Clarion Collection Hotel Arlington Court Suites — Attraction in Arlington

This was the second time I stayed at this hotel, and it will certainly be the last. This hotel hires young adults, inexperienced with the hospitality industry, and as a result, they end up delivering questionable customer service. See below for some of the experiences I had with this hotel during my stay from June 13 to July 11. While the amenities and location are great, the lack of quality in customer service makes this hotel a dead end. The silver lining, however, was the maintenance guy, who was very helpful, and the breakfast staff, who always greeted me with a smile. The front desk personnel, however, should be re-evaluated.

If you're staying here for a few days, perhaps you can stomach the customer service. For long-term stays (one week or more), I would suggest finding another hotel in the area.

-When I arrived on June 13, I had a number of bags, including groceries, and no carts were available to take my belongings up to my room. When I asked the receptionist to assist with finding a cart, he instructed me to go find one myself.

-The morning shuttle bus driver was late for his 8:30 departure time. When he finally arrived, he engaged in conversation with another driver, oblivious of the fact that he was making everyone late. When I asked him to cut his conversation short so we could go, he got upset and became disrespectful.

-Despite the toilet flush being broken, none of the housekeeping staff fixed the issue or alerted maintenance. In fact, housekeeping disregarded/ignored my toilet, not cleaning it for days. Luckily the maintenance guy was able to assist.

-The kitchen was fully cleaned. Housekeeping ignored a number of areas in the kitchen.

-The phone in the room didn't work. Every time I tried to called housekeeping and the front desk, the line was always busy.

-While the washers worked in the hotel, the dryers stopped working. Of the four dryers in the hotel, only one was properly working. When I alerted the front desk, I was told that that I couldn’t be assisted and that I would have to wait until the morning to be assisted by housekeeping. I was shocked at the dismissive attitude I was given by the receptionist and the manager over the phone. Neither wanted to help me. Three other guests complained about this issue, and the front desk still had no solutions. The receptionist's only recommendation was that we all wait for the one dryer to work, which would have meant that we would have been up all night waiting on one dryer. Finally I recommended that we use the Hilton Garden Inn dryers. Had I not made that recommendation, my clothes would have been wet...

Unfortunately, I wasn’t very happy with my experience at the Clarion Collection Hotel in Arlington.||My biggest frustration was with the check-out process. I had been told by staff that I could check out at 1:00 PM, which I appreciated (even though I still think it was a little too early still). However, when I returned from my morning run, I was locked out of my room right at 11:00 AM (the original check-out time). When I went to the front desk to have my key reactivated, I was told that the late check-out time is to 12:00 PM — not the 1:00 PM I was promised. I felt rushed, and as a result, I ended up at the airport much earlier than needed, unable to even check my bag in. The staff made no effort to work with me to resolve the miscommunication, which is especially disappointing for a business in the hospitality industry.||Furthermore, while I understand the hotel is older (which isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker), it really feels like it could use some updates and maintenance.||The carpeting and paint were worn, the bathroom faucet had noticeable buildup and sprayed water in all directions, and the shampoo and conditioner dispensers were leaking into the tub — not a great look. There were no extra blankets in the closet (which most hotels typically offer), and the outlets in the bathroom were loose. I was also pretty grossed out to find water still sitting in the coffee maker from the previous guest — something that absolutely should have been caught by housekeeping.||Even though the building is older, it just needs more care and attention to feel clean, comfortable, and welcoming.||The complimentary breakfast was also disappointing. The eggs were cold, the fruit was old and limited in variety, and the breakfast area was far too small for the number of guests. I had to take my food back to my room just to have a place to sit. It would also be helpful if the hotel made it clearer that breakfast is served on the 8th floor — that was not obvious.||The location is great — that’s one definite plus — but if you're able to spend a little more, I’d recommend looking at one of the neighboring hotels. This one just didn’t deliver the quality or consistency I expected.||Unfortunately, I won’t be considering this hotel — or this...

My husband and I stayed at the Clarion for almost a month, and I was pleasantly surprised by how spacious and comfortable the rooms were, as well as the fact that they provide complimentary breakfast. To begin with, we had just come from Hawaii, where we stayed at the 5-star Alohilani Resort, and honestly, the quality there was terrible. It was dirty, the rooms were moldy, and they were tiny. That was a nightmare.🫤

Then we came to DC, and when I looked at the Clarion online, I didn’t have high expectations—it looked a bit old, and I thought, well, maybe it will be okay for the price. But I did not expect it to be this good. I would give this hotel five stars instead of that so-called luxury hotel in Hawaii. Yes, the furniture may be a bit old-fashioned, but for me, cleanliness is the main priority. First of all, I loved that the room was spotless. I had my cat with me, and when he hid under the bed and I had to pull him out, it was perfectly clean under there! The bed linens smelled fresh and clean, the towels were spotless, and even the bathroom shower curtain was super clean.

Maybe we were just lucky, but we really liked our room. The front desk staff was very welcoming, and the free breakfast on the 8th floor was also great. In addition to eggs, potatoes, and patties, they also had very healthy oatmeal, fresh fruit, and the coffee was good too. I also appreciated that they offered a thermos of real half-and-half, not just those overly sweet creamers in little plastic cups.

The in-room kitchen with a stove, pans, dishes, plates, and even a dishwasher was amazing. On top of that, the location is excellent—you can walk to the Metro in 7 minutes and get to any museums or cultural sites in DC. We left our car in the hotel parking lot ($20 a day) and explored the city by Metro without having to worry about parking, which can be a real problem in DC 😁

All in all, thank you so much, Clarion—you did a great job🫶🏻

And by the way, if you’re a tourist reading my review, there’s a place nearby called Courthouse Kabob that serves excellent meat dishes. Highly recommend checking...