Stayed here for two nights on a business trip. We had an event at the Convention Center at Mt Vernon Square, which was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel.

As others have already posted, this location is quite convenient. I was able to walk to the National Gallery without a problem, stopping along the way for lunch.

There are a number of restaurants nearby, within easy walking distance as well, and they span a fairly wide range of options from Ruth Chris to McD's.

This hotel is a bit odd because it's housed in an old bank building (the sign for the former bank are still there on the outside of the building), so when you walk in, there are large metal gates that seem out of place, and signs that point to the safe deposit boxes. These are just quirks and don't really detract from the overall decor.

The rooms are a bit small, but about what I'd expect in this price range in downtown DC. I had an inner room, which meant that my window overlooked the inner open area in the center of the building, so no exterior views to speak of.

The bed was comfortable, though the TV was in an awkward spot. There was free Internet access, though only wired. Their security scheme doesn't allow you to plug in your own wireless adapter to connect, so it must be MAC address based.

Did not use any of the hotel features, so can't comment on those. The nearest Metro Station is Gallery/Chinatown, but it's enough of a hike so that I wouldn't really consider this as an asset, given how frequent and closely spaced the stations are in DC.

While the area in fine, I was taken a bit aback when I saw that there was sign indicating that you needed to use your keycard for elevator access at all times. Sure enough, without a valid keycard, the buttons on the elevator from the ground floor will not work. I did not see anything, in or around the hotel that would seem to necessitate such an extra security precaution, but the fact that it's there does give me some pause.

Nothing fancy about this hotel, but clean, comfortable, friendly staff and a great location for the price. Could walk to Nat'l Archives, and "Mall" easily, steps from Spy Museum. Friends of ours stayed in a boutique hotel just two blocks away for 2 nights for the price of our 3 nights here. Same size room, just a little less flare at the Courtyard. Breakfast buffet was ok, but for just a few dollars more go to the Hotel Monaco (two blocks) for excellent brunch with tasty Bloody Mary's.

Overview: My wife and I have stayed in a number of hotels in and about the DC area during the last couple of years. For this weekend visit (January 11-13, 2008) we decided to try yet another hotel in another part of Washington. We picked the Courtyard Convention Center as
we were going to a Wizards game at the Verizon Center (one block away). After our stay, we can definitely recommend this hotel.

The plusses: Location – The hotel is in a great location for visiting DC. The National Mall is nearby, as is the National Portrait Gallery (across the street, as is the Spy Museum). Chinatown and the Verizon Center are just blocks away. It is near a Metro stop which is really convenient for getting around. The area seemed to be safe and that’s a plus in DC. There are many dining options nearby. There’s a restaurant in the building (Gordon Biersch) and one across the street (McCormick and Schmicks). Room rate – we got a fairly good AAA rate. The bed was quite comfortable. The breakfast buffet, while not especially cheap, was really quite nice.

The decor of the renovated building was fine and our room was OK: we had space to spread out. There is free wireless which should be standard in hotels but in many cases is not. The staff was very attentive, helpful and friendly. Housekeeping promptly acted upon our request for additional towels and glasses. The smallish exercise room had new equipment and there is an indoor pool and separate weight room as well.

The minuses: Not much. We really enjoyed our stay in the hotel and being in this part of town. The valet parking was a little pricey, but that’s almost a given in DC.

Would we stay here again? Absolutely. This Courtyard Convention Center is one of the better DC hotel options.

The price to value ratio is horrible for this place!!!! I stayed here for 4 days and said I'm never coming back. There were so many problems, it was almost funny.
A review said it's recently renovated, they did a pretty poor job. The overall decor/atmosphere feels cheap; a lot of the things inside the room were wrong (tv worked poorly, hair dryer broken); the bathroom was horribly small.

I mean paying 400 per night for this hole is laughable really. I do not recommend anyone stay here!!!!