Embassy Suites Olde Towne Hotel

, Alexandria, United States
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Embassy Suites Olde Towne Hotel

, Alexandria
1900 Diagonal Rd - Alexandria - Virginia - 22314 - United States Hotel Website | 703-684-5900
311 Traveller

Reviews - Embassy Suites Olde Towne Hotel

Historical Traveller Reviews of Embassy Suites Olde Towne Hotel

Nice hotel, bad pool

from Mardeesmom
We stayed for seven nights at this hotel at the end of March 2005. The hotel is right across the street from the King St Metro station. The street is easily crossed and it not very busy. It is about 30 minutes on the Metro to the Smithsonian Metro station. The area seems to be fairly safe. We saw a few homeless people, but they were harmless. The hotel is basically located in an office area. The area did have a funny stale beer smell for a couple of days. I'm not sure why that was. There are a few restaurants within walking distance and the hotel has a shuttle that will take you to the waterfront where you can find any kind of food you want. There are also lots of shops at the waterfront and if you are into antiques, Alexandria is the place to be.

The hotel is great for families. The included breakfast is great, but very, very busy. You will wait for breakfast, but hey, it comes with the price of the room, and it is a true cooked to order breakfast with omelets, waffles and pancakes. There is also a free drinks and snacks reception every night. Even alcoholic drinks are free. The snacks are pretty common (chips, popcorn, corn chips), but free. The rooms are spacious and clean and have two televisions (yeah!). The hotel looks to be fairly new or recently renovated. Everything in the room was in very good condition.

My biggest complaint is the pool. It is indoors, but it is very, very small. While we were there they had to close the pool a couple of times because there were too many people in it. Too many people is about twenty people. So, if you plan on spending any time in the pool, get there early in the morning. Also, they have an odd rule about the hot tub. They would not let my kids use the hot tub, even though my husband was with them. They said kids under 12 could not use the hot tub-no matter what. My kids are both 9 and they are large for their age. Most people would assume that they are at least 12 or 13, but because we were honest when they asked, we were told no.

Finally, the hotel can get very noisy. The atrium lobby carries every bit of noice up all 8 floors of the hotel. If there is a lot of noice in the atrium, you will hear it in your room. The first couple of nights we were there, the noice was pretty intollerable until about midnight. Also, lots of running up and down the halls and the hotel staff did not seem to be interested in putting a stop to it.

Overall though, a pretty good place to stay if you want a nice room, with an included cooked to order breakfast, at a fairly good price and don't mind the 30 minute subway ride into Washington.

Not as good as expected!!

from A TripAdvisor Member
Our family (mom,dad, and one kid) spent 4 nights in Early April 2005 at the Embassy Suites Alexandria Old Town in Alexandria, VA. We were on business and vacation.

We stay at lots of Embassy Suites and other Hilton brand hotels. This hotel did not impress us as a property we would stay at again. It is convenient for site seeing but not business and there are 2 other Hilton properties within a block. We would probably try the Hilton across the street next time.

Pros:
1-right across the street from the Kings St Washington Metro station on the yellow and blue lines, makes for easy sight seeing.
2- like all Embassy Suites lots of room to accomidate a family
3- like all Embassy Suites, full cooked to order breakfast
4- Duke's Restaurant is good though a bit over priced (try the Cobb Salad)
5- Free shuttle into Alexandria dining and shopping district
6- Clean

Cons:
1- Staff is not always helpful, I waited on the phone for over 30 rings 4 times to get in touch with someone at the front desk. It would have been faster to get on the elevator and go down stairs
2- THIS IS NOT A BUSINESS HOTEL. Business amenities are expensive and scarce
3-Although breakfast and the cocktail time is free.. watch out for 6th and 7th grade school groups which clog it up and eat everything in site. This hotel must be a very popular spot for Middle school tour groups. We counted 4 different ones in the 4 days we were there. Just to give you an idea of how popular this place is with tours, the tour operators from different companies meet in the breakfast area and chit chat in the mornings over coffee.
4- The school groups also tend to unleash their kids on the hotel. We waited 10 minutes for an elevator while kids "played" on the elevators and there was little to no adult supervision. Plus, the sound can get to a low rumble when the little monsters get back from all day touring.
5- Bell service is non-existant, lug your own bags
6- Don't plan on early check in or late check out... you will get a no on both. Our flights were in early and out late as to beat high traffic times but this hotel will not work with you. You can drop off you bags and then cart them up to your room later when it is clean (again, no bell service).
7- The parking garage at this place deserves it's own rating section. It is quite simply the worst I have ever seen. If you are driving an SUV.. BEWARE... the parking spots are VERY SMALL and very hard to get in and out of. And you get all this for $15.00 a day... oh, and no valet service.
8- Hilton Honors members (we are Diamond members, the top level) would be better served going to the Hilton across the street. Your membership and brand loyalty means nothing here. They just don't care. You will get a a pack of cookies and a robe but that is it and you have to ask for that.

All in all, this is a FANTASTIC place for 6th and 7th grade tour groups and their keepers. It might even be a good place for someone who has lots of kids. This is NOT a place if you need a quiet place to lay your head after hours of meetings or even of touring DC. If you are Hilton Honors and expect the special treatment you deserve as being a loyal Hilton customer.. pass on by.

great family hotel

from sjpmom
My family of 5 just got back from a whirlwind 2 night stay at the Embassy Suites. We were pleasantly surprised by how spacious and clean the room(s) was. The room decor was sufficient, and current. A small fridge provided great space for restaurant left overs that kids need at 8pm. Although we didn't take advantage of the metro, it is right across the street from the hotel. The hotel shuttle will take you anywhere in Alexandria. There is a huge breakfast included in your room rate, which provided a great start to the day. Hint: get there early as tables fill up. There is also a managers reception providing popcorn and cocktails in the evening (an area that could be beefed up a bit).

I would skip the pool-and not even mention it to the kids. It is a small pool and there is a lifeguard. The lifeguard spent alot of his time testing the water, but did nothing to stop the nerf football game going on in the pool with a grown man knocking into my young child twice. It was not really condusive to anything other than a dip in a heavily chlorinated pool.

There is a parking lot for $15 a day-a great price considering the prices for parking in DC.

All in all, a great hotel if traveling with kids. Clean and accessible to Washington DC, and don't forget to spend some time in Alexandria Old Town.

s eve 2003!!!!!

from LadyNomad
Gad this is late .. but here goes...

First of all imagine a hotel on new year's eve and then picture the front desk staff - these folks kept calm cool and polite through all the hustle and bustle - for which i thank them! I worked the First Night Alexandria event last new year's eve - the HQ of the event was at the Embassy Suites, Alexandria - and i got a room there for the night and wow am i glad i did! Not only was the suite pure heaven with the fridge and m'wave and all that BUT my room was right across from the Masonic Memorial where the fireworks were set off from! Thank you Embassy Suites Alexandria!
This year i am again working the First Night Alexandria - and i have already booked TWO nights at the ES-A!

THANKS AND HAPPPY NEW YEAR!!

Great location / value / for kids.

from A TripAdvisor Member
Loved this hotel - stayed 10/28/04 - typical Embassy setup and services. Special touches: kids room that has all kinds of toys for little ones (under 5), directly across from Metro within two minutes of walking, easy walk to shopping in Old Alexandria, nice onsite restaurant with live guitarist.

Minor gripes: the manager's reception was typically light on food which is atypical for Embassy's, that's it!!!

Location

from SunnyTrvlLvr
Great location right across from the Metro for easy access to DC sights. Breakfast and "happy hour" were very good. Very popular hotel for families and weddings. Found the beds kind of hard, but bearable.

We were travelling with an infant, so having the 2 room suite was a plus as we could put baby to sleep in the bedroom and still stay up to watch tv or visit with the other couple we were travelling with. Avoid the rooms in the 330+ block as they are on the way to the pool and exercise room, thus lots of noise from running children. We actually had room 339 which was directly across from exercise room and had to turn down the tv in the ex. room several times after users had left volume up loud enough for us to clearly hear it in our "living" room. Pool is right around the corner from 339 and across from 340. There are two other rooms (341 & 342?) also down this mini hall from 339 that probably pick up lots of pool noise.

Our room was in need of a couple of things:
1) 3 way light fixtures did not have functioning 3 way bulbs in them. 2) Sink for dishes did not have a stopper and no dishsoap was provided, but we had brought our own for washing of baby's items, so not a big deal.

If you fly into Reagan National, it is just a few stops to the Embassy Suites and less than $2 each way. We flew into Dulles due to I-Air deal of $53 r/t and had a 40 minute drive.

Great place to stay

from zuzuernie
We had a wonderful stay here. We had reserved a 5 nights' stay, but when we arrived, we were told that there were no non-smoking rooms available that evening. So, we went into the smoking room with the promise of getting a non-smoking one the next day. Not only did the staff deliver on that promise, but they moved our luggage for us, so that after a long day of sight-seeing, we had a new, clean room.

The location of this hotel is perfect! It is directly across from a Metro station and could not have been more convenient.

Both the breakfast and the manager's reception were very well laid out and well done.

One strike against this particular hotel is the size of the swimming pool. Since it does have a lifeguard (which is very nice) he did enforce the maximum of 23 guests in the pool. That's not very many considering the number of rooms they have, and as someone else mentioned, this hotel seems geared toward families.

We met here for a family reunion and this place was just perfect! I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

beware of the roaches!

from A TripAdvisor Member
I will agree the hotel has an awesome location, nice pool and a playroom for younger ones. Even a good breakfast although we experienced long lines for breakfast. The problem is it is roach infested. Our first night we spotted one in our room by the microwave. The hotel was very nice and moved us to an upgraded room. But even in the second room one was spotted hanging out by the garbage can. We did note that things could be cleaner. My son liked sitting at the same table for breakfast and for 3 days the same chunk of grapefruit sat under that table. I'm still in shock and very dissappointed in the hotel. I just finished unpacking our suitcases and am praying that none accompanied us home.

Nice Hotel

from patrickf88
Nice hotel. The set-up is your normal Embassy suites however this one appears to cater to tourist. The reason is, during breakfeast, it all all families with kids. There is a small play area on the second floor especially for kids. They have some toys and its enclosed.

Wireless internet but $10 daily charge. There is no formal business center, they have internet access in lobby.

Directly across the street from King Station if using metro.

t Go Wrong Here

from HomebodyTraveller
Whether you're visiting DC or just Alexandria, this hotel is an excellent choice. The location is excellent. When they say it's right across the street from the Metro stop, they mean it! Both the Yellow and Blue lines serve this stop, meaning you never have long to wait for a train if you're heading into DC. Plus you're a mere two stops from National Airport.

The hotel is about 15 blocks from the waterfront/historic area, but thanks to the Metro stop, buses ($1 fare, straight down to where you want to be!, and the fare is waived on weekends) and taxis are readily available. The hotel also has a shuttle and you can request a ride if the driver is available.

As an Embassy Suites property, the hotel offers a free evening manager's reception and free breakfast each morning. The breakfast is bountiful. We didn't eat in the hotel restaurant (too many good choices in Old Town!) but in addition to it there are a few restaurants nearby, including a very handy coffee shop.

The pool is great for kids; it's not more than 5 feet deep in any area, and is staffed with a lifeguard (although children must still be accompanied by a parent).

We stayed here in June of 2004 for two nights. We moved into a DC hotel for the other two nights of our stay, because I thought it would be nice to be closer to museums. If we had to do it over again, we would have stayed at the Embassy Suites. The Metro ride isn't that far, and the amenities made it a great deal. We'd stay here again.

Top Local Tips for Alexandria

Metro Don't rent a car! You can get anywhere in DC by using the Metro. It is fast, easy, clean and safe!Websites to check which helped me plan my trip:www.wmata.com www.redweek.com

Getting Around No need to waste money renting a car. Embassy Suites is across the street from the Metro station. It was easy to go all over Washington to see various museums and monuments. Addditionally, with the hotel shuttle you could venture all around Old Towne to the many restuarants and shops. A taxi to the airport was about $18.

Taverna Cretekou We had an amazingly fun dinner at a Taverna Cretekou, a Greek restaurant in old town complete with live music (Thurdays) and improptu dancing. Friendly staff, good food, a very memorable experience.

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Other names for Embassy Suites Olde Towne Hotel

  • embassy suites alexandria old town
  • embassy suites alexandria
  • alexandria embassy suites
  • Address: 1900 Diagonal Rd - Alexandria - Virginia - 22314 - United States
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