We stayed 2 nights at the Marriott Bethesda Downtown at Marriott HQ last week. This review is for the 2nd night. We stayed here after attending the Marriott Bonvoy 5th Anniversary Party that was held at the hotel. The hotel is next to Marriott International Headquarters – the properties share a courtyard between the buildings, named after former CEO Arne M. Sorenson.
I found a very good AAA rate for both nights, and the best one was the 2nd night, a Friday night for $129. The AAA rates were for a standard King room, and we were upgraded both nights. The 1st night to a 1 bedroom, corner King suite. The King suite was a fantastic upgrade, but the room did have some HVAC issues with a very noisy system.
This wasn’t something we reported to the hotel or front desk, but around noon the day after we checked in, the front desk called our room to see if maintenance could come in to check the HVAC system. They had reports from other members in the same room on different floors, about the very loud HVAC. They weren’t wrong, but it was fantastic that the hotel was being very proactive in asking about our room and stay in the room.
I was out for the day at a work site, so MaureenTravels received the call in the room. Maintenance came up a few minutes later and spent about 30 minutes with her – explaining the HVAC system. The corner rooms get blasted with reflective sun from the HQ building and the 2 walls of windows. He explained that these rooms have a larger HVAC system to handle the extra load in the rooms, but was honest in his assessment that it was much too loud. During the conversation he offered to reach out to the front desk to move us and even offer extra points as compensation. We were happy with the upgrade and only staying 1 more night and MaureenTravels was ok with staying in the room.
About an hour later while at the job site, I received an unexpected phone call from Thao at the front desk. She let me know that maintenance went up to the room and recommended we be moved, and she offered an upgrade to the Presidential Suite. I was a little confused as we had not reported any problems with the HVAC, but sure we’ll move for the night 🙂
I stopped at the front desk on my return to the hotel. Thao greeted me as the desk and apologized for the HVAC in Room 732. Providing me with a set of keys for the new room, she also offered to send up a team member to help us move rooms. I declined that as we only had a couple of bags.
The Presidential Suite, Room 1224, is a fantastic room. It has a very large living space with a nearly full kitchen, only lacking a cook top. The kitchen had all the other amenities including plenty of storage space, microwave, sink, dishwasher and a Fisher-Paykel drawer fridge. In addition to the living and dining space, there is also a 2nd bathroom in the main living area.
The bedroom and bathroom are very large – the bathroom has a fantastic soaking tub in it, along with dual sinks, separate shower, toilet stall and towels for days! While we did find that drawer space in the bedroom was a little slim, the two large closets with drawers in them were more than sufficient for our needs.
After dinner at La Panetteria, a local Italian Restaurant 2 blocks from the hotel, we took a trip up to the 13th floor of the hotel where the Hip Flask bar is. It was pretty busy on a Friday night. The bar has indoor space as well as an outdoor rooftop terrace with great views. On the smaller side of the outdoor rooftop space, they have 2 heated igloos that can be reserved. The views from the rooftop are fantastic. In warmer weather I’m sure the rooftop stays very busy.
Overall we really enjoyed our 2 night stay at Marriott HQ. The hotel and grounds are great and I am sure the Arne M. Sorenson courtyard gets a lot of use in good weather, it’s a really nice outdoor space between the buildings. I found some great rates, we got upgraded twice to fantastic suites and every interaction we had with staff was exceptional. While this hotel is a little further from the project site I’ll be working on the next ~18 months, I’d be willing to spend a little more time commuting each day to stay here.
Photos below …
