pjrice

I had a very pleasant stay this weekend at the HGI- Tysons Corner. It has only been open for about 3months so everything was new, including the staff. I am HH Gold but did not utilize the online check-in since all the rooms were the same either with King or 2 Queens.

Check In: Upon arrival at the hotel, I asked the front desk agent for a room on a high floor and away from the elevator. She informed me that my room (#901) was away from the elevator. So as soon as I got off the elevator on the 9th floor, made a right turn 901 was the first room I reached. I called down to the front desk to ask for different room, she put me on hold, told me that someone would meet me on the 4th floor with the keys. The new room was between the elevator and ice machine, so back to the front desk I went. I asked the agent if she had a floor plan that showed the location of the rooms and elevators so I could help her choose the correct room, but she explained that since the hotel was new, she did not have a floor plan of the hotel. I left my luggage at the front desk, she informed me that she would have someone bring the luggage to my room and that I could stop by for the keys after I had dinner at the restaurant.

After dinner, I returned to the front desk to get my keys. She gave me 2 coupons for breakfast (I was with my spouse) along with a $5 coupon for the pantry and 2 bottles of water. I reminded her that we were staying 2 nights and asked if I should have 4 coupons instead of 2. She told me that 1 coupon was good for 2 people (the next morning we found this not to be true as the hostess asked for both coupons).

We finally checked into our room and I was delighted to find that our room was neither near the elevator, vending or ice machine.

Room: spacious, nice furniture with comfortable chair and ottoman, flat screen tv with wide-view and king size bed with the Garden Sleep system. My husband and I both found the bed to be quite comfortable but it appeared to more of a big Queen size bed rather than a spacious King. Our bathroom had a tub with a shower, but I noticed that in room 901 there was just a shower stall, no tub. There also was a nice sized refrigerator, microwave and an electronic safe big enough to hold a lap-top.

Facility: has an underground free self -parking garage, shuttle service (on demand) within a 2 mile radius of the hotel such as (Tysons Corner Mall, movies, the Metro). We were able to get the shuttle bus to the Dunn Loring Metro Center and it took about 45mins to get to the Washington D.C. Mall. Wonderful breakfast with plenty of items and they had a nice work out center. The pool was only 3’8’’ deep and the hot tub could only hold 8 people. The business center had 2 computers with flat panel screens and a huge office type copying machine and fax machine.

We enjoyed our stay and would definitely return to this property again in the future!

BearX220

I don't think I'd score them 10 out of 10 if the reception clerk was that deeply uninformed and/or prone to mislead about the location of the rooms.

pjrice

Yes I would not give them a 10 out of 10 since we had a rocky start but I think that the front desk agent was the only one that needed more training. All of the other staff members that we encountered gave us accurate information and was able to answer all questions. We had a wonderful stay, not a perfect stay and we plan to stay again in the near future.

Points Scrounger

I thought HGI has done away with the pantry coupons as a trade-off for the full breakfast?

Fraser

Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn Tysons Corner
Room Type: Evolution (Only category)
Rate: $68 incl. taxes (booked through Hilton.com)
VIP Benefits: Breakfast for 2, $5 pantry coupon, Two bottles of water.

The wife was looking to go up to Tysons Corner for a shopping trip so decided to make a weekend out of it, booking a Saturday night stay. Paid a superb rate of $68 including taxes. It was my first stay at a Garden Inn so thought I'd write up a little report...

Location: Not bad, off a side road that runs parallel to the Leesburg Pike, just a couple of minutes from Tysons Corner Center and a few more from the Galleria. No busy roads on either side but the hotel itself is almost built into a hill which sounds odd...The views over the back of the hotel aren't too pretty. Something that looks like a one story warehouse thing with parking lots and strip malls.

Arrival: We had driven up from Richmond in the morning and the staff were happy for us to leave the car in the underground parking below the hotel and let us use the shuttle to Tysons Galleria. Waited maybe ten minutes so had the opportunity for a quick look around the ground floor. Place looked almost brand new, a nice fireplace by the front door with coffee machine next to it.

Check-In: Came back from the mall around 7pm and checked in. Was given breakfast coupon for 2 and $5 pantry coupon (in absence of upgraded rooms since there was only one category of room, Evolution, at this property). Also handed an HGI bag with a couple of bottles of water. I saw about half a dozen others behind the desk too. Was informed there was a business centre with a couple of PCs and printers on the ground floor. Also a fitness centre and small pool with hot tub. ^

Room: We had room 907 (I think) on the top floor. Slightly odd location between the elevator and the ice machine but neither caused any distraction during our stay. The room itself was immaculate, even had wrapping still around the table lamps. 26" HDTV, nice desk etc. The bathroom had no bath, just a bath sized shower stall with massagey function...FWIW the products were Neutrogena. Also in the room was a coffee maker and microwave.

We spent the rest of the evening in the room having had a large late lunch, nice place to relax for a few hours with sore feet. We did go down to use the pantry coupon, spending about $8 in the end but the person recognised us from check-in and smiled letting the other $3 slide The Pantry whilst useful was rather pricey...$2.50 for a bottle of Coke, $5 for a Lean Cuisine for example...Used the free business centre and even the printing was free. ^ Saved us going to Kinkos to sort something out so I was grateful for that.

The bed was very comfortable, not as comfortable as some of the Hilton ones I've had recently but certainly rather nice. Slept very well. The wife went to work out early in the morning leaving me to rest for a while longer, said the gym was alright, had an elliptical so she was happy. I got the briefest of looks and it did appear quite small. Nothing out of the ordinary for a hotel though.

Breakfast: Was served until 11.30am on Sunday and so we went down for a late breakfast, perhaps 10.30 or so. Perhaps a dozen or so tables out, half of them occupied. A little Indian lady came over with coffee, welcoming us to breakfast and inviting us to help ourselves. Seemed like a really decent spread. Bagels, cereal, pastries, hot breakfast with biscuits and gravy and the most fun part....make your own HGI branded waffles/pancakes Pouring the mix in the thing, spinning it and waiting for it to come out was err rewarding Regular checkups from the hostess and top ups on the coffee ^

We checked out of the room soon after leaving very happy with out stay ^ For $68 it represented amazing value for money, I was starting to wonder where the catch was; free parking, free breakfast, free internet and printing, free pool and fitness centre! We would certainly return here on future trips to the area. I'm not sure how representative this hotel is of the HGI brand but feel that if every hotel and stay is this good I'll actively try and stay at more of them. I have an HGI stay coming up in Charlottesville at the beginning of December. Am paying almost double the price of this stay but if it is half as good, I'll be happy

Pictures:
Room http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/8384/dsc03136gj7.jpg
http://img270.imageshack.us/img270/6945/dsc03137ux2.jpg
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/7414/dsc03138cd8.jpg

Lobby:
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/4637/dsc03139my3.jpg

Incidentally I noticed HGI are opening their first European property in Stuttgart. I think the brand will be a big hit in Europe, the homely feeling of the lobbies and the ilk is something a lot yearn for when travelling. Hilton in the UK is such a hodge podge of hotels of varying quality something along the lines of HGI would stabilise the brand nicely.


Tags: Hilton Garden Inn Tysons Tyson's Corner Vienna Falls Church Beltway HGI Washington DC HGI Evolution

Techtravler

Thanks for the update. I will be spening a week at this location next month. I have heard good thigs from other co-workers and my company has setup a corprate rate here, so I will be back often.

Just looked at your pictures. Funny thing is I thought I was told by a co-worker that these rooms have LCD TVs.

Fraser

Could he have got LCD and HD mixed up? On the HGI website they are described as HDTVs.

drron

How is access to downtown DC from this property.I have to attend a meeting there next year and mrsdrron will be coming.She thinks that stopping here with the shuttle to the shopping centres would suit her just fine.
I like the washington metro system and dont mind a long commute but is this property an easy walk to a metro station?The rate certainly is a definite benefit.

Fraser

The shuttle will stop at the nearest metro station....it could be a lengthy commute though. Depending on whereabouts in the middle of DC you are going of course.

avidflyer

It sometimes depends on the room. The HGI in Manchester NH has LCD's in some of the "millenium?" rooms and others have tv's simmilar to the one in this photo.

ashcroftj1

nothing fancy, but a quite comfortable hotel..

was just looking and found rates for 2 with a 1 king evolution room on 12/1 for $55.20 ( $60.17 ) all in Net direct rate in case anybody was considering going through.

1KPath

The rates here are quite good and it has comfortable rooms(typical HGI)...but for just a little more(often only $10-15), I prefer the Hilton Tysons Corner with its weekday executive lounge and quiet location...also good on-demand shuttle service to the malls(you can walk in 15 min) and the metro stop! Most of the rooms have been updated and are very nice!!

pseudoswede

Sorry for this necrobump, but is there any way to find the e-mail address for the General Manager for this hotel? Or do I simply need to call and ask for him/her?

Thanks in advance.

arlflyer

Probably best to call and ask, presuming of course that your issue is one that is in fact best directed to the GM, and not to corporate, etc.

pseudoswede

Correct. It is specific to the hotel for a group staying there. I called today and left a voicemail with the GM.