Have a three night weekend in DC scheduled mid-August for a college visit with Travelexpert junior.

Am holding two reservations--almost identical rate ($110/night)--at Renaissance Du Pont Circle and Marriott Washington DC (NOT Wardman or Metro).

Which is a better choice for a Platinum?

Given that it will be Thursday to Sunday--will either have a lounge open throughout the weekend?

I prefer Ren DuPont out of those two.

I believe the latest intel is that no Washington D.C. area Marriotts regularly have a weekend lounge. I learned through Flyertalk that the JW Marriott, the previous lone wolf with a weekend lounge, doesn't keep theirs open anymore. :(

Spent 10+ years in DC . Would rec the Key Bridge MT for location and ease of getting in,out and around DC . Familiarize yourself with the Whitehurst Freeway

Neither is great, though the Ren is slightly better. Neither has a lounge open on the weekend, AFAIR.

That property might even have a $95 rate available. :) I've used it and it still seems to be valid on a lot of weekends. (Marriott Rewards rate, probably M11 or M12, and perfectly valid to use if it's available.)

They even gave me breakfast chits when I was there in December and I also love the location. I mean, DuPont is fun too...both are walking distance to tons of stuff...sort of a personal preference decision on which location you like better.

There's a residential neighborhood a block away if you need some legal overnight street parking.

Marriott at Washington Dulles Airport
 

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I rarely stay in any hotel that does not get at least four circles at Tripadvisor.com.

The Key Bridge Marriott gets only 3.5.

And rooms, according to reviews, are in need of refurbishment.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Virginia.html

It's not a luxury hotel by any means, but then again, neither are the Washington Marriott or Ren Dupont Circle.

As you can see from my profile, I work for Marriott. I am the Assistant Front Desk Manager for the Renaissance Downtown Hotel (on 9th St). I would love it if you stayed with us!! Please email me if you do decide to stay with us so I can put you up in a nice room. My email is: [email protected]. Have a good time in DC!

...And if you're screening for luxury hotels, I'd pick a different tool than Tripadvisor!! :eek:

Within the realm of $95-110 per night hotels, all of the choices listed so far are acceptable hotels. I've stayed in all of them. They're all decent mainline Marriott specimens. None are Motel 6. None are the Four Seasons.

It's just a matter of which 'hood you prefer for the weekend.

Yeah to me Tripadvisor is good if you want to know if a hotel has bed bugs or something. It's less useful for discerning luxury.

Marriott DC on 22nd & M at Foggy Bottom is a great location- walkable to DuPont or GTown or the White House or the Mall.

Stayed there over many weekends, including this past one. Always enjoyed the full breakfast buffet given to Plats.

No more. No lounge, no breakfast, no nothing for Plats anymore. The breakfast is still there, but now Plats must pay for even the "healthy start" (i.e., bagels, pastry, rolls, muffins) breakfast.

Had a discussion with them about this. They say their plats like the new policy, since it brings this property in line with the brand as a whole.

So if you do stay here on a weekend as a Plat, you now got that going for you.

Wow, that's some spin. Translated: Our plats prefer to be consistently screwed over from property to property. :D
Obviously, there's something added to the water in DC that allows such free-flowing BS to be recited with such ease.

LOL....I'm sure that's exactly how Platinum guests have described it. Pretty creative spin on the part of the hotel!!

"I'm so annoyed that this hotel continues to provide a Platinum benefit that they've always provided, even though most of the rest of the chain has taken it away. I'll be so much happier if they adopt the brand standard and stop giving me these breakfast certs." :p

**high-fives pinniped**