If you need any pics of the hotel or surrounding area, let me know! I recommend packing your swimsuits. As a hotel guest, these amenities are provided to you free of charge:
--The Pool, open at 5:30am-9:00pm daily, children 16 and under must be supervised. Lap pool, heated, 50ft wide and 4ft deep. We have big round lounge chairs by the pool that swivel. Great for reading and the view is of the pier/boats. In the evening the sunset is great because there are a lot of windows. In the summer there are lounge chairs outside for sunbathing. The hotel also built a little walkway that allows you easier access to the Tidal Basin. It's essentially a bridge that bypasses traffic.
--Fitness Center, open at 5:30am-9:00pm daily. All the business folk that come through here are always amazed by the gym. Lots of variety (treadmills, ellipticals, weights, yoga mats, pilates balls). Some of the equipment have TVs. The hotel provides headphones, towels, reading material, water, tea, and fresh fruit.
--Heat and Water Experience, open at 7:30am-9:00pm daily, 18 years old and over only. Women's area has the Amethyst Crystal Steam Bath, Vitality Pool with jets, Experience Shower, and Ice Fountain. Men's area has Amethyst Crystal Steam Bath, Dry Sauna, Plunge Pool (no jets), and Experience Shower. Come down in your robe or ask the spa staff for a locker key and robe. Each area has a Relaxation Lounge with relaxing music, plenty of reading material, fruit-infused water, tea, and fresh fruit.
Okay, now that I've told you about the area in the hotel where I work
here are some food suggestions.
If you want to just hang out in the hotel, I know that either Cafe MoZu or the Empress Lounge serves a curry lunch buffet during the weekdays. It's supposed to be a variety of Indian and Thai curries. I haven't tried it myself, though.
The majority of really good ethnic food is going to be in the suburbs. Korean food can be found in Annandale, VA (Koreatown). In DC itself I think there are only 3 options for Korean. There's a not-so-great place downtown, a mom 'n pop takeout joint in Adams Morgan, and a bulgogi street cart. For good, cheap Vietnamese food, you can't go wrong with Eden Center in Falls Church, VA. I'm Viet so I know Vietnamese food. However, these parts are far away from DC. Eden Center is accessible by Metro but it's not only ridiculously far, you have to either walk or cab an extra mile to get there.
However, Pho 75 is a good chain that's been around since I was a little girl. There is one location that isn't too far from the Rosslyn Metro. It's also next to Ray's the Steaks, which has a very good rep for high yet affordable meat. The owner/chef of Ray's also opened a hamburger joint next door called Ray's Hellburger.
Also in Rosslyn there is a hotel that recently opened with an Italian restaurant called Domasoteca. The head chef there used to work at Portobello Yacht Club.
With that being said, have you tried Ethiopian food? There are a few great Ethiopian restaurants right by the U Street metro stop, which is on the green line. The neighborhood is "up and coming," which is just a way of saying that sometimes it feels kinda shady depending on what time of the day you go, but if you act smart and are aware of your surroundings, you should be okay
: Also, Ben's Chili Bowl is there, and that is practically a Washington institution.
Have you been to DC already (saw you posted on the 9th but wasn't sure when you were going)? I actually work in the Spa, so I don't really go upstairs all that much. The thing with the hotel is that while it is super convenient to the Smithsonian and National Mall, it is kind of in the middle of nowhere. I hear the SW Waterfront is up and coming, but right now the hotel is in the middle of a bunch of office buildings--the food choices in the immediate vicinity are a Starbucks and Pot Belly's Sandwiches (which is closed on weekends). In the hotel itself, there is the Empress Lounge (bar and light fare), Cafe MoZu, and CityZen, which is an award-winning restaurant. Probably in the top 5 for restaurants in DC. Reservations are very difficult to get there--I went looking for a reservation for 2 back in October and found availability on December 11th, just to give you an idea.
