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Washington Inn
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Oakland Chinatown, Old Oakland
495 10th St
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 452-1776
495 10th St
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 452-1776
- Price Range:
-
$$
13 reviews for Washington Inn
Now a historic landmark, the Washington Inn sits in the heart of Downtown Oakland. While in town for a National Science Conference, my colleague and I stumbled upon this place after looking to avoid hotels in Berkeley and Emeryville. Renovations have been done to all the rooms and although they still use VCRs here, there is something quaint about this hotel that continues to draw me in. If you are looking to go to the Oakland Convention Center, you cannot beat this place. it is literally right across the street!
There is a fully stocked bar and restaurant downstairs and room service can be ordered until 9pm. These amenities are nice, but there are still a lot of delicious eateries if you are willing to drive into other parts of town.
However, the biggest drawback to this hotel is parking. There are only two options -- both of which they do not tell you before booking the room: you can either park your car in metered spots and start feeding it at 8am, or you can park in the Convention center for $24 a day. I wasn't really a fan of either.
The concierge here is friendly, a little too friendly if you ask me. He spent a good 20 minutes talking about the tax incresae on hotels and how it increased my bill by $1.67. TWENTY MINUTES! If I wasn't so tired and eager to get to my room I would've been glad to know that the money was going to save the museum and the zoo.
All in all, this is a cozy hotel. If you need to attend the convention center for an event, it's a high recommend. Parking as mentioned before is a little rough. But if you're down to support local family businesses and not really a fan of throwing money at corporate hotels like Marriott, Sheraton, or Hilton, you will enjoy the Washington Inn.
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Sooooo, I really want to like this hotel but there are somethings I cant get around, but at the same time I love/like it. The building is very pretty, it has great older architecture and design...you know it has a bit of old charm to it, which is always a plus for me. On the other hand the place could use a great scrubbing, some better lighting and updating.
Our room individual was actually pretty great, decent/moderate interior and everything was fully supplied, and just hecka cute in general... but again the room had a questionable view (I need a view!!!!), and somethings needed to be upgraded. I understand keeping the older charm and all but come on, we need some updates......
But all in all it is a great inexpensive place to stay if you are looking to save some money but also don't want to end up at a Hilton (I hate Hiltons)
This review is only for the bar.
Which is "okay." I don't think I would come back except for happy hour, as the $8 sticker price on top-shelf mixed drinks (Ketel & soda) are a little steep.
The bar stools do that lazy Susan spinny thing, tho. which is awesome.
Two televisions--two too many, in my opinion.
I'll probably go back and try to suss the place's character out some more--I put in three hours and it didn't make much of an impression on me. Not bad, but not that great, either. Hence the three stars.
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I stayed here for one night with a friend so we could go to a concert at the Fox Theater nearby. I paid for about $100 on http://hotels.com and I thought it was the best rate I could get versus the Courtyard Marriott and Marriott hotels that were nearby that were charging $169 or more.
We got a room with 2 double-sized beds, and I admit, it's a small room. The sink is not inside the bathroom either. I think the bathroom could use some renovations, particularly the shower. There's no tub, just a shower stall, and the showerhead could be a little bit taller. I'm 5'6" and I felt like I had to crouch down a bit. And some handlebars would've been helpful- it was a good thing I had flip flops with me because I really would've been afraid of slipping. (I can't help being a stickler for these kinda things because I'm a clumsy person.) But the beds were very comfortable, and overall, the room was clean. And the free WiFi was an awesome perk.
The staff was great too. I asked if we could check in early, and they had a room ready by the time we got there at noon. There's a complimentary continental breakfast that's not too bad. I'd probably look into staying here again next time I have to be in Oakland. It's very close to the BART station and in a good area.
I had to fly out to Oakland for a job interview last summer, and the company told me they'd reimburse me for lodging but strongly recommended this place as it was very close to their office.
Four weeks later, I got the job, and stayed again until my company could figure out more temporary housing while I looked for a place.
The main guy who owns the place remembered my name and everything; they're incredibly accomodating. I had a red-eye flight back to Boston originally, and after I checked out that morning, they let me keep all my bags at the front desk so that I didn't have to carry them around while I explored San Francisco that afternoon, and then they let me borrow their printer to print out my boarding pass.
As for complaints about the noise/area, sure, it's not ideal, but what are they supposed to do?
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As others have said, I am torn about this place, but ultimately disappointed. We used the Washington Inn as a hotel for our wedding guests (along with the Marriott next store) and I was sorely disappointed (over and over). The reviews we read were not the best, so we kind of knew what we were getting into, but we really wanted a hotel that was not a chain and the WI does have a ton of character which we wanted.
What was good: it is a very cute boutique style hotel full of charm, the beds were REALLY comfy, they have a b-fast every morning (pastries, cereal, and drinks--nothing fresh), ideal location in DT Oakland, we were able to use their shuttle for shuttling guests post wedding for a small fee.
What was bad/frustrating: Raj, the manager, was not very responsive when we were giving him lots of free business, every time I spoke to him it took him a long time to remember who I was. The rooms are SMALL, no closets, no water pressure showers and not very kid friendly b/c of the size and finally...a few select people on staff honestly did not have a clue. Many of our guests complained that doing something as easy as a reservation was too complicated for the front desk person, throw in a room block, or reserving for another person and they acted like you were speaking french....very annoying. Lastly, I think the price is pretty high for the room size and lack of amenities.
The NYT just rec'd in their 36 hours in Oakland article which surprised me. But after thinking about it: it is the only "character" boutique hotel in oakland (which is why we chose it too, I admit!) and they put on a good facade....if you really want a non-chain than go ahead and stay there, but planning an event with WI was very frustrating,
Sorely overlooked but so much fun!
Happy Hour or late evening drinks here are fun with their friendly yet reserved bartender and even with 20-30 people you can still have the place to yourself.
Stayed 2 nights while in town for a work related course and didn't want to stay at a stereotypical comfort inn or something.
This place is really vintage. Rooms, elevator and the building is really unique and I was happy to support it. Friendly staff at front counter. Free wifi worked great for me whenever I used it. There's lots of neat reastaurants close by and the BART (subway) station is only a block away.
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I'm very torn about how to review this Inn... the location is great, the rooms are really nice and comfy (but randomly can be very different sizes for the same price!), the lobby is cozy, and the people who work here are helpful... HOWEVER the street noise is really annoying when you're trying to sleep! But for reasonable prices, this place is worth checking out...!
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I was too drunk and hungover to scrutinize the bedding, so I'll give this place 3 stars. The bathrooms had enough toilet paper for me to use, and the flush worked great everytime I yakked in the toilet.
This place is conveniently located near 12th Street BART and is adequate for our purposes (pre-Prom set up, post-Prom yak-fest)
The beddings were adequate to keep me warm, and I was able to sleep a little when I wasn't feeling my pounding headache.
The sewage smell outside the front door is from the sewers just below... Some dude parked his truck up my car's bumper.
The staff were helpful. It's a nice place to crash.
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The Washington Inn is cozy and charming and I had a great experience there. The staff was really sweet and some of our wedding guests had a blast hanging out at their little bar downstairs.
We also had a business dinner/meeting there one time for the Cafe and it went very well. The staff made sure we were well taken care of!
First impressions aren't everything, y'all. We found the Washington Inn on the Internet, and it looked like a chic boutique hotel. We walked into the lobby of this hotel on Sunday afternoon, and were pleased to see it was decorated really cute. Going up to our room, the hallways were super narrow....but that's what makes it "charming", I guess.
But...there are a couple of things that I judge a hotel by:
- Cleanliness of room when I first walk in
- Amenities
- Sketch factor
Let's go down the list, shall we?
1. Our room (two beds, extremely small space) looked great at first glance, but the top comforter and the next layer underneath it had some sort of blemish on it. Is it that hard to spot a stain on white sheets? I think not.
2. Amenities were few. There was a hair dryer attached to the wall, they had a TV (no cable), and a VCR (because everyone I know travels with video tapes).
3. Sketch factor was minimal (unlike my recent stay at the Hotel ThirtyThirty in NYC - read the review).
Overall, you get what you pay for. This is an inexpensive hotel in downtown Oakland, directly across from the Oakland Convention Center, and around the corner from a restaurant, a pub, and Air Lounge. There is parking available, but usually you can find parking on the street, and it seems like a somewhat safe place to leave your car overnight. They also lock the front doors after 10pm for safety, which is good to know. Since we were only staying for one night, I didn't care that much about where we stayed, so the Washington Inn was a good choice. However, if you're planning to stay for more than a couple of days, you may want to consider the Courtyard Marriott or the Marriott Downtown Oakland instead for a more cushy experience.
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Not a bad hotel for the price. The rooms are a little small, but they were clean, which is always important. The look was kind of retro/ modern, if that means anything......
Over all pleasant experience........would I stay again, yes I would....
Nice bar downstairs and there was a restaurant that was attached but it never seemed to be open..
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