iluvdoco

Thanks! I snuck in some photos before the lounge rapidly filled with people. Lunch the next day was a little quieter, but the evening and breakfast were packed!

iluvdoco

One of my dessert plates.

Ritz PC Club Lounge dessert

falcon9xr

I very recently completed a stay at the RC Pentagon City.

I booked two rooms over the 4th of July weekend (July 3rd-7th) that were upgraded to the club level using RC card upgrade certs (which was an adventure in and of itself). As usual, the concierge reached out prior to our stay and asked if there were any particular requests. I asked for a room with a view of the fireworks, and if that wasn't possible, a room on a high floor or a room close to the club lounge.

Upon check-in, I was greeted as a Titanium and given a choice of welcome amenity (some chocolates or champagne/wine) or points. I opted for the points, since I could get the food and booze at the lounge. I did ask about upgrades, and were told that they would have been happy to upgrade us to a suite, but no suites were available. This jived with the availability posted online, so no issues there.

We ended up getting two rooms on the 18th floor that ended up having an AMAZING view of the fireworks.

The lounge was very enjoyable.
Breakfast was nearly the same every day. Eggs, bacon, oatmeal, chicken sausage, lox, and assorted breads/spreads/cereals.
Lunch was two different types of sandwiches (one vegetarian, one meat), along with a soup, and assorted sides.
The snack presentation was the weakest, they took the chips and crackers from lunch and put them out in addition to some pickled vegetables.
Evening hors d'oeuvres consisted of 2-3 hot dishes, with assorted sides. I particularly liked the filet mignon when it was available. My wife took a strong liking to the crab claws.
Desserts were varied and delicious.

The fitness center is well-equipped, though I don't remember if they have free weights or not. There are plenty of machines though. The pool and steam rooms were closed during our stay, but the sauna was still available.
They do NOT have an on-site spa, but they do offer spa services in your room or in a massage room located in the locker rooms of the fitness center.

As far as location, I thought the location was pretty good for tourists. There is a lot to do in the vicinity, including visiting the Pentagon, the Pentagon Memorial, Air Force Memorial, and Arlington National Cemetery. Pretty much directly across the river in DC proper, you will find the main DC tourist attractions, including the presidential memorials, the Washington Monument, Mall, Reflecting Pool, and Smithsonians.

The RC itself is attached to a decently sized mall with a nice food court and several restaurants are close by (I'm partial to Matchbox, myself). The mall also has a direct tunnel to the DC metro (Pentagon City Station), and it is ~10 minutes away from Washington National Airport (DCA).

For those that care, there is a Costco in the shopping center across the street from the mall. This particular Costco has beer/wine available (no liquor).

We requested and were given 4pm check-out.

Oh, one last thing. We ended up parking our two vehicles in the mall parking garage. It is $18/day. Something else to note is that one of the drivers lost their parking ticket, and had to go to the booth to say they lost their ticket. They were charged $18 (the daily maximum). So just throwing that out there.

Happy to answer any additional questions as well.

CG

Just finished a club level stay here and have to say I was underwhelmed all around. Nothing wrong with the place, it was just exactly like a mid-level stay at a Marriott, maybe lower mid-level. Start with check-in. I'm Titanium, usually get some acknowledgement of that and confirm of my welcome points or at least something. Not a big deal to me but zilch recognition the entire stay. Official check-in time is 5, I had asked for 3 and arrived at 3:30. It's a Saturday in Feb so expected it to be slow all around. Room wasn't available, no problem, they took my phone number and told us we could wait in the lounge and they'd let us know when our room was ready both by phone and in-person. The lounge attendant also asked if we were awaiting our room and took our info, assuring us she'd let us know when the room was ready. So you'd expect they'd let us know when our room was ready, right? Around 5:45 I head down to the lobby to check if the room is ready yet....oh, yeah, here it is. Even better, my Bonvoy! app let's us know at 7:30 that our room is ready! Go to the room and no upgrade, again, not a huge deal but also nothing special. And oddly a maid still in the room, acted surprised to see us and ran out? Room itself is also underwhelming, typical Marriott including the standard fiberglass tub every house in the U.S. has had since the 50's. But the real kicker was the Club level lounge. This was my first experience with Ritz Carlton Club Level lounges which I'd been told over and over where head and shoulders above any other lounge I would ever have been to, worth paying $100 per extra person in our room to access if we'd had more than 2. And on and on. Not so much. I'd rank this one around number 30 of the 300 or so lounges I've been to. Again, nothing wrong with it, but everything from food to drinks to decor to size was just mid-tier Marriott in any-city USA. Finally, not their fault but the guy a couple doors down yelling F-you repeatedly at full volume at 5:30 in the morning was screaming but it wasn't exactly screaming luxury.
The Georgetown RC doesn't have a lounge but is everything this RC is not in terms of service, rooms, ambiance, status recognition....so I'd highly recommend it over this one if you have a choice at all. I'd also recommend a couple of the other Marriott properties in the District and Arlington/Alexandria over this. This one is fine, you just have to go in with the expectation you're getting a standard Marriott and you won't be disappointed. And they did manage to ensure I'll never do club level again at RC, not sure how they keep that confidence game con going but if that's at all representative then I have to wonder at all the wonder when describing RC club lounges.

dcmike

I stayed here in November 2019 and agree with you 100%. It's like a mid-level Marriott rather than a Ritz. I can count numerous Marriotts that are nicer. It's not a bad hotel, but it's not up to the moniker of the RC brand.

jrich7970

Been at this place many times last year, and I would have to say, having never been at any other RC property, that RCs aren't worth the money, and aren't any better than any other FS Marriott. Yes, I know....this place is not indicative of RCs in general.

The FD staff was OK, but almost annoying in their recognition of my status. Almost like they were in a meeting that very morning and yelled at for not mentioning it.

The hallways always smelled. The rooms were sparsely furnished, and offered a nice view of the air conditioning units. The coffee maker was a Nespresso machine that plain old didn't give you regular coffee. I realize some might see that as a plus, but, not me. Sure, personal preference. The bathrooms, while "pretty" with their white tile and fancy-schmancy fixtures, upon closer inspection, the fixtures were cheap, and the tiles chipped.

Being a TItanium, and paying government rates, I was not allowed in the lounge, but I was OK with that. I took a look at the menu for the restaurant and decided just to go to one of the many places to eat around the hotel. There are MANY. A colleague of mine had a "breakfast shake" which was like a small 12 oz shake that cost $7.50.

The only things I liked about this place was the fact that the mall was right next to it, and there was another mall behind it, and another strip mall across the street. There were plenty of places to eat. Also, you could get on the Metro without having to be outside, which was nice if it was raining.

I'd have to agree with dcmike, there are MANY Marriotts in the DC area that are much nicer than this hotel.

I avoid this place now, and if I need to be in that area would much rather stay at the Crystal Gateway, Crystal City, Reni Arlington, Westin, etc. All within walking distance of that mall and the restaurants near there.

Would this keep me from trying out some other RC property? Of course not, but, like I said, it will keep me from going to the Pentagon City one again.

But then again, just one man's opinion.

arlflyer

I've experienced marked variation across RC properties but there is a definitely a subset that feel like 90's new-money places that have gone past their prime but still act like they're doing you a favor by letting you stay there. The vaunted RC clubs in the U.S. are in my experience in line with entry-level Marriott / Hilton lounges in Europe or Asia. And the lack of elite recognition leaves a bad taste. There are ones that I'm happy to go with on hard product alone (e.g. D.C. West End, Berlin) but I don't jump at RCs over Westin, MR, or JWs unless I know the property to be outstanding.

CG

Absolutely. Compared to the lounge at the JW Marriott in Singapore this was an absolute joke!

worldwidedreamer

The JW in Singapore is the most perfect hotel I’ve ever visited. That’s not fair,

DELee

As worldwidedreamer notes, that's not fair to the JWM lounge in Singapore. Probably comparing any other Ritz lounge is also unfair.

David

Boraxo

That's a bit harsh. I would say it is inferior to most of the JW hotels and resorts I've visited, but definitely superior to the "Marriott" branded properties in the DC area and elsewhere. No question it is in the bottom half of the RCs I've visited...

In addition I'd say it ranks below the top fka SPG brands (St. Regis, etc.) but certainly in the top 3rd of Marriott's 30 brands.

dcstudent

I wonder if they'll renovate or up their game with Amazon building HQ2 just a couple blocks away. I think part of the Ritz's problem has been that the main business centers within walking distance are the DEA HQ and the Pentagon. Neither one I imagine is fantastic for the customer base of a Ritz at Ritz rates.

DJ_Iceman

I totally agree with this, and I'm someone who travels for business on government rates. I'd typically pay the $50-$150 per night upcharge for club level, and definitely felt I got my money's worth. But it's not like they're filling their beds with minimum $700 a night expense report travelers (like BOS or NYC, for example, or even the downtown DC Ritz). I'm sure all the hotels in the Crystal City area are hoping to increase their average nightly rates once Amazon opens.

dcmike

Maybe a tiny bit harsh. But here are my photos from the trip - it's certainly not super fancy.

rhg247

Anyone know if the Club lounge will ever reopen here? I assume it's still closed b/c of Covid. However, the Tyson's RC Club has been open for months so it's not a VA thing.