CJKatl

Marriott Suites in Herndon is swank. Both SHS near Dulles are above average. Avoid the Airport FS, it's a dump, and the not-too-far-away Fair Oaks FS. There is a reason the latter is usually much less expensive than nearby SHS, CYs and FIs.

sophiegirl

I like Westfields a great deal, and agree with CJ on Fair Oaks.

iztok

I guess I am alone in liking IAD Marriott? Except for the long walk to/from the room to about anywhere

Mr. Vker

Love Dulles Suites-GREAT MR weekend rate of $67/night! No weekend breakfast though for Gold/Plat. Lots of great restaurants to walk to. We often stay here the night before a flight out of IAD.

Do not like the FS. LONG walks. I mean LONG. Rooms are tired. They do give elites weekend breakfasts.

sammyindc

According to their website, Westfields does not offer shuttle service to the airport.

billycwhatup

Worth pointing out that the IAD Marriott is actually "on campus" at IAD, so there's value to the otherwise very dated property.

There is a Fairfield around 5 minutes away that is actually surprisingly nice and is my official "mattress run" property at less than $55/night. It is technically called Fairfield Inn & Suites Dulles Airport

NJUPINTHEAIR

If your transportation is paid for by your company, then you might consider the Tysons or Fairview Park properties as they are not that far from Dulles and they provide breakfast certs on weekends to Gold and higher elites. Not sure of the cost of transportation to/from Dulles, though.

billpreston

Courtyard Chantilly wasn't bad when I stayed last year and also has a 24 hour airport shuttle.

kanerf

One benefit to the IAD Marriott is that it allows you to use the toll-free lanes of the Dulles toll road so that you can get into D.C. and back for free. It is an old place, but I kind of like it and the lounge is pretty good.

I am at the Fair Oaks Marriott now, I like this one too. I have stayed at the Marriott Suites and did not care much for it. I like the FS Marriott's on the weekends that provide breakfast coupons, since I only really get to eat breakfast on the weekend. The rest of the week I have to hit the toll road or I-66 (depends on where I am staying) before breakfast starts at most hotels. Why is it the only start serving at 0630, sometimes as late as 0700.

DELee

No, you're not alone. This property has done well by me as both a MR Gold and MR Platinum - you can find (usually) parking fairly near to your room and they know that you're a business traveller. They have a CL that is kept up and well managed.

Yes, the walks to/from the CL to your room can be long. See my review from October to see if you can get them to do better in terms of what room you want vs. where you park by picking the room number that you prefer.

My issue with the other FS Marriotts in the area are either the distance you have to travel to (Fair Oaks) or the hateful walk to/from parking and no CL (Westfields).

If you fall into the "I don't care which MR property", then yes, there are properties from the trio @ Lee Jackson Highway & 28 (FI, SHS & CY), the ones up the 267 that you have to pay the tolls to get to/from, and places in Herndon and points further east. However, many of these cost more than the Marriott IAD (except those in Sterling) and still don't have a decent breakfast or CL.

David

sammyindc

How long do they let you leave your car there? Have an upcoming trip fro IAD and was thinking instead of parking at the airport, staying for a night at the Dulles Marriott, park the car and take the shuttle. Cost of parking comes out to the same as a 1 night stay so I figured I'd rather get points for the money I'm spending. Will be gone for about 5-6 days.

TrojanHorse

My first question is where do you go to when in the area? Westfields is south of IAD and closer to Fairfax and Chantilly. IAD the on campus is just that but there is nothing but a gas station in walking distance (although I presume you have a car). The Suites is in Herndon (East of IAD) and has some stuff around it. Other Marriott properties could be in Sterling (north of IAD). Some have stuff around it, some do not. As you well know the RI at 28 Dulles Center is located in nice little area where there are plenty of places to eat and shop.

this question is best answered by where you travel to in the area

They now put hang tags in the windshields which seems ~relatively new and I'm not sure of the coding yet as to how they allocated the different tags

VA1379

This is going to be a long post. I am going to run through several properties where I have stayed at in the past 7 years.

I'm not a fan of the Marriott IAD. I have found the service there inconsistent, and if you get lost at this hotel, you could end up wandering for a long time. In contrast, I did not realize where the Hilton IAD entrance was at first, but I found the hotel itself easier to navigate. You will never miss the entrance of the Marriott IAD, but you could easily miss your room.

Westfields Marriott - big conference hotel that is relatively isolated. The lobby area is huge, so if you really need to go to the restroom, you better be ready for a sprint of up to 150 yards. It is also uncomfortable if you stay here in the summer and forget where you parked your car. They have a great breakfast and lunch buffet, although I haven't stayed here in several years. The gym is relatively nice, although I don't know if they have updated it. I found it someone old in design during my last stay.

Marriott Suites in Herndon - Once upon a time, this was my favorite Marriott in Northern Virginia. They are in a small shopping center, and there are several restaurants nearby along with a small theatre. You can walk to Kohls. This property used to offer free continental breakfast everyday for gold/platinum members, but they switched to a free full buffet only on weekdays, excluding weekday holidays. I am currently resolving the issue over free breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. They used to offer free gym passes to the Worldsgate Sports & Health, but they now offer a discounted gym pass for $10 to hotel guests. I find the gym employees to be friendly for the most part, although I did butt heads with the membership guy several years ago when I was a frequent hotel guest and he accused me of being a daily guest too many times. They have a free washing and drying machine to use.

RI Herndon/Reston - this property offers a free Golds Gym pass to all guests. The gym is about 3 miles south of the hotel, and it is located in the clocktower mall. This property is good if you want a free gym access and want to stay at a RI that is close to the Reston Town Center.

SHS Herndon/Reston - this property is a typical SHS. I am not a big fan because they have a two tiered internet access, and they will not comp the faster speed for platinum members. I also found the newspaper selection rather limited since some SHS properties offer the WSJ on weekdays. They used to offer a free pass to the nearby YMCA, but they stopped doing this once the nearby CY Herndon/Reston stopped offering free gym passes to the nearby Golds Gym (the one the RI Herndon/Reston gives).

SHS Centreville/Chantilly - this property is good if you want to travel to Chantilly, get on 50, VA-28N towards IAD, or get on I-66 and 286 (Fairfax County Parkway). They are close to a Lifetime gym, and they sell daily gym passes to Lifetime for $10 ($5 if you are platinum). They also have cheap washing and drying machines ($1 to wash and dry along with free detergent & laundry sheets)

Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks - I know several people mentioned that they don't like this property. I can see why. The hotel food costs more than at other nearby Marriott hotels (15-20 %). The service can be a bit lacking. When they say the lounge stops serving breakfast at 9 am, they mean 9 am sharp, unlike the Tysons Corner Marriott. The alcohol is not cheap in the CL, although they do have daily happy hour from 3-7 downstairs (you should go downstairs to drink alcohol).

The internet is not that great, and they recently switched to a two tier internet speed. The faster option is only 3 Mbps whereas I am probably getting 20 Mbps at the nearby Wegmans right now, 15 Mbps at the Hyatt IAD, and somewhere around 5-8 Mbps at the Tysons Corner Marriott.

I stay here for the cheap weekend rates. They give free breakfast to gold/platinums on the weekends (and the weekend hours for the breakfast in the restaurant are good), and I get good service from the restaurant staff and the regular concierge in the CL. They also have free washing and drying machines for guest use. This property is easy to access I-66 (and is only a few miles away from the Vienna Metro station), Fair Oaks Mall, the nearby Wegmans and the Fair Lakes shopping center a few miles away with a B&N, a Macaroni Grill, and a Nordstrom Rack.

SHS Fairfax Fair Oaks - This property is about a mile away from the Fairfax Marriott. They have pretty good service and a free shuttle to the Vienna Metro station that runs at specific times. This is one of the newest SHS in the DC metro area, outside of the ones in the Ashburn area. Their weekend rates are often the same or sometimes greater than the FS properties, so I would pick those over this place for a weekend stay.

thnarf

I like the Marriott Suites in Herndon the best personally. Nice rooms, and also easy walking access to dinner places. When I get back to a hotel I like to just chill out. So being able to walk to some place for dinner is a big plus for me.

DJ_Iceman

I'm a FS stayer, and pretty much agree with everything VA1379 said.

IAD Marriott is my favorite in the area (used to be Westfields). They've done extensive remodeling, the customer service is the best around, the lounge is big and well-stocked, parking is free... other than the fact that some rooms can indeed be a long walk from the lobby and lounge, there's no reason not to like it as a FS Marriott. They also treat elites well with separate (and super-quick) check-in, pre-stay communication from the elite coordinator, etc.

Westfields used to be a beautiful property, but it's the one that I now find tired and in need of renovation. My biggest disappointment, though, is the customer service. The place used to feel like a Ritz-Carlton but has gone steadily downhill. Just one example is the valet parking which used to be free to all guests but now has an exorbitant charge--I've spoken with the valets, and they don't like it either because they make WAY less in tips with so many people now self-parking. Another is the dismal condition of the pool tables in Wellington's Pub. They're just letting the place go, which is too bad.