Guest Author - Julia Reed Zaic
The St. Gregory hotel is located at 20th and M Streets, a central downtown location that places the property at the corner of business and leisure. Essentially, this location allows the business traveler to be close to the heavily traveled downtown office corridors of our nation’s capital, while staying close enough to the sites that make D.C. one of the best cities for side trips during business travel.
There are one hundred suites and fifty-four deluxe rooms at the St. Gregory. Upon booking a deluxe room, I was graciously upgraded to a suite without request. It was explained to me that when possible, those who book the “regular” rooms are upgraded to suites automatically, if available.
Upgrades are terrific, but in a hotel where every room, no matter what the size or title, has a refrigerator, it is especially terrific to get upgraded to a suite. Each suite comes with (I kid you not) a refrigerator, a stove, a microwave, a sink with a garbage disposal, and a full set of pots and pans, silverware, glassware, and a coffeemaker…with coffee.
The kitchen area in my suite was situated between the small living room, across from the bathroom and on the way to the bedroom. Essentially, it is a corridor. Depending on your approach to life (glass half empty, or half full?) this could be good or bad. You could view it as, “Wow, what a small kitchen!” Or, you could view it as I did: “WOW! A kitchen!?!”
Moving on from the fact that it’s so great to have a place to heat your leftovers after keeping them cool all night, the St. Gregory offers some great business amenities. The property is within walking distance from the Farragut North Metro station,so it’s easy to catch the Red Line. If you need to switch lines, it can be done easily at the Metro Center or the Galleria China Town station, only about one or two stops away.
The St. Gregory has meeting spaces available that can accommodate ten to fifty people. It doesn’t boast multiple corridors of meeting rooms, yet it has just enough space. There are two executive board rooms, and a ballroom space divisible by three for smaller events or meetings. The very friendly and helpful staff will surely assist you with your specific needs.
Again, this hotel is not of the Hyatt or Marriott chain hotel genre, so if you intend to host a meeting or event, be sure that your guests or colleagues are the type that would enjoy the boutique feeling of a smaller hotel. The atmosphere is sure to please, yet understandably, we must conform to certain expectations in the business world. I would recommend the space and the hotel with that one caveat.
My only honest complaint about the St. Gregory, is that I was not one hundred per cent pleased with the bed in my suite. I suggested to the property that they invest in the feather bed cover-ups to improve the comfort. The pillows were also a bit stiff. After a night or two I got used to it, but it was a bit of a disappointment considering how pleased I was with every other aspect of this property.
Overall my stay was pleasant and I hope to stay there again.
