am I doing something wrong, or is it not accessible to us yet?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[DrBond007]

We're interested in going to D.C. Now that DVC includes the Mandarin, I'm trying to find some info through the DVC Member site. I put a search in the II site, but no luck. Am I doing something wrong, or is it not accessible to us yet?

Thanks for your help!!

You probably already saw this:
http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/535000001.asp


"May God Bless this wonderful day for democracy."

 

[house_of_princesses]

Yes, DrBond, I did. I am interested in seeing how many points, minimum stay, etc. Can't seem to locate this info.

Thank you, though!! (I just love this guy!)

 

[cindy_k]

The DC Manderan Oriental is in the Concierge collection. I don't think there is a minimum stay.

As far as points:

Dates:
Jan1 - Feb6
Mar 20 -Mar 29
Apr 22 - Apr 30
Jun 27 - Sep 9
Nov 18 - Nov 30
Dec 16 - Dec 31
Points:
District Deluxe: 34
Water Deluxe: 40
District Deluxe Club: 66
Water Deluxe Club: 71

Dates:
Feb 7 - Mar 19
Mar 30 - Apr 21
May 1 - Jun 26
Sep 10 - Nov 17
Dec 1 - 15
Points:
District Deluxe: 47
Water Deluxe: 56
District Deluxe Club: 70
Water Deluxe Club: 79


I have 4 nights booked over Easter weekend for Mar 24 - 28 for the District Deluxe Level. It will be our first time staying there. We are looking forward to it.

It costs $95 for the Exchange and its $30 a day for Valet parking.

Have fun!
Cindy in NY

 

[house_of_princesses]

Thank you Cindy! Where did you find this? I looked all over the DVC Member Concierge site and missed it.

When you say $30/day valet park, I assume that's for parking, regardless of whether or not you take the car out that day. How many people will these rooms sleep? (We have five.)

Have fun on your Easter trip!!

Would you mind letting me know how your trip went when you get back? Any tips, comments would be appreciated! We're planning our trip now.

Thanks again!

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Just a quick note from a DC local...according to our local food critic both CityZen and Cafe Mozu are excellent...though he usually has some complaints about the service at CityZen. If I remember correctly the chef used to work for Thomas Keller of California's French Laundry so he has had a good teacher. Interested to learn more, check the www.washingtonpost.com and look for reviews by Tom Sietsma.

Have a great time but be prepared for security checks everywhere...and if travelling with kids, make sure the destinations still allow strollers inside and whether diaper bags qualify under the "no bags allowed" rule.

While not Disney, DC is not without characters.

 

[cindy_k]

The point chart is in the member section of the DVC website.
After you log in Click on Resorts and Member Getaways on the menu from the top.
When the page loads you should have a link halfway down the page and on the right that says "View Point Charts" Click on it.

After that page loads, scroll to the bottom of the screen, and click on the Concierge Collection link.

Another window will pop up with the point chart in it.
*******************************************

I'm not sure how many are allowed in a room. Its just me and my 12 year old son who are going. We went last year we went for a weekend in February and stayed at a Sheraton in DC. (not on DVC points)

DC has soooo much to do, you can't do it all in one trip.
Last year when we went we saw the Capital, the Air and Space Museum, the Zoo, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial and the Korean Memorial.

This year we are going to try a different set of places. Probably the Smithonian Art Museum (one of them), maybe Natural History, the National Archives, the Treasury, and the Supreme Court. I would also like to get over to the Arlington National Cemetary.
This trip is a little longer than the one we took last year, so that will help.

Remember if you want to see the Capital you have get on line to get your tickets First thing in the morning. If you get a DC guidebook they tell you what time they start distributing the tickets. Otherwise you can't get in.

I will post a trip report when I get back.

Have Fun!
Cindy in NY

 

[cindy_k]

As promised this is my review of our 5 days at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington DC.

The Participants:
Me (aka Mom)
Son (aka Son)

The Good:
We had a double room. So we each had our bed.
The hotel rooms were beautiful. The bathroom was large and marble with a seperate tub and shower. There were robes and slippers in the bathroom for us to use while at the hotel, and the aromatherapy shampoo, conditions, body wash and moisturizer. There was a hairdryer in the drawer in the vanity on one side and a bunch of other amenities, (sewing kit, nail care kit, etc) in the other drawer.
We had a water view, though we booked a District view. We looked over the highway and the train tracks at the Tidal Basin and the Jefferson Momument.
The closet held an umbrella for you to use, an Iron, and ironing board. Also there was an extra pillow there if you need. The room had a desk with two chairs, an armchair with an ottoman, and an armoir with the TV on it. The mini bar and safe were in the armoir. The safe is big enough to hold a laptop.
All the staff I encountered was very polite and helpful. And the turn down service and sometimes when they cleaned your room will leave you bottles of water. Its called Voss and its in Glass bottles. Its nice for the hotel room, but not what you would want to take with you when you leave to tour.
The room has two button by the door that light up outside your room. 1 is for Do not disturb and the other is for Make up room. Also the room has a door bell.
The Indoor Pool is nice. The water temperature was fine, I found the room it was in a little cold which made getting out chilling. My son didn't mind it though. He swam every evening in the pool. I went in a couple of times, the rest of the time, I spent reading the newspaper the hotel left me in the morning with the other parents sitting in the chairs around the pool, while the kids played. The hotel gave the kids Noodles to use in the pool. Towels were available at the pool. The pool is located in the Spa area, you have to sign in at the desk and write down the number of children you are bringing. The hotel posted that the pool closes at 7pm, but the last night we were there we swam to 7:20p without being asked to leave, and another family came in at 7:10p. So I am not sure how firm they are on the closing time.
The Hotels location is nice because it is close to the National Mall, and the Smithonian Subway stop is not far, just 2 quick blocks away. There are always taxis available at the door. A doorman will get you one immediately if you want to take a taxi somewhere.

The Bad:
The maid service was what I would call spotty. Especially with Turn down service. I was there 5 nights and 2 of those nights we received no turn down at all. And we waited until after 8:30p before throwing on the Do Not Desturb light and going to bed. I wanted the water and the ice that they bring. I did not however call housekeeping, which I suppose I could have done. I hate going through all that trouble.
Ice brings me to what I considered bad number 2. I could not find an Ice machine on the floor. Ice is brought by your Turn down person, which means if you run out of ice, your out of ice. You will have to call housekeeping for more.
Their Television also needs some help. Its a Satelite service and has a DVD player (that was nice) but their signal is messed up. We watched a whole section of a show on George Washington with the words out of sync with the picture. It would break into cubes often.

The Ugly

I found the price of Food in the Hotel to be very high.
Here's an example:
2 Kids Dinner Ordered from Room Service, each with an Appetizer, Meal and Dessert (no beverage was ordered) $58.77 The portions for the Appetizer and Meal were fine, The Dessert was small and $8.00 each.

Breakfast in Cafe Mozu. 1 egg with potatoes and toast (adult), and 1 egg with potatoes and toast (kids), 1 Coffee and 1 Orange Juice. $32.40

I did all I could not to eat in the hotel after these two meals, which were our two first. The problem comes with Breakfast. The hotel is not near any other eating establishments. Which made eating breakfast out of the hotel difficult. On our second to last morning, we had Breakfast Bars that I picked up at Union Station the night before, to tie us over until Lunch.

Not that eating other places in DC is cheap, but it doesn't cost as much as the hotel was charging.

Well that's my review. If you have any questions I will try to answer them.

Have Fun!!
Cindy in NY

 

[TDC Nala]

While not Disney, DC is not without characters.

Be sure not to miss the 3-d film "It's Tough to Be A President" and the Senate character breakfast (must be 21 and over if Ted Kennedy is present)

 

[DrBond007]

Thanks for the report, always wondered. Guess the hotel food is set up to be expensed back to a company or taxpayers, huh?

The indoor pool closes at 7p? That's absurd.

 

[chop003]

I have a weekend trip planned in April with the family, staying just the Saturday night so the pool and other amenities are minor to me. My questions is how close to the mall is Mandarin Oriental, from a map, it looks walkable.

 

[abstracteye]

I would strongly advise anyone who is going to the Mandarin in DC to rethink their travel options. My stay there was nothing short of horrific, a brief list follows below.

No valet service or attendent at desk or hotel personnel at front desk upon check in - we wandered about for about 15 minutes before someone came out to help us.

The first room we received was incorrect - one single bed for myself and my two sons. I called to the front desk and they did give me a larger room with two double beds.

Day Two: Left for sightseeing, returned at around 5 p.m. to find our key did not work had to wait for another key (25 minutes) after we entered the room we found that the maid had not even made up the beds. I once again called the front desk -constant apologies. They allowed me to move up to a suite and gave me a free breakfast. The service is slow and marginal, when we called for ice we waited about 45 minutes etc.

Day three: Upon checkout their computer system was down. When I got home I found my credit card was wrongly billed for almost $1000 for items they said were complimentary.

I called Disney and they were not much help - saying that you should have read the fine print etc. I called the Mandarin and spoke to the executive director and they said they will reverse the charges on the credit card (yet to be seen)

These types of common errors are unacceptable for a supposed 5 star hotel that prides itself on service. While the price of other DC hotels are high I would advise staying at another hotel. You are expected to call for everthing, ice, towels, etc, which is normal for a high service hotel - but it also incurs tips for the service people. The TV's in the rooms were also very difficult to navigate and had marginal reception. The best thing about the room is the beds are very comfortable and the bathroom is nice - but for what these rooms really cost $600 and up per night - one could do much better around DC.

 

[Coastie]

Since I work at CG Headquarters in DC, I run by the Mandarin every morning about 0700... seems very nice from the outside. If you prefer not to stay in DC, Crystal City, across the river has quite a few hotels with numerous restaurants to suit just about any tastes. Balston Commons, a short 15 minute metro ride, also has some very nice family restaurants. If you like the Cheese Cake Factory, its in Balston.

The cherry blossoms are almost open. When they are, the tidal basin area is absolutely beautiful, it’s not to be missed. Go very early, about 0600-0630, as the sun rises, the reflection in the basin, Roosevelt Memorial, and the Jefferson is out of this world. Be very patient, as it will be very crowded, people from all over the world will be visiting.

Where ever you stay, it should be a lot of fun.

 

[sk8belle]

Just as a reminder, the 75 Mickey statues are currently at the Reagan Building downtown. I think they are there until mid- to late-April.

 

[cindy_k]

I have a weekend trip planned in April with the family, staying just the Saturday night so the pool and other amenities are minor to me. My questions is how close to the mall is Mandarin Oriental, from a map, it looks walkable.

The national mall is only a short, 5 minute walk away from the hotel and the Smithsonian Metro(subway) stop is right there too. This makes it easy to walk to subway if you want to go elsewhere, like Union Station to get more reasonably priced food. (Union Station is a railroad station and a shopping mall with restaurants, a movie theater, and food court.)
Of course you do have to change trains to get the Union Station. Take Smithsonion one to Metro Center and change to the other line to go to Union Station. Not that big of a deal, and the food is cheaper.

You are pretty close to the Jefferson Monument too, about a 10 minute walk and from the Jefferson Monument its a short walk 5 minutes to the FDR memorial which is really nice.

The Mickey Statues are at Federal Square just North of the National Mall. There's a subway stop there too. I had to take a picture of each of them for my Mom.

To get to the National Catherdral from the Mandarin Oriental, I took a taxi, because the Metro doesn't stop near it. It cost $11.50 for two people each way. I am not sure if its cheaper because I didn't price it out, but it might be cheaper to take the Metro to the Zoo, and then a Taxi from there.

All this being said, next time I will probably pay to stay at the Four Points Sheraton again. (Thats where I stayed last year.) They have an indoor pool, and give you a robe to use too, the food is cheaper and I get Starwood points which I can use toward stays at the Swan. That hotel is near Metro Center subway stop, so you take the metro to the national mall, not a big deal, and there are restaurants and fast food in the area.

 

[house_of_princesses]

Cindy, Thanks so much for the report. Helpful. Thanks to everyone else as well. All input is appreciated!! I'm getting anxious!!