hockeyinsider

Wasn't it downgraded a year or so ago to a lower, limited-service category of Hyatt properties?

mediator

It used to be Hyatt Arlington. Now it is Hyatt Centric Arlington. Frankly the service at this Hyatt is not that impressive.

DJ_Iceman

Agreed. Once a few years back when every Marriott in the entire DC region was somehow sold out of government rate rooms, I spent a couple of nights at that Hyatt. It confirmed my opinion of Hyatt as a substandard brand overall--for some reason I've had a lot more poor stays at Hyatts than any other brand.

MSPeconomist

My experience has been the opposite, with Hyatt and Starwood service clearly dominating Marriott but whatever....

GUWonder

I didn't see a downgrade of service at this hotel due to any change from Hyatt Arlington to Hyatt Centric Arlington. It's been more or less the same for me, on the service end for the last couple of decades.

The Key Bridge Marriott's service was no better -- often I found it worse -- in the main than the Hyatt Arlington, except that the front desk staff tended to be marginally more consistent (in a good way) at Marriott than the Hyatt front desk staff.

I made a lot of use of the Key Bridge Marriott. It and the Hyatt were Priceline NYOP mainstays in the area. I found them to be pretty good to me regardless of what rate I paid, but there really wasn't anything special about either of these hotels, except that I found them convenient at times.

hockeyinsider

Eight or nine years ago, so 2008-ish, before I cared about points and status, I used to get the Key Bridge Marriott for $50 on Priceline.

lexdevil

I'm taking a group of 16 high school students to DC to visit the NMAAHC and a bunch of other Black History related sites in late February. I snagged a great LNF rate of $93 per night M-Th, which I don't think can be beaten for the location, proximity to the metro, etc.

I have a few questions, as it's been several years since I've stayed here.

1. I know the hotel has been sold and slated for redevelopment. Has it slipped much since the announcement?
2. Given that the hotel is in dire need of renovation, do you have any advice on room location to improve the odds of getting decent rooms?
3. Last time we stayed here they let everyone from my party access the concierge lounge. Is this likely to still be the case? Trying to figure out if I need to budget time/money for breakfast.
4. Any decent, reasonably priced food in the walkable area? Looking for spots that can handle a group of 18.

CPRich

Is lounge access part of the rate you booked? If not, they shouldn't.

pinniped

I stayed there a few times over the years during trips to DC. I loved the location, but thought it was only a so-so property overall. I always thought it could have been so much more, given its location and historical significance to Marriott.

Will miss it simply because of so many fond memories of DC during my younger years.

hockeyinsider

Yeah. I don't know why it was allowed to fall part. It's almost a historic sight.

There are horrible pictures and reviews on Trip Advisor of rooms in the side wings and lower floors. The best rooms are the 10, 11 and 12 floors. They have new paint or wallpaper, carpet, and so forth. Still, they're dated rooms. Lipstick on a pig.

I haven't noticed anything change for better or worse in the last year. Interestingly, on my most recent stay, the duty manager told me the property has a new general manager and plans to improve. It actually sounds like it may stay a hotel. It didn't sound like they were going to demolish it, as the manager really wanted me to stay with the hotel on my future stays.

lexdevil

No. And I know they should not. But some locations do allow it for every room with my name on it. This one did last time we stayed there, but it was years ago.

lexdevil

Thanks. I think I'll email to encourage them to honor the high floor request in my profile.

C17PSGR

I was traveling a few weeks ago and the concierge lounge in a hotel (not this one) was packed on a Sunday morning and most of the people obviously were not regular travelers. I commented on the crowding and the lounge attendant said --- its from the wedding, they negotiated it as part of the room package.

So ... if I had 19 rooms, I might negotiate it too.,

HomerJay

There's a recently renovated Mickey D's by the Metro stop - wags are calling it the Parisian McDonald's.

If the weather is okay and you guys can walk a bit, there are two places in the Colonial Village Shopping Center just up the hill on Wilson Blvd.
Pho 75 is the best, cheapest pho and other Vietnamese food, and there's a Ben's Chili Bowl as well. Ben's in a DC institution since 1959, with the best damned chili half smoke in the world, and was the place where Obama took Sarkozy to sample true AA food.
If you've got an AA crew going to the NMAAHC, I'd pick Ben's for a million good reasons. It's seven-tenths of a mile from your hotel, and a 15 minute walk to 1723 Wilson Blvd.

Enjoy DC. Safe travels.

DenverBrian

I want to say that the Key Bridge Marriott was the second Marriott ever built (Twin Bridges was #1).

Socrates will correct me if I'm wrong.