We just got back from a 3 night stay in a one bedroom suite at the Residence Inn in Old Town Alexandria. We were quite impressed with our service and accommodations. This was a busy holiday weekend but the hotel staff seemed to handle the crowds, largely family groups, in stride. Our corner suite was impeccably clean and spacious. I loved having a large living space and kitchen area. My 9 year old son was happy as a clam having the sofa bed and extra TV to himself. My hubby and I were just as happy to have a private bedroom and TV to ourselves. The location of this hotel is somewhat of a catch 22. We loved its easy access to the King Street metro. The best surprise for me was its very close proximity to a Whole Foods Store. It was no more than 2 blocks away! I spent a great deal of time there. I live 3.5 hours away from Alexandria and this Whole Foods is the closest to my home. Otherwise, I would be their best customer. The downside, albeit a minor one, to the location of this Residence Inn is that it is not very close to the hub of Old Town Alexandria sights and restaurants. In warmer weather, this wouldn’t be an issue as long as you are able to walk a few extra blocks. There is a hotel shuttle but I cannot speak to its availability. The breakfasts were acceptable. It was just a bit crowded, so that took away from our ability to enjoy a leisurely time in that pursuit. The manager’s reception was worthwhile after a VERY long day seeing the sights in D.C. The two cold adult beverages per person hit the spot! All in all, we definitely got our money’s worth with our AAA discount on our suite. I would not hesitate to stay here again.

This is my first Marriott Residence that I have stayed in. I like the idea that pets are welcome, even though my dog was back home. :( A very nice work associate used his Marriott points to fund our stay. So, thanks!

1) If you don't want a car, then fly into DC, use Ronald Reagan Int'l, because you can catch the wonderful train and take the blue or yellow train and exit at King. The train station is a 10 minute walk to the hotel. I flew into to Dulles, not knowing. A day pass for the train is $7.80, and easy to use once you pass the learning curve of buying your ticket.

2) If you have a car, parking at hotel is about $15 a day. We parked the car in back adjacent to the cemetary over night. It is 2 hour parking during the day, but free overnight.

3) We were in room 716. Basically a studio apartment. Not much of a view, but I wasn't there for the view. The breakfast in the morning was nice. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, donuts, etc. From mon-thur they have social hour (for adults) in the evening. I just wish the staff was more knowledgable about running trails. Probably just depends on who you talk to. Staff was friendly and had no problems.

4) When walking around DC, I would recommend comfy comfy comfy shoes. I didn't realize how much walking it is. We are very active and we know we walked more then the average visitor (about 10 miles) and could feel our feet the next day. Just giving you the heads up! We ate at Clydes in Chinatown and was very nice ambiance with reasonable pricing. Hope you find this helpful. I have no complaints about this hotel.

I am tardy in writing this review, but I would like to comment on the wonderful stay we had at Residence Inn Alexandria during the week of Thanksgiving, 2007. We reserved three rooms and joined family there for a week of sightseeing. Our party had 5 adults and 5 children.

We found everything at the hotel to be top-notch and it was obvious that the staff tries very hard to make everyone comfortable. The waitstaff in the dining area were extremely friendly and would talk to our kids each day and make conversation. We were pleased with the food selection and rather surprised to find that the included dinners there were good! Since we had such a large group, we were happy to save money by not having to eat out each night. We enjoyed the hotel's dinner three of the nights. A glass of wine or beer was even included. The hot cocoa with yummy toppings were a wonderful ending to the meal.

Another surprise was the lifeguard on duty. While we always stayed to watch the kids swim, I was impressed that the hotel employed a lifeguard. She was very attentive.

Location was convenient and we found the walk to the subway easy -- about five minutes. The ride into the city was about 20 minutes and the kids enjoyed the experience so it was not a drawback.

Our family is fortunate to travel 1-2 times a year so we have stayed at a range of locations and hotels. I would have to compliment the Residence Inn of Alexandria for going above and beyond the norm. I highly recommend this hotel, especially if you are traveling with children.

The scariest thing about using over 100,000 Marriott points on a hotel, is that if the hotel does not live up to your expectations, the points are still gone!

Wonderfully, this was NOT the case at this hotel. Our family of 4 stayed here over spring break to take our 10-14 year old to Washington DC. We wanted to two connecting rooms which are VERY scarce at this hotel due to the nature of long term guests. The manager was VERY gracious and blocked our connecting rooms so the trip started off great from the moment we arrived. Check-in was quick and very courteous.

The hotel is very clean and the people are very nice and accommodating. It is located one long block from the Metro (which is ONLY two stops from Washington Regan Airport), and one short block from a big Whole Foods. The reason I mention the Whole Foods is that we went there for dinner two nights and loved it. Great food and very low price.

The fitness room was in good working order and the pool area was well stocked with towels and clean. The free, full breakfast and evening refreshments were more than adequate and were a big hit with the kids. Whenever we needed the shuttle we never waited more than 10 minutes. We used it several times to take us to the shops in Old Town (a 5 minute drive - we would have walked but it was cold and windy that day)

The only two items of concern were the hot water and tv. If you are going to shower, be sure and do it at night or before 8:30am. If you do it after 8:30, the water will be warm, not hot. The TV was a little hit or miss on the channel selections, but with access to 3 TVs, in our case, we were always able to get the channel we wanted. (Plus, we didn't watch much TV to begin with anyway.)

Overall, this hotel offers an excellent experience and I will clearly stay there again for business and leisure travel.