Lorien Hotel & Spa Alexandria, VA
Mar 4, 2013, 12:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: WAS
Programs: AA Ex Plt
Posts: 1,630
Lorien Hotel & Spa Alexandria, VA
Back to the well with another Kimpton stay.
Location: In Old Town Alexandria but at the end of King St near the train station, ie, a decently long walk to the "fun" end of Old Town and/or anything near the torpedo factory. Five Guys was about 4-5 blocks so that wasn't too bad a walk. There is a trolley bus that travels up and down King St too - I've never been on it.
Valet: Parking is tough in Old Town so Valet it was. Hybrid cars are eligible for 50% off Valet parking. Flex fuel vehicles too. Not sure if that is intended but I asked and was given the discount. To save on parking, one could take Amtrak and/or the DC Metro and get to the hotel. My last Amtrak train runs for status a few years ago cost ~$7 from Union Station in DC to go one stop to King St station.
Check in: Again, very friendly staff and professional staff. My IC # and status wasn't relayed to the hotel (or something like that) but the desk agent took care of the upgrade and the amenities (more on that later).
Room: I ended up with a nice suite that had a big balcony - I mean big with outdoor furniture, more akin to a deck. It was too cold to do anything but look around outside. The bathroom was huge and had a massive shower. There was a computer in the suite and that was a nice touch. This bonus made part of my daily FT reading a bit easier. There was no coffee maker which seemed odd. I didn't ask for one so I don't know if one was available.
Spa: Good question. Didn't use it. I saw a sign stating that the steam room was free to use. Didn't use that either. I did use the gym and it was adequate for a work out.
Restaurant: With a Five Guys in walking distance, I didn't even look. FYI: There are a LOT of choices for food in Old Town, some even better than Five Guys.
Amenity: Never arrived. Nothing. Went to dinner and came back and still nothing. Went down stairs to ask about it and the desk agent apologized profusely and offered a bottle of "champagne" and anything on the desert menu. I just asked for some chocolate and went back to my room. A minute later a call from the desk again offering all sorts of desserts. I declined. The sparkling wine wasn't bad and the chocolate was nice. A great effort by Kimpton to make up for forgetting.
Check out: Desk agent noted that there was a problem with my amenity and asked is she could do anything. Did I want my parking and/or mini bar comped? I took her up on the offer (only a juice from the mini bar).
Overall: Another win for Kimpton.
Location: In Old Town Alexandria but at the end of King St near the train station, ie, a decently long walk to the "fun" end of Old Town and/or anything near the torpedo factory. Five Guys was about 4-5 blocks so that wasn't too bad a walk. There is a trolley bus that travels up and down King St too - I've never been on it.
Valet: Parking is tough in Old Town so Valet it was. Hybrid cars are eligible for 50% off Valet parking. Flex fuel vehicles too. Not sure if that is intended but I asked and was given the discount. To save on parking, one could take Amtrak and/or the DC Metro and get to the hotel. My last Amtrak train runs for status a few years ago cost ~$7 from Union Station in DC to go one stop to King St station.
Check in: Again, very friendly staff and professional staff. My IC # and status wasn't relayed to the hotel (or something like that) but the desk agent took care of the upgrade and the amenities (more on that later).
Room: I ended up with a nice suite that had a big balcony - I mean big with outdoor furniture, more akin to a deck. It was too cold to do anything but look around outside. The bathroom was huge and had a massive shower. There was a computer in the suite and that was a nice touch. This bonus made part of my daily FT reading a bit easier. There was no coffee maker which seemed odd. I didn't ask for one so I don't know if one was available.
Spa: Good question. Didn't use it. I saw a sign stating that the steam room was free to use. Didn't use that either. I did use the gym and it was adequate for a work out.
Restaurant: With a Five Guys in walking distance, I didn't even look. FYI: There are a LOT of choices for food in Old Town, some even better than Five Guys.
Amenity: Never arrived. Nothing. Went to dinner and came back and still nothing. Went down stairs to ask about it and the desk agent apologized profusely and offered a bottle of "champagne" and anything on the desert menu. I just asked for some chocolate and went back to my room. A minute later a call from the desk again offering all sorts of desserts. I declined. The sparkling wine wasn't bad and the chocolate was nice. A great effort by Kimpton to make up for forgetting.
Check out: Desk agent noted that there was a problem with my amenity and asked is she could do anything. Did I want my parking and/or mini bar comped? I took her up on the offer (only a juice from the mini bar).
Overall: Another win for Kimpton.
Mar 20, 2013, 9:10 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: WAS
Programs: AA Ex Plt
Posts: 1,630
Update
I was charged for the minibar. 
There is an extra $2.90 charge on my credit card This is in addition to the room charge and is a separate charge. It's only $2.90 but..... not sure it is worth the time to have it removed
Cheers
There is an extra $2.90 charge on my credit card This is in addition to the room charge and is a separate charge. It's only $2.90 but..... not sure it is worth the time to have it removedCheers
Sep 13, 2014, 12:16 pm
#4
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: San Francisco, California, USA
Programs: AA GLD, MR Plat, Home Depot ExPlat :)
Posts: 34
I just made IC before I arrived (via status match) so I didn't know what to expect. The front desk was very nice and I was given a nice suite with a small balcony. The balcony was odd in that when I went out on it, I looked directly into a neighboring room, which just had a window to the balcony. No one was in that room that night, thank goodness. The wine hour was okay, I tried both the red and the white and they were both just okay. I liked the layout of the hotel, very open, with plenty of areas to sit and relax with the wine. The amenity was odd, a fruit and cheese plate with no cheese. It just had small bits of fruit and some sort of quince paste, but no cheese or crackers to go with it. The drink was a bottle of bubbly, which was nice, but I don't drink that much champagne so I thought it odd that they wouldn't ask what I wanted to drink. The bathroom was HUGE. It was basically two rooms, one with a shower and claw foot tub and the other for everything else. The shower was roomy, but a bit odd as the water drained into a drain in the middle of the floor so it kind of felt like a gym shower room, although a nice one. The employees were all very nice and always offered a greeting. The hotel has two of my favorite Alexandria restaurants in it, BRABO and BRABO tasting room. If you haven't eaten at any of RW's restaurants before, you have to try the mussels.