Late Monday morning, guests at the Gaylord Hotel found out they didn't have power. Down the block at The Westin, the situation wasn't any better.

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Patron who fled their homes in search of power were left with few options.

Salem Shaheen, the general manager at The Westin Hotel at National Harbor, said, "Unfortunately, we have no AC in the hotel."

Judi Hasson was driven to the hotel Friday after her home in McLean lost power. When she realized her hotel room was without power, she felt trapped.

"Because I'm disabled with MS, I have a very hard time getting around. We came here to find an air conditioned environment," Hasson explained.

By Monday afternoon, not a single venue at National Harbor had power, leaving employees and customers hurting in the heat.

"Upset that you're coming into work and step out and make money but with this, it's just slowing business down," Anthony Leigh, a server at McCormick and Schmick's, said.

But, business owners say they're trying to make the best out of it. At Ben and Jerry's, customers were offered a power outage special. Manager Jackie Mercado said with limited power, the less ice cream they have in the store and the less they have to store.

"We figure we might as well sell the ice cream. It was going to melt anyway, so we thought we'd give everyone a treat," Mercado added.

Around the corner, an old-fashioned power outage party.

Ketchup Chef John White said, "...more important with all these people walking around to get them fed and make some money and have some fun."

Power at the National Harbor could be back on as soon as Monday night. Until then, businesses are running on generators and a lot of patience.