srodr

My sister is visiting me next weekend with her kids and I am looking at these two hotels since they are both pretty affordable and yet still close to downtown. I think I'm going to try to use an upgrade certificate since there will be 4 of us. Both properties look about equal on the website, so is one a lot better than the other? Does one have better metro access? Does either have a club, or do they give breakfast certificates?

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

YYZC2

Crystal City has a club [EDIT: in retrospect, I may be thinking of the Sheraton Crystal City... I have not been to the Hyatt CC for a while, and other posters say I am mistaken, so I defer to them]. Arlington provides breakfast via coupon.

Arlington is virtually on top of Rosslyn station, Crystal City is a 5-10 minute walk to Crystal City station.

Many (all?) of the rooms at the Arlington have been reno'd and are very fresh with new A/V units, but the rest of the hotel can be in a state of (dis)repair... when I was there last week the tile in the elevators was torn up.

The CC is nice enough, but clearly not a recent reno.

Arlington is usually cheaper and is running a G2 bonus.

There is more kid-friendly food in the Arlington area, IMHO.

tom911

Hyatt Crystal City does run a shuttle up to the Metro station, as well as DCA where you could also get the train, so that will work if weather is bad. I had to do that last visit due to rain and waited about 15 minutes for a pickup on the way back at Crystal City Metro. Inside the Metro station there are some food options in the adjoining hallway, including King Street Blues where I have been a number of times for dinner with an FTer that lives nearby. There's a McDonalds and Legal Seafoods closer to the hotel. There is a 50s style dinner on street level at the Holiday Inn across Jefferson Davis Highway.

Have to admit I've never used the lounge there (didn't know there was one). The restaurant for the breakfast buffet is larger, and food line less congested, because of a more spacious layout, than what you would find in Arlington.

Prices being equal, I tend to stay in Arlington just because of the easier Metro access. Crystal City looks a lot nicer but not as convenient to get to and from.

I have photos of both properties linked below.

srodr

Is this lounge at CC open weekends or just week days? (I think breakfast coupons would be better for the kids)


In this case Crystal City is a little cheaper, but Arlington seems so much more convenient to the Metro so it may be worth paying a little more. I do have to call and see which might have a suite upgrade available.

Your photos make Arlington look nicer too.

Traviss

I was at Crystal City just last night (Friday) and the front desk said the lounge was closed at weekends and as a Diamond they gave me a voucher for breakfast... which I have to say was very good.

T

srodr

So then you also get 2500 points, right?

GUWonder

Is there any lounge at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City? I don't recall any there.

illinikevin

There is a red hot & blue (BBQ place) about 2 blocks away. When my family stays at this hotel, we always eat at least one meal there.

kevino

I used an old Hyatt suite paper ug at the Hyatt CC a couple of years ago and only got a parlor suite, not really two distinct rooms. I went downstairs and got my paper cert back. I've gotten a real suite ug at the Hyatt Arlington before.

richee

Same question here. I stay at CC about half a dozen times a year. The last time was a couple months ago. Never had a club during any of my stays.

tom911

If you ever end up there for the 4th of July, from the hotel you can walk over to the park where the Marine Memorial and Netherlands Carillon is and have an excellent vantage point (with thousands of others). Did that one year. It's just outside Arlington Cemetery.



Same here.

crystak

Does the parlor suite correspond to the deluxe king on the website? http://www.crystalcity.hyatt.com/hya...ocale=&start=4 That's the standard upgrade I got the two times I stayed here. ^ for getting your ug certificate back.

Beckles

Price being comparable, Hyatt Arlington wins in my opinion, and it is not that close. The only reason to stay at the CC is if you need access to DCA or Crystal City (which is why I have stayed there a fair bit in the past myself).

cbchicago

There is no club at the Hyatt Crystal City.

limelight

I did use an upgrade certificate at Arlington last year - it upgrades into the Executive Suites on the top floors. However, at weekends, the hotel usually (at least, for both of my recent weekend reservations, one for this coming Friday) offers those suites through the NOR1 program for an extra $18 or so a night... it'll show up after you make your reservation. For that price, they're good value - though I felt the space wasn't used very well (lots of corridor & entryway, leaving the living area a bit cramped). They also might well be all king-bed rooms - so if there are four of you, I'd definitely check that in advance.

Overall, I liked Arlington - it's often half the price of the more central properties at weekends, and convenient for just about everywhere. Breakfast in the restaurant - newly remodeled - was good, and the staff charming in a vague sort of way. It's not spectacular, but it does the job. (Also: the funniest version of a Diamond amenity cheese plate I've ever been presented with. One plastic-wrapped packet of about twenty crackers, one tinfoil-wrapped slab of Boursin cheese, dumped on a plate together with no attempt at presentation, or even unwrapping. It looked like some unlucky sous-chef had gone rooting through the kitchen cupboards, and had thrown the first things he came across onto the tray... then garnished it with white cloth, silver service, and a hopeful flower. Still in tinfoil. The room-service guy who delivered it looked rather embarrassed, though I didn't truly mind...)

Crystal City I haven't stayed at - but it looks like their entry-level suite is the Ambassador Suite... and often suites with that name are excluded from the suite upgrade certificates... That might not be the case, here - and, indeed, I'd think it rather odd of them to deny the upgrade on a weekend in March - but definitely it's worth double-checking.