We stayed here three times for fun during different seasons. The views of St. John's Church and the White House are very nice, as are the rooms. The office-building-view room was cramped. The service was friendly, efficient and happily not stuffy. Sunday brunch was costly but excellent - nearly as nice as the one at the Four Seasons. Sat next to luminaries each time, including well-known authors and politicians, including Bob Dole and his wife.

I stayed here in February, 2007 with my mother. Thoughts:

Specifics: Three nights, junior suite with a full White House view.

Check-in: Granted it was a Friday afternoon, but I found it a little rushed and hectic. I had to remind one of the staff which bags were ours. My name was also mispelled on the board our driver held for us at the airport. (Ms. instead of Mr.... ooops!)

Accomodations: Nice, functional junior suite. The Hay-Adams is classic elegance in the mold of the Savoy in London. Everything worked and was clean. The view was obviously second to none, but be prepared to pay for it.

Ambience: Low key, fitting the Washington power-broker image I assume they want to project (or maybe don't try to project but it just works out that way). Sure it's a little stuffy and there are lots of suits around, but it's the nation's capitol, eh?

Food: We ate at the Lafayette room our first night, had room service for breakfast on one occasion, and made several trips to the bar. Above average, nothing spectacular like Le Meurice in Paris.

Location: Excellent and within walking distance of all the major sites.

Service: Perfect. From the moment we got our tour of the hotel to the moment we left (in the hotel's complimentary Mercedes) we were treated like royalty. It really was quite impressive. I'll never forget the two men with white gloves who got the door for us late Saturday night after a visit to the Kennedy Center. Nice.

Summary: Expensive yes, but you are paying for location, service, and history as well. We had no major problems and plan to make this our regular hotel to return to when we visit the Capitol.

After reading some reviews, we decided to give the Hay Adams a try for our first stay in DC and were so glad we did. When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised with a room upgrade to a suite which was nice. The staff was always the most courteous and constantly offering water and cookies. At night we returned to the room to see a plate of cookies for my nephew in addition to a chocolate milk on ice. We never saw housekeeping as they were in and out for cleaning and turndown without us even knowing.
Since the Hay Adams is directly across from the White House, it has the best unobstructed views of it. We asked the concergerie if we could go to the rooftop to see the view of the White House. They were so accomodating of us and after calling secret service to let them know we were coming, we were led to the roof of the Hay Adams for a spectacular view of Washington DC and the White House.
I would recommend a stay at the Hay Adams if you could get a good deal as I think the rooms were a littel pricey for what they were, but it is the city and the view and the staff made it more worth it.

I don't understand the hype about this hotel. This is, after all, a five star hotel and you pay a consicerable price for your room, so you can expect a certain level of comfort. The rooms are nice, especially those with the fireplaces.
The staff was friendly all right but not very professional. Any additional request was met by a certain level of panic. We arrived quite late in the night and had to beg for our bags to be carried to our rooms - not very five star like. The restaurants the concierge suggested were simply the most expensive in town - my guide book could have told me that!
Breakfast was nice in the airy restaurant but the staff seemed unable to accomodate our teenage children.
Worst of all, I secured my reservation with one credit card but paid with another - bad idea! They double charged me and I am waiting until today to get my refund (about one month later) - and an apology.
Other hotels are much more professional in handling secial requests and even everyday business (like payments!).