Hotel Monaco - Alexandria Kimpton Hotels No Water, No Working Phones, Bed Bugs and Horrible Customer Service!!! Alexandria, Virginia

My family spent the night at the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, Virginia on October 6, 2011. At first we were very excited, because friends had recommended the Hotel Monaco to us several years ago. This was our first trip to Alexandria and we thought we would enjoy a luxurious stay.

We noticed a lot of peeling paint in the parking garage and a raw sewage smell. We assumed it was just an old building and perhaps to busy to renovate without disrupting service to its guests.

We checked in and were handed the room keys with directions to the room. I was surprised that at $400 per night that they didn't have anyone to carry up our bags. As I was preparing to turn around to head for the elevator, I overheard an angry guest complaining that there was still no running water in his room. I immediately asked the clerk if our room had running water. She said that our room had running water and only a portion of the hotel was affected and not to worry because all water would be back on by 4 AM throughout the entire hotel.

We went up to our room. At first glance, it was very nice. But upon further inspection, we noticed minor defects in the ceiling, like small leaks, etc.

About 20 minutes went by since we arrived in the room and my son went to the bathroom to take a #2. He was horrified that there was no water to flush. I checked to see if any of the fixtures had hot or cold water pressure, and none did. I attempted to call down to the office to let the clerk know that we also had no running water, but the phones were not working. I think they cut the phones off to reduce the calls to the front desk and to keep guests from calling and checking with other rooms.

My wife and I decided to just make the best of it and go to sleep. Throughout the night, our family was bitten under the sheets from head to toe. We Googled the bites and they appear to be bed bug bites. This coupled with having to smell the horrible #2 my son had deposited into the Hotel Monaco's non-functioning toilet, made for an unbearable night.

We finally gave up on sleeping and got up at 5 AM and attempted again to use the plumbing. It was not working.  I went down to speak with the same Clerk that lied to us about the water. I told her we were giving up after only 6 hours of staying there and were checking out. I demanded a refund and she actually laughed at me. She said we had stayed there and enjoyed the luxurious accommodations and she wasn't going to give us a free night's stay. She treated me like I was trying to rip her off. 

Frustrated, my family left in humiliation. We were unshaved and unbathed. We felt horrible and probably smelled horrible too. I had to attend my meeting in this condition. I was very embarrassed.

We attempted to contact management for a resolution. They are unresponsive. Our only hope is that others won't waste their money at the Hotel Monaco in the future.