Crowne Plaza Dulles
What is your Priority Club status?
Spire
Were you happy with the hotel/stay?
So-so.
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
- Booked Standard, given Club Executive
How are the rooms?
The rooms are 1970's Holiday Inn that have been spruced up a bit. The loud window AC/Heating unit gives it away and there is only so much lipstick you can put on a pig. The exec rooms have robe, slippers, mini-fridge with some water, a microwave and a free pack of popcorn. But otherwise they are the same as any other room.
The lobby is being renovated now, so the front of the hotel is closed off and you have to enter by the rear. The biggest pain is that you have to walk a ways outdoors to access the restaurant. Supposedly the work will be done in late January, but that means that a lot of guests will have to walk outside in the ice and snow to get to breakfast.
How is the exec. lounge?
- I guess its not bad for a US CP, but Euro CP club lounges are vastly better. They had two decent coffee machines, a fridge full of coke and sprite that was accessible 24x7. They laid out some wings and chips at happy hour and they had some beer and wine for sale from a hostess. She was nice and polite, but spent most of her time texting and watching TV. Overall it was a sad place. Fortunately for me, when I checked in they said there was no breakfast being served in the lounge so they gave me free breakfast coupons for the restaurant. Unfortunately the breakfast in the restaurant wasn't as good as what you get in a lounge at a decent Euro CP.
What was good and what was bad?
Good
- Free parking
- Lots of retail nearby
- cheap rates
Bad
- Ongoing construction
- They need to renovate the rooms, or at least put in central air. But that probably isn't going to happen. They should reflag as an HI.
- quality of breakfast is poor
Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
For under $100 its ok. But there are better choices in the area.