I stayed at the Doubletree-Tysons Corner this past Monday night on a pointsaver reward stay. This was my first stay at a Hilton hotel in over 3 years.

The good: Free wireless internet, 2 Doubletree cookies given upon checkin, and free Washington Post at front desk were available. I do not know if this is common, but I was also given 2 half liter bottles of bottled water five minutes after entering my room. I do not have status with Hilton, and I got my Hilton points through mypoints.com and erewards.com. The business center offered free access to online computers, printing, and photocopying. The people at the front desk were friendly, and late checkouts up to 2 pm were free as long as you are an HHonors member.

The not so good: This hotel needs a major renovation. Except for the wireless internet, the hotel looks like it was state of the art circa 1985. The elevators were rather small and dark. I was only able to get online with one of the three computers in the business center. (I needed to print something out.) The rooms are dark, and the light fixtures are not as bright as the ones found in Marriott/Courtyard hotels. The shower curtain and bathroom resembled a dingy Courtyard more than a Hilton/Marriott. Also, the hotel rooms lack an automatic climate control. The exercise room had several cardio machines, one Nautilus platform and several sets of dumbbells. It would have been good to include a workout bench, which would have increased the versatility of the dumbbells. The gym was definitely below my expectations. I also noticed that they charged if your toll free call exceeded 60 minutes.

This Doubletree had a mix of what I would expect from a full service hotel and a hotel along the lines of the Hilton Garden Inn/Courtyard. I did not try room service, breakfast or dinner at this hotel so I cannot comment on the quality and service of their dining operations.

I would try Doubletree again if I could find a newer property to stay at, but I prefer Marriott hotels because of the better consistency in service.