I was in DC for several days vacation, following a work conference in the area, and had a truly wonderful time at Hotel Rouge.

In summary: My room was spacious (the sheer square footage was as much as I've had in suites in other hotels), the Bar Rouge a valued perk, and the location near DuPont Circle ideal.

The rooms are quirky, but pleasant. The bathroom showed some wear and tear, but still did the job. The AC worked well - important in summertime DC. My only problem with the L shaped room I had was that the television was not conveniently placed to watch from the bed. Although there was a very nice and comfortable seating area near the TV, we couldn't comfortably watch a movie from bed. It's a very minor point.

Bar Rouge has good courtesy coffee in the morning, and a good evening food and drink menu. The breakfast may be wonderful too - I don't know.

Hotel Rouge is a few blocks from the hub of Dupont circle, which I liked - a little bit of a walk back and forth was welcome. There are quite a few decent restaurants in area of the Circle, and several VERY good ones. It was a longer haul to museums and monuments, and in the heat we relied more on cabs than our feet for the longer trek.

A last word: My initial impression of Hotel Rouge was very poor because of the incredibly rude front desk person who greeted us. He gave the impression that he was doing us a favor by talking with us at all, and our exchange was in every way inhospitable. In fact he was so unpleasant we half expected him to tell us there was no room for us at all.

But beyond that one person, everyone else was absolutely welcoming and charming. Every time we came in or left we had a pleasant smile or word from every person on staff.

We enjoyed our stay at Kimpton's Rouge Hotel very much. My two teenagers were in heaven with the entertaining decor and complementary red drinks in the lobby every evening. I was equally amused with the red decor and loved the friendly staff, room size and the wholefoods around the corner for nightly goodies and drinks after our long days of sight seeing!
Our room showed a little wear, but the size, decor, great bedding and price made up for a dent or two in the floorboard!
Safe neighborhood with the metro not too far away made for a nice stay.

All positive. Great central location, unique decor, large rooms, service (mostly) with a smile. Very helpful staff, nice touches with receptions. Cute bar. This hotel is not for the conservative traveler. It is very liberal (in staff, guests and decor). Lots of animal prints, contempo decor, etc. Very small compared to alot of DC hotels (lobby, bar, etc). But if you're looking for a fun place for a girls trip, romantic getaway, etc., a great find at a great rate!

I am from the DC area and came to the Hotel Rouge for a short getaway. I was excited when I walked through the studded pleather doors and into the cute little lobby. I was even more excited when I went to my room to find it spacious, well decorated, and equipped with Aveda bath products and free wireless internet. My excitement soon faded.

I began to notice crudely filled-in holes in the walls and poorly repaired air ducts. Then I noticed the leaky faucet. But wait-- I could lay in the comfy bed (yes, it was comfortable) and watch TV... all 17 channels.

I went to check out the mini bar, only to realize that it was locked and the lack-luster staff had neglected to provide a key.

The location of the hotel is good, so I fired up my laptop to go online and find something to do in the neighborhood. I was then faced with error messages that told me to "try again later" to log onto the wi-fi, which I found incredibly slow upon logging on "later."

Come bedtime, I had trouble sleeping in the company of the world's LOUDEST air conditioning. It hummed, whistled, and squeaked all night.

After a fitful night's sleep, I realized that I could not even enjoy a cup of coffee in the comfort of my own room. The only coffee was served in the lobby and cleaned up by the time I was able to dress and go downstairs.

Do not let the decor fool you-- this hotel is overrated.

On a side note, I booked through Expedia, and those responsible for providing hotel information from Rouge somehow failed to mention the excessive $30 PER DAY parking fee.