Hotel4Real!

From the get-go, I’d like to say that the front office team here was splendid. I loved each and every interaction with them. Jessica greeted me at check-in and immediately we were chatting like old friends, and not even once was I not greeted with a huge smile when I walked through the lobby at any time of day. Massive kudos to the team!

Now, the room – and here’s the interesting part. I do understand the Motto concept and that this property came from a “Pod Hotel” name prior, so I knew what to expect, and I may have made a mistake of booking the wrong room type and subsequently picked the smallest room of the bunch (1118 if anyone cares – avoid the 18s!!!) during online check-in, but my room was COMICALLY small – I actually laughed when I walked in, and I was not even able to spin a full circle around with my carry-on in my room without hitting something.

Marriott’s Moxy brand went the same way with their mini-size rooms, but the Moxy properties I’ve experienced were much more interestingly decorated to make up for the size. Here, my room was as plain as it gets, and that made a difference visually – a room that’s designed to encourage guests to spend time outside and explore is one thing but having a room that doesn’t feel inviting in any way is another, and this Motto unfortunately fell into the latter bracket.

To make matters worse, some of the technologies that were intended to make the room feel cooler, well, didn’t work. For example, the only way I could figure out to turn on one TV without also turning on the other is to unplug the other TV. Thermostat was also way off and always thought my room was 80 degrees and did not hesitate to send my AC to Arctic blast mode the second I flipped the switch – I ended up not using the thermostat and AC at all. Again, I may have just picked the wrong room, but the room was the biggest letdown of my entire stay for sure, and I didn’t spend a lot of time in there at all.

The bunk bed was interesting, surprisingly very comfy and easily on par with any other hotel bed, and I’d say I had fun sleeping in one after a long time. Only problem was that it squeaked like a bunk bed as well. Thankfully my travel partner did not end up staying with me, otherwise it could have been restless for the both of us.

The restaurant was hit-or-miss as well. I was able to use my $18 per day credit here with no issue, but the server I had was less than enthusiastic. Food was decent, but also priced at a premium for downtown DC with a mandatory gratuity, which left a sour taste in my mouth. After all, how one dish and one drink came up to be $50 was beyond me.

As a Gen Z, I’m sure I’m at least not far from the intended demographic of the Motto brand, but somehow this experience just fell short. It wasn’t quirky enough for me to forget how lacking in other aspect the room was, and it felt more like a dressed-up hostel than a cool travelers’ “hotel lite”. That said, depending on how much you care about things, YMMV. (that’s what Gen As always say, right? … right?)

RealScore

Service: 9.0

Design and Room Size: 6.0

In-room Amenities: 5

Bathroom Size and Layout: 8

View from (my) Room: 6

Hotel Location: 8

Available Guest Facilities: 7

Food Quality: 7

Food and Beverage Service: 6

Executive Lounge Quality: N/A

Final RealScore: 7.03

Final RealRating: B

Hotel is built/opened: 2017

Total number of rooms: 245

Length of stay: 2 nights

Membership level at check-in: Diamond

Room type experienced: Standard Room