Washington Marriott

I really hate to bash a hotel that has outgoing friendly staff. Especially considering the hotel is run by my favorite hotel chain. Not only is the Marriott Washington a Marriott property, it is not even a lesser property in the Marriott Family like Courtyard. This property is a full-fledged Marriott. There are some bright spots to this hotel, but not nearly what I have come to expect from a chain with the exceptionally high standards I have become accustomed to from Marriott.

Marriott Washington is located at 1221 22nd Street NW. A short walk west (about eight blocks) puts you in Georgetown with a wide selection of exceptional restaurants. A longer walk south (about a mile) puts you at the Lincoln Memorial. There are two nearby stops for the Metro train, the closest at George Washington University about a five to ten minute walk from the hotel. A train ticket to the Mall will run about $1.65 from this stop. If you plan to jump on and off the Metro during the day, a daily Metropass runs $7.20 for unlimited use for the day.

Getting to the hotel by car was not difficult. I arrived well before rush hour. Washington DC has an interesting layout, with traffic circles on most of the major roads. Navigating the traffic circles can be irritating, especially at rush hour. Coming from the South, I only encountered one and had little trouble getting on and off. When I was leaving at mid-morning two days later, the traffic circle was backed up and I had to wait to get on and off. Parking at the hotel was thirty dollars for self-park and thirty-four dollars for valet. There was also a ten percent tax on the parking. Parking is an overnight charge, so you are not charged by the number of days you are in the lot, you are charged by the number of nights. You can either park and take a ticket or have the hotel put the parking on your room reservation and code your room key for unlimited access in and out of the parking deck. The underground parking was tight to navigate with large cement columns. I encountered a car going the other direction and had to back up and let him pass to proceed, to give an indication of the tight quarters.

My room was on the third floor. The elevators from the garage access both the lobby as well as the guest rooms (the parking elevators at the Marriott in Alexandria dumps you in the lobby only). As I exited the elevators on the third floor, I was impressed by the large fitness facility. There were five treadmills, nearly as many stair-masters as well as quite a few other devices for the fit-minded. The machines had mounted televisions. Complimentary earpieces were available. The Marriott Washington has one of the nicest fitness facilities I have seen in any hotel I have visited. There was also a swimming pool, whirlpool and sauna accessed through a door on the far side of the fitness area. You have to go past the equipment to get to the pool. This area was in stark contrast to the immaculate fitness area. The pool floor looked dingy and unappealing. The whirlpool didn't look much better. The sauna looked appealing but was out of order.

When I arrived at my room, I wasn't sure if it would mirror the fitness room or the swimming pool. It was a combination of both. The room was nicely appointed with beautiful wood furnishings. The work area was adequate. A large flat screen television was offset to the left of the foot of the bed. The bed was comfortable, but the fitted sheets didn't fit. Come on, now...this is a Marriott! Sheets that don't fit?...you have got to be kidding me. The room was small but not bad. It appeared to have been remodeled, but not recently. It also appears that short-cuts were taken during the remodeling which I will get to shortly. The bathroom was small but well designed. The shower had a convex curtain rod to give the appearance of more room in the shower. The countertop provided extra space by placing the sink in the back corner with an L shaped countertop. For a tight space, the economical use of the area seemed well planned.

Read More About Washington Marriott