Retro, fun, and family-family, you can find it all within the Hotel Helix, Kimpton’s midtown Washington, D.C. hotel.
We love traveling as a family but everyone needs a little space to decompress after an adventure in a new city. Standard hotel rooms can feel cramped and adjoining rooms may not be an option. The Hotel Helix offers families a fun compromise with their bunk bed rooms.
The space is really just one room but the parents have an alcove with their king-sized bed while the kids have a separate alcove with bunk beds and their own television. While the kids bounce around watching cartoons, we can collapse and enjoy home shows on the main television viewable from the king-sized bed or the small seating area.
The room layout gives a nice open area in the middle, ideal for the kids playing or for a little hula-hoop competition. Oh, did I forget to mention the Hotel Helix bunk bed rooms come with hula-hoops — a child sized and an adult sized one. The kids loved these and it is just one example of how fun it can be staying at the Hotel Helix . The items stocked in the mini-bar are kind of cool too, such as wax lips and Pop Rocks.
Another feature I love about the bunk bed room is the location of the bathroom. It is down a little hallway, past the mini-bar and three-way change mirror (which my 5-year old loves to stand in front and make faces at her multiple reflections). Perhaps it is psychological, but the bathroom’s location seems to dampen the sound when someone is in that room.
The funky furniture and décor make the bunk bed room a real treat compared to most family rooms. Instead of plain white robes, the Hotel Helix gets funky with animal prints, for the kids too. The room comes with two adult seized robes as well as two child sized ones but the Hotel Helix was more than accommodating when we requested a third child-sized robe.
You won’t just find fun within the hotel’s bunk bed rooms. The whole hotel has a funky vibe from the furniture in the lobby to the pendant lamps in the hallways. The Hotel Helix feels more like an apartment than a hotel and we felt pretty hip staying there.
The Helix Lounge is a must visit, especially during happy hour. The kids loved playing on the Wii console set-up and I enjoyed the five-dollar cosmos. The half-price hamburgers make for an easy dinner option too.
I love the midtown location of the Hotel Helix, near Dupont Circle. We could walk to the National Mall and some of the Smithsonian Museum buildings. If you are not much of a walker the Helix valet parking does allow in and out privileges, not something offered at many metropolitan hotels.
The Helix offers its guests a number of freebies too:
- Flavoured water in the lobby. A nice welcome after walking around the city or museums.
- Wine hour, sampling local wines just off of the lobby area
- Local and national newspapers
- Fresh brewed coffee in the lounge, a quick grab before heading out to explore the city
- Wifi throughout the hotel. This last feature is free to Kimpton InTouch members but seeing as membership is free, it’s so worth signing-up.
Washington DC has a fair number of mainstream hotels you can stay in with your family but if you’re looking to add a little fun, check-in to the Helix.
Thanks to the folks at the Hotel Helix for giving us the chance to checkout their cool bunk bed rooms.