Hotel Review: Le Meridien Arlington

Le Meridien Arlington is looked a short walk from the Rosslyn Metro system (located on the Blue and Orange Lines). I have walked by this building for years and never knew it was a hotel until about six months ago.

A combination of promotions (described here) led me to do a last minute hotel stay.

You enter the front door and you are greeted by a dog food bowl/food. I don't know if the hotel is pet friendly, but this is a positive sign.

Entering on the ground level, you are asked to go to the fourth floor to check-in. At 8pm, no one was at the ground floor to greet you, but when I checked out their was an employee who asked if I needed a cab.

The building is half a hotel and half condominium. Therefore, there are signs on some elevators indicating they are only for condominium residents.

The lobby of the hotel is small with the check-in desk directly in front of the elevators.

Check-in was a breeze with nothing more than a few questions:

Are you staying for one night? Yes

Do you need one or two room keys? Two

Do you need the mini bar key? No.

After those questions, I was sent to my room on the sixth floor.

I was given room 602, at the end of the hallway.

The hotel is curved on one side. Therefore, room 602 is the smallest on the floor. I check on other floors and the xx2 room is the smallest throughout the hotel. Therefore, I would avoid this room for its size and noise (to be discussed later).

When you enter the room, you have a small hallway and the bathroom is directly to the right.

The bathroom was a little cramped, but had very modern fixures.

The shower had a rain shower head and was very roomy.

If you are a bath type person, the tub was extra wide and angled deep on one side and shallow on the other.

The hotel provided squirt bottles with shampoo, conditioner and body wash. I only hope that they get cleaned between guests; otherwise, eww...

The bathroom door was rolling, but easier to move than at other Starwood hotels.

The room was very small. It was ok for one person, but two people would feel crowded.

The closet was a great size. I would recommend keeping your suitcase in there; otherwise, space would be tight.

It took me some time to find the dresser and finally found it to be "end table," to the left of the bed. It was very narrow to get to it, so don't expect to bring your suitcase to the dresser.

The right "end table" held the mini bar and snack cabinet. It was suppose to be locked (the front desk asked if I needed the key), but it wasn't. I forgot to take a picture. The desk had multiple electric outlets and places to plug into the network.

When I went to bed, the noise from the heating units outside my window was very loud. At first, I thought it was landing planes, as the hotel is in the path of the airport. However, flights end at midnight and the noise did not. The next morning I found the culprit:

Due to the shape of the building, any room numbered 2 will have this noise all night long.

The hotel had a great gym on the third floor of the hotel. It is shared with the condominium owners.

I worked out twice. Once when I arrived and the next morning.

The hotel has many sitting areas to the left and right of the check-in desk.

I decided to eat breakfast at their restaurant, Amuse.There is little to eat in Rosslyn, on the weekends. All the fast food restaurants are open, but if you want real food expect to go to Georgetown over the bridge.

Amuse is a nicely decorated restaurant with a bar area in the front.

The dining area is in the back. The dining area is filled with natural light with floor to ceiling windows that over look the Potomac and Georgetown. The restaurant has outdoor seating, but it was foggy  rainy and cold, when I ate there.

The breakfast offers were two buffets: cold and hot. The cold buffet was $8 and included fruit, pastries, cereal and yogurt:

The hot buffet was $15 included everything on the cold buffet, eggs, pancakes, french toast, sausage, bacon etc.

I choose the hot buffet and it was terrible. The food was luke warm and rubbery. I should have gone with my gut and stuck with the cold buffet. Juice, coffee and tea were included with either buffet.

The stay was ok. The location of the hotel is amazing. Rosslyn is located on two metro lines that get you into Washington, DC downtown or the monuments within 10 minutes. If you are driving, the hotel is within 3 minutes of multiple major highways. However, the hotel does not offer much. It is not a great hotel for families as there is no pool or places for the kids to run around. For business people, this hotel is great. Easy access to DC, Reagan National Airport or other places in Northern Virginia.