Checking out of here today. Kind of mixed feelings about it.

- Requested late check-out via the app, and again at check-in. Was notified via the app that 2PM had been granted, which given that they like to play the "we host conferences" card here, I figured was pretty good. The app said to drop by the front desk to confirm and get my key recoded. When I did so, it was a battle. The first FDC tried to claw back my 2PM checkout and made a phone call and a big deal about how I hadn't actually officially "requested" the late checkout correctly (?). Eventually a 2nd FDC gave it to me, after I showed her my phone, but was not happy about it. Overall, the whole thing just left me feeling rather crabby - this is such a simple request and one that Marriott advertises heavily to differentiate themselves from Hilton, with the bit about conferences being in tiny fine print. All I was asking was for them to give me what they had already said I could have. I was happy to meet in the middle and accept 2PM.

- Even at check-in, I felt like the staff was gruff. They first tried to assign me a room that was not my preferred bed type. I got it changed - didn't even bother asking for an upgrade - but they acted like they were doing me a favor. I don't know the latest status of the Platinum/Titanium guarantee on room types - in most of my Marriott history, I would have been doing *them* the favor by making sure they got my bed type right without me coming back later to claim $100. Eventually I got my standard king, 14th floor facing a street, and went about my day.

- Room itself is nice. No unusual street noise...just normal city stuff. The atrium seems noisy so I'm not sure a room without an outside window would be any quieter. I've stayed in those in a few places before and generally don't like them.

- Lounge is quite good - better than most Marriotts. No overcrowding issues. The lounge dragon at the door seems unnecessary and causes delays getting into the lounge. The key is required to open the door either way.

- Didn't eat at the Dignitary, but did grab a basic Marriott burger in the sportsbar and it was pretty good. Nice selection of taps there - about 30 regional and national craft brews.

- Wifi performs well everywhere.

- Elevators seemed generally adequate; occasional minor wait at peak times but not bad.

Overall, I'm less of a fan of the giant hotel ambiance than a smaller property. I think some of the chilliness of the staff is in part because of how huge the place is. But it's a good hotel overall and I wouldn't avoid it in the future, unless my stay really required a 4PM checkout. (I don't know which of the DC hotels *don't* play the conference card on late checkout requests...might need to be a much smaller or limited-service brand.)