Union Station

Don’t be too startled by many of the reviews here, the situation is definitely not always bad. I travelled with my mom as a woman and did not feel unsafe. I took an Acela and had an hour to kill at the station. I had read many reviews prior to my trip about the sheer number of tents and homeless people around and inside the station, but perhaps I went on an off day. There were 0 tents in Columbus Circle, and I only had one encounter. The guy wasn’t bothersome by any means; he was sitting by a table next to mine at Au Bon Pain and asked if I had an extra dollar I did not. When I told him this, he politely thanked me and we went on with our days. Of course, this happened mid-afternoon. I also did not visit the food court downstairs. Perhaps both factors meant that I would have a differing experience. The bathroom situation wasn’t a total nightmare contrary to the descriptions of many. It’s just a plain bathroom, no funky smell or anything, not pristine like a hotel’s would be. It’s comparable to an airport’s. Though, yes, the faucets are very low and close to the sinks, which makes it nearly impossible to put your hand under. The station itself is beautiful, but I did notice many empty stores and just not many options overall, which is fine by me because I don’t see why I would need to spend much time here. L’Occitaine, the Body Shop, Shake Shack, Auntie Anne’s and MAC cosmetics are some retailers on the ground floor.

This has the nicest building among the metro stations in DC! The archicture is so nice perfect some good pictures. : Some stores are still close though.

Only used the station for the Metro and the usual touristy moseying around. Really nice architecture and for the most part looks clean. The food court wasn’t fully opened partly because of the pandemic May ‘21, but the ones that were open were busy. There’s also a few places to shop around, but again, most were closed. Stepping out the building to take a look around, I can’t help but notice the aggressive panhandlers which was kind of a bummer.

I love this place as a train station, as a matter of fact, the architecture of this place is amazing. However, I do “not” like this place as the new bus terminal which is in the parking garage. This station would look better if the parking garage was not here at all, and I liked it much better when the train station was the train station and when the bus station was a bus station in its own separate building, prior to 2012. As I said, this place is great as a train station; has some great shops; and I never get bored of taking photos here. Restrooms are very bad, though...

Union Station is just a station now: many shops and restaurants are closed and the overall atmosphere is depressing. Before the pandemic we would come here early before a train to go hang out in all the buzz. You know things aren’t great when there isn’t a Starbucks anymore. It closed recently because of concerns about the conditions of this transit hub. I hope this is a phase and things will soon improve.

Beautiful building. I have no problem with helping those in need, however, being approached by several people can be an unsettling experience while waiting for transportation. Also, please keep up the restrooms. The reality is this is a needed area for those less fortunate, and working, safe bathrooms should be a priority in a major transportation hub.

We went to DC from NYC in a bus so got down at union station. To our surprise the station was splendid.I thought NYC union station was the best so far but this ones not less. The architecture is superb. There are food places too if you have to wait for a train or bus you have all that you need to kill time.Only issue we had was directions to get out of the station as we were going to the Strip of monuments and had hard time getting figuring out the route to get out.

Lovely place with beautiful architecture. Lots of food options on the lower level including Chipotle and a Poke place. Haven’t tried any yet. It’s cozy and warm inside so great place to stroll or shop on cold days. There is parking validation for up to 2 hours which discounts the parking by 50%. Lots of transportation options including train, bus, as well as local transit buses and tour buses.

One of the worst stations I’ve ever been to. Lack of professionalism when it comes to their Amtrak staff, their terrible attitudes on the job, very unkempt facility, & doesn’t feel safedue to the staff not having the customers best interests & the large population of homelessness indoors

3 is pushing it. The women's bathroom smelled heavily of urine. Within 10 minutes I had a 'homeless' guy asking for money he didn't want the meal I was going to buy for him. Then got hit up again by this local group for more cash just minutes later. Looks nice decorated for Christmas.