Convention Hotel

Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
400 New Jersey Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20001
USA

(rates do not include 14.5% DC hotel room tax)

Hotel Description

by Elspeth Kovar

     Almost every hotel operator describes their hotel with glowing terms such as award winning, gracious, spacious, sweeping, and luxury beyond compare.  Which makes it a tad bit difficult to get a feel of a hotel without actually being there.  So, before you go on to the details of the hotel and facilities — in the Hyatt's own words — here is a casual tour with a convention-goers eye.  (You can, of course, skip to the nuts-and-bolts, which are at the bottom of this page.)

     The street level entrance to the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill opens onto a balcony overlooking the main lobby area.  This, I've found, not only provides an introduction to the hotel and convention but is a fine place for people watching.  The shape of the balcony is such that you can stand out of the way of any traffic and the view is such that it's also an excellent place to see if the people you are looking for are in the lobby or the bar or restaurant on that level.  This space does not show up on the floor plans but can be deduced by the escalators and stairs leading into the main lobby between the Networks bar and the Bellstand.

     The lobby is a five story atrium.  Since it is below street level, this provides a sense of calm away from the bustle.  The glass roof is stepped towards the entrance corner of the hotel and there is additional space between it and the rest of the hotel just above the street level.  This allows an outside view from the sleeping rooms around it, as well as a sense of drama.  It is, as advertised, spacious, not only in actuality but in feel.  The front desk is positioned such that any lines that form are out of the way of traffic, there are chairs and tables along the low wall dividing the Park Promenade restaurant from the rest of the lobby, and the bar is likewise separated.

     The ballroom level, where our function rooms will be located, is served by a pair of escalators and four elevators leading from just off the main lobby to the ballroom lobby.

     All of the rooms, except for the ones that we will be using for the Con Office and Green Room, are accessible from this area.  Those rooms are down a wide corridor, which also has the restrooms and phones.  (At least one of these phones has a data port.)  While not as airy as the main lobby, there is plenty of room on this level for people to talk or circulate.  The liquid display signs outside each of the function rooms make finding things not only easy but enjoyable; clear and highly visible, we also have the option of using our own graphics as well as text.

     Deserving of its own mention is the Capitol View Club.  Located on the top floor of the hotel, all tables have a view of the Capitol only a few blocks away and the atmosphere is as fine as the food.  The gourmet lunch buffet is worth a trip by itself.  The menu changes from day to day and has always been excellent.  I can most enthusiastically attest to the quality — both the duck and the shrimp were especially good recently, and the variety of cheese such that I regretfully had to skip dessert.  During the week the Club is used by hotel guests and members, mostly business folk and people from the Hill who want a private place to dine.  The bar is quiet, with deeply comfortable chairs, no music or television, and is a wonderful place to spend some time.

     I like this hotel, as you may have gathered.  Set in the heart of an exciting city, with monuments, museums, good food and an excellent public transportation system only blocks away, it has access to everything while managing to feel just slightly apart.  On a busy street it manages to be quiet, at the center of things it is calm.

     Oh, yeah — and Fortune Magazine rated the health club, with a heated pool, dry sauna, and massage upon request, ‘one of the finest health clubs in the city'.

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