This is the first in a series of several Washington D.C. area hotel reviews. I’m doing a few weeks worth of consulting in the area at the request of a friend, and finding a place to stay has been a challenge, so I’ve had to stay at a different hotel almost every night so far. The good news is that I’ll be able to give lots of feedback on a wide variety of hotels. So, here we go…
I stayed at the Marriott TownPlace Suites in Springfield, Virginia on May 9, 2007. The experience was fine, and I will stay here again, but there is no way this is a 4.5 star rating hotel as TripAdvisor reports. Sure, it’s cheap, and its OK, but it’s just a solid 3 – perhaps 3.5 in the hotel universe.
Unfortunately my photos make it look nicer than it actually seemed when I was in the room. When I was there the furnishings seemed like Wal-Mart quality and this does not translate well in the photos. There were also a number of other little annoyances.
Pros and cons:
- The room was very clean, so that is a big plus.
- The walls are so thin I could hear the guy next door snoring. You also hear all the cars going by on the highway. This makes it imperative to sleep with the window A/C unit blowing.
- The heater in my room didn’t work so it would only blow cold air even though it was 45 degrees outside.
- All of the furniture is pretty low quality.
- The shower and bathroom are actually nice. In fact, they were the best part of the room. The shower head was excellent, the water pressure was fine, and there were a plethora of towels.
- No quick checkout. The didn’t slip a bill under the door, so you have to go by the front to check out.
- The room has a full kitchen.
- Free breakfast from 6-9am.
- The staff was pretty nice, but nothing spectacular or memorable.
The hotel details:
6245 Brandon Avenue
Springfield, Virginia 22150 USA
Phone: 1-703-569-8060
Fax: 1-703-569-8061
Also see my TripAdvisor review here or select one of the related tags below to find other hotels I stayed at in the area.
