A Pretty Good Choice for DC Business
Written: Feb 10 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: friendly/helpful staff, location, hotel and room amenities for the most part, transportation into DC
Cons: small bathrooms with unimpressive but functional hardware, rooms show their age in places
The Bottom Line: a good DC-area hotel that resists the temptation to nickel-and-dime (or ten-and-twenty-dollar) their patrons to death as many in DC proper attempt to do.
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| ncsuprof's Full Review: Hilton Hotel- Springfield, VA |
I've just finished a three-and-a-half day stay at the Hilton-Springfield (VA), on Loisdale Rd. in... well... Springfield (d-uh!). In fact, technically I haven't checked out yet, which is useful in reminding me to mention certain things in this review! But since tomorrow is pumpkin-time and I have to leave, I thought I'd go ahead and write this review now. This hotel was originally a "bridge" reservation for business I had in D.C.; I was going to transfer to the Cap Hilton after my first night here. After several hours getting the feel of this joint, however-- and particularly after learning it had FREE WiFi in the rooms (Cap Hilton charges $12.95 per day) and FREE around-building parking (I can see my car from the lobby door in a secure environment; Cap Hilton charges $40/day parking, with or w/o valet service), I started to think that staying in Springfield and using the DC Metro to get in and out of the city wasn't such a bad idea. It was only shortly thereafter that I learned the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station, southern terminus of the Metro Blue Line, is about a 5-8 minute ride away from the hotel AND... here's the nicest little kicker... the Springfield Hilton offers free on-demand transport to and from the station for guests from early in the morning 'til late at night. And that service worked very, very well while I was here!
Another advantage, of course, is that given that I probably need to leave on the cusp of rush hour tomorrow and head SOUTH out of the DC metro area, I'd much rather start my journey on I-95 from Springfield than from central Washington. Probably saved three hours of my life right there. :)
Location-wise, as I've noted, the Springfield Hilton is in a pretty nice spot. It's a mere (and literal) couple of minutes off of I-95 (including stop lights), the Metro station is nearby as described above, and Springfield Mall is more or less right across the street. A ride into the middle of DC via Metro will cost you either $2 plus change (non-rush hour) or $4.30-ish (rush hour premium rates), and will take about half an hour more or less. Here are the other "category" breakdowns I like to provide with non-casino properties:
ARRIVAL/PARKING/CHECK-IN: I was initially not the MOST impressed with the "look" of the area in which the hotel is located; it's right next to a big office building and parts of the shopping areas across the street look gently old and run-down. It doesn't look BAD... it just isn't the "lots of neatly-trimmed bushes and flowing fountains" effect you get at some upscale properties. If you can live with that, however, you'll find self-parking near the main entrance very easy and (my experience, at least) check-in reasonably polite, efficient and quick. The hotel naturally honors HHonors membership levels of various sorts, so if you're Gold or Diamond status, you'll get various little check-in and room perks as well as an invite (on Tuesdays) to a free manager's reception w/little food/drink items.
ROOMS: Well, my room has been a king on a mid-level floor, and here's the breakdown of it. Elevators are efficient and reasonably quick. Hallways don't look very "upscale hotel-ish," but are nicely appointed, well-lit and comfortable if a bit basic. Once I got to the room, I noticed a few things in a combination of good and bad. First big thing-- I didn't get the most gorgeous view, but I suppose that's sort of luck of the draw... and besides, in this area, I'm not sure there's much of a view to have in the first place. No real bother, but if you're the kind of person who wants to look off into the distance and see the Washington Monument, you shouldn't stay here.
The condition of the room was something around a 7 to 7.25 on a scale of 10. Climate control was very efficient for both heating and cooling, and in good order. Furniture is useful, and storage space is adequate. Bed was quite comfy, with lots of pillows and a spare blanket in the closet area (came in handy the first night when I forgot to turn the efficient climate control to HEAT when the outside temperature dropped!). TV is good with a respectable but not brilliant choice of channels, and the clock/radio/MP3/etc. player worked fine as did the phone with its many preset buttons for various hotel services. Lighting is good, albeit through the use of lots of room lamps in various places! Art/mirrors on the wall are nice, and drapes were good and in good shape. On my particular carpet, there are some marks that look like cigarette burns from long ago, which is the only down side of an otherwise comfy carpeting.
BATHROOM: for a Hilton, the bathroom is just a little on the unpleasantly small side. Can't get into the shower without closing the door somewhat, and the commode is more or less the same story. The sink area is OK with ample space; water pressure in sink and shower are both good, although the commode-- wow, when you flush it, you initially think it's blocked and won't work.... but it ultimately does (funky plumbing issue throughout the building, or just my room?)... it just struggles a bit at first. The tub strikes me as a little narrow, but then again in a bathroom this small, I suppose that's as big as they could make it. They also have a big handicapped hand rail in there which takes up room and threatens your arms when you move them around while washing; I suspect you may find it useful to pull yourself up to call an ambulance, however, when you slip and fall in the tub because it's SLIPPERY as heck and they don't provide rubber no-slip mats! The showerhead was the worst part of the bathroom odyssey-- effective at the end of the day, but cheap, small... I'd prefer it if management would consider putting in some industrial-strength Speakmans or something.
Nice range of toiletries provided by the hotel, including shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, nice little soaps, mouthwash, shower cap. Lots of fluffy towels/washcloths and a hair dryer round out the picture.
GENERAL CONDITION OF ROOM/OTHER AMENITIES: respectable, although as I look around at various parts of it not-so-hard-or-critically, I see little bumps here, poorly-fitted fixtures there and things that have probably been here since the early seventies elsewhere. Gotta admit that it's not exactly what I expected out of a Hilton, but I also can't say that these things bothered me SO much that I didn't enjoy staying here, which I did.
They have in-room coffee makers, which is a big plus in my book, albeit they're Cuisinart "two cup" machines with Lavazza pods, and there's a reason I don't have a pod coffeemaker at home-- they don't make good coffee compared to even moderate-quality small pot/carafe machines! If you're a coffee hog like me, you'll need to ask for extra pods. And given that they're free, you can probably survive the Lavazza pods without complaining TOO much if you can get used to having to make new cups every 5-8 minutes until the pods are all gone.
STAFF: I"m very impressed with my interactions with all the staff, from the front desk/checkin to bell persons to cleaners. They have all struck me as dedicated to hospitality, friendly, helpful, kind. In my experience on this trip, they're probably at or near the top of the list of "top resources this hotel offers." My compliments to the management... AND the staff... on this one. :)
RESTAURANT: it's a "Houlihan's," a reasonably well-known chain, that's attached to the hotel and has an internal entrance from the lobby. I've eaten there a couple of times, and like these various facts about it: (A) it doesn't seem overwhelmingly busy, so it's easy to get seated; (B) the menu is sufficiently large to please most palates, I suspect; (C) the prices are eminently reasonable for a restaurant put in a hotel. They kind of buggered up my hamburger-to-go order last night (do this if you can to avoid the higher room service prices PLUS a 20% mandatory service charge/gratuity added to the bill) with respect to condiments, but the burger was still tasty and ready about 15 min. after I ordered it. Let's put it this way-- I'm eating there again tonight, and I like the fact that I don't have to think about "inexpensive informal dining strategies" in this hotel the way I sometimes have to do (when I'm not in the mood for a fancy-schmancy dining experience) at other properties when I really don't WANT a mediocre $60 steak from their bad but pretentious restaurant. Houlihan's is a nice resource for this hotel, and both the bar and restaurant areas are comfortable.
PHONE/WIFI-- they charge for local calls, so bring your cell phone! as for the WiFi, the last few days haven't been all that impressive; the connection is strong, but I kept losing internet access as their service dropped back to a "local only" connection and I had to reconnect to the network 4-8 times over a couple hours' time period. Today, somehow, there doesn't seem to be that problem... fingers crossed as I try to respond to a bunch of emails tonight. And besides, it's free... so I can't exactly scream that I've lost money on the deal. It WOULD be nice if they'd investigate the reliability issues a little more carefully with their ISP, however. :)
OTHER STUFF: well, I've gently strayed from my default format for most reviews, but "other stuff" is always last (and besides, it's all there, above, but just in a slightly more random order 'cause I'm tired!), so here 'tis! The only other thing worth mentioning that I haven't noted above is my experience with the ice/vending machine on my hallway. Big pluses on both counts-- ice machine works very well and delivers good volume, and the vending machine next door has a nice selection of reasonably-priced snacks and drinks ($1.50 for a 24-OUNCE bottled soda). Thumbs up!
Unless time was absolutely, positively critical in a series of downtown DC meetings on my next trip and I had to be able to get between anywhere downtown and my hotel very quickly, I'd stay at the Springfield Hilton again if the rate was lower than the central-Washington properties (as well it should be for out here; the standard rates here are admittedly a bit high for average business travelers). This time around, I had two FULL days of work to do, so it was no real hassle to leave the hotel for the day and Metro in to Washington to do all my business before coming back in the evening. And under THOSE circumstances, the Springfield Hilton is a good option worthy of research for those who want a DC/NoVA-area room.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
ncsuprof
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Member: John
Location: North Carolina
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 0 members
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