Washington Inn

07/21/2008 Posted by ErickaLovesGoodFood

A clean, quiet, and very homey hotel in the heart of Oakland's old town. The manger is amazing and bent over backwards to meet the needs of our group. Also, the hotel staff was overly accomodating and helpful. I highly recommend staying at the Washington while in Oakland!

Pros: Clean, Quiet, Homey and Convienent

Cons: There are none

12/02/2007 Posted by fna4868

I had read a couple of bad reviews about the management of this hotel online - specifically about Raj Hameed, the General Manager - and chose to give it the benefit of the doubt. I made the mistake to make my reservation over the phone for a Thursday, as I would be flying out of Oakland airport the next morning. They were not able to send me an e-mail confirmation, since they are not set up for that. I ended up having to change my flight to flying out of San Jose last minute and happened to call them on Thursday afternoon to see if if was possible to cancel my reservation, which they informed me I would not be able to do, which was fair enough. However, when Raj went to look up me reservation, he informed me that I did not have a reservation for that night, but for the previous day instead. I politely let him know that this had been a mistake on their part. Raj was completely inflexible, claiming that I had made the reservation for the wrong date and that there was nothing he could do about it. To make it worse, I did not have a hotel reservation for that night, which, if I hadn't called I would have found out at 11PM that night when I arrived at the hotel. When I mentioned that, he only responded that I basing my argument on speculation and it was therefore invalid. I don't believe that it is much extrapolation to realize that I could have been without a hotel room that night. I continued to try to reason with him, but he simply would not hear it. So, in addition to having to change my plans last minutes due to an emergency business situation, I was left to scramble for a hotel room for that same night as well as being charged for a night that I was not there - and had no recourses. I let Raj know that I would be filing a complaint wth the proper organizations( and it was not an empty threat) to which he simply responded "I'm sorry you feel that way." This has been an extremely frustrating and disappointing experience and I will not support this kind of business.

08/23/2006 Posted by starrynight723

This hotel is actually horrible. I recently stayed there a couple times on business and found, like the earlier reviewer, one maintenance problem after another. The A/C didn't work, the vending machine was broken, and my tv didn't work, and no one had anything to say except that they're aware of the problems and they have been continuing issues. In addition, the bar is never open late and when it s you can find the bartender drinking with the customers. I don't know if management is aware or even cares about this. The Inn has a nice looking interior, but it is unprofessional place, poorly managed, and poorly maintained. Save yourself some trouble and stay at the Mariott right across the street.

Pros: The interior decor is nice

Cons: The service and room accomodations are not worth the money you will spend. There are no views from the rooms.

05/31/2005 Posted by Jaimeeg

While the hotel is interesting in appearance, the lack of parking and location make it low on my list of hotels to revisit. The air conditioner in our room blew out lukewarm air, and when this was reported to the desk clerk, he informed us this was an "ongoing problem." Since there was no way to get a breeze through the room, we were awake most of the night because it was so hot and stuffy. The buffet breakfast was not as advertised, but we managed to get enough to eat.

Pros: Interesting building, Clean rooms

Cons: Parking, Small rooms, Lack of air condition