This is going to be a long post. I am going to run through several properties where I have stayed at in the past 7 years.

I'm not a fan of the Marriott IAD. I have found the service there inconsistent, and if you get lost at this hotel, you could end up wandering for a long time. In contrast, I did not realize where the Hilton IAD entrance was at first, but I found the hotel itself easier to navigate. You will never miss the entrance of the Marriott IAD, but you could easily miss your room.

Westfields Marriott - big conference hotel that is relatively isolated. The lobby area is huge, so if you really need to go to the restroom, you better be ready for a sprint of up to 150 yards. It is also uncomfortable if you stay here in the summer and forget where you parked your car. They have a great breakfast and lunch buffet, although I haven't stayed here in several years. The gym is relatively nice, although I don't know if they have updated it. I found it someone old in design during my last stay.

Marriott Suites in Herndon - Once upon a time, this was my favorite Marriott in Northern Virginia. They are in a small shopping center, and there are several restaurants nearby along with a small theatre. You can walk to Kohls. This property used to offer free continental breakfast everyday for gold/platinum members, but they switched to a free full buffet only on weekdays, excluding weekday holidays. I am currently resolving the issue over free breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. They used to offer free gym passes to the Worldsgate Sports & Health, but they now offer a discounted gym pass for $10 to hotel guests. I find the gym employees to be friendly for the most part, although I did butt heads with the membership guy several years ago when I was a frequent hotel guest and he accused me of being a daily guest too many times. They have a free washing and drying machine to use.

RI Herndon/Reston - this property offers a free Golds Gym pass to all guests. The gym is about 3 miles south of the hotel, and it is located in the clocktower mall. This property is good if you want a free gym access and want to stay at a RI that is close to the Reston Town Center.

SHS Herndon/Reston - this property is a typical SHS. I am not a big fan because they have a two tiered internet access, and they will not comp the faster speed for platinum members. I also found the newspaper selection rather limited since some SHS properties offer the WSJ on weekdays. They used to offer a free pass to the nearby YMCA, but they stopped doing this once the nearby CY Herndon/Reston stopped offering free gym passes to the nearby Golds Gym (the one the RI Herndon/Reston gives).

SHS Centreville/Chantilly - this property is good if you want to travel to Chantilly, get on 50, VA-28N towards IAD, or get on I-66 and 286 (Fairfax County Parkway). They are close to a Lifetime gym, and they sell daily gym passes to Lifetime for $10 ($5 if you are platinum). They also have cheap washing and drying machines ($1 to wash and dry along with free detergent & laundry sheets)

Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks - I know several people mentioned that they don't like this property. I can see why. The hotel food costs more than at other nearby Marriott hotels (15-20 %). The service can be a bit lacking. When they say the lounge stops serving breakfast at 9 am, they mean 9 am sharp, unlike the Tysons Corner Marriott. The alcohol is not cheap in the CL, although they do have daily happy hour from 3-7 downstairs (you should go downstairs to drink alcohol).

The internet is not that great, and they recently switched to a two tier internet speed. The faster option is only 3 Mbps whereas I am probably getting 20 Mbps at the nearby Wegmans right now, 15 Mbps at the Hyatt IAD, and somewhere around 5-8 Mbps at the Tysons Corner Marriott.

I stay here for the cheap weekend rates. They give free breakfast to gold/platinums on the weekends (and the weekend hours for the breakfast in the restaurant are good), and I get good service from the restaurant staff and the regular concierge in the CL. They also have free washing and drying machines for guest use. This property is easy to access I-66 (and is only a few miles away from the Vienna Metro station), Fair Oaks Mall, the nearby Wegmans and the Fair Lakes shopping center a few miles away with a B&N, a Macaroni Grill, and a Nordstrom Rack.

SHS Fairfax Fair Oaks - This property is about a mile away from the Fairfax Marriott. They have pretty good service and a free shuttle to the Vienna Metro station that runs at specific times. This is one of the newest SHS in the DC metro area, outside of the ones in the Ashburn area. Their weekend rates are often the same or sometimes greater than the FS properties, so I would pick those over this place for a weekend stay.