The Virginian Suites, an Ascend Hotel Collection Member

This is the second time my wife and I have stayed here. Last time was a good experience, this time even better. The suite we had was a corner suite and was HUGE… more like an apartment than a hotel. The staff was super friendly and the location is convenient. Recommended!

We stayed here for three weeks while waiting for our house to be ready for us to move in. 2 adults, 2 kids under 5.
Pros:
All rooms have full kitchens with stove, microwave, full size combo fridge/​freezer, sink, & dishwasher. Housekeeping provides liquid dish detergent as well as powdered dishwasher soap & paper towels. Nice outdoor pool. Great playground right across the street. Good location for exploring Arlington (walk to Iwo Jima & Arlington National Cemetery). Tons of restaurants within 10 minute walk, as well as the Rosslyn metro station so it’s easy to get into DC. Hotel runs complimentary shuttles to and from the metro and to grocery stores. Map of area and relevant info provided upon check-​in. Self-​service station with complimentary ice water (with lemon & lime slices!), lemonade, tea, coffee, hot chocolate all day long is a big bonus in my book! And of course free chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies in the lobby every evening at 7pm is such a treat (if you can get there in time to snag one!) Vending machines that accept Apple Pay were nice for us. Staff was all very courteous and helpful, especially Sabine! Much-​needed room renovations are ongoing, which might cause a ratings bump to four stars with future guests. Catered dinners in the hotel M-​Th were very convenient with two little kids and I like that they switched up the menu. Free pizza Wednesdays are loved by all! Overall value for price is not bad for this area.
Cons:
$ 14 per day parking adds up. So does coin-​op laundry of $ 2 per wash load & $ 1.75 per dryer. Unrenovated rooms such as ours are in sad shape. Décor & kitchen looks like it’s from the 1970s. Cheap couch has numerous large holes in the covering (see pic). A/​C in bedroom is very noisy. Walls between bathrooms are paper thin. I could hear my neighbor’s entire morning routine. All of it. (Ew.) Towel bar coming off of wall (see pic). Boards beside bed coming up and have nails sticking out of them. (Not safe for little kids!). Just do not stay here if you are a big germ-​o-​phobe. Even after housekeeping comes, everything is too old to really feel «clean.» Breakfast was either too bland or too processed/​packaged and never changes. I never want to see turkey sausage, potato wedges, & the most bland scrambled eggs I’ve ever had in my life again. Oh and the straps are broken on every single high chair here, which made my mealtimes wrangling two kids alone while Hubby was at work more difficult.
Suggestions:
Add a laundry-​related items vending machine as well as an automatic bill changer in the laundry room so guests don’t have to bug reception for quarters. Fix the broken straps on the high chairs. And since many guests stay here longer than just a night or two, please please please change up the breakfast selection. Maybe get rid of the vat of oatmeal that I’ve never seen anybody touch and add a waffle station?

Great and reasonably priced hotel minutes from D.C. Very large room where 3 children and 2 adults slept comfortably. Nice kitchen in room as well. Warm breakfast was great and breakfast room was very clean and staff kept the food stocked. Staff was amazing and after our daughter left her prized teddy bear in the room (which we discovered 3 States too late) the staff mailed it to our home in Kansas and we received it in two day! They went above and beyond expectations! Thank you and you will not be disappointed!

First and foremost, the employees that work here are great! They go out of their way to genuinely help. They gave me good restaurant suggestions and very accurate directions to anywhere I needed to be. A+ in this area.
The exercise room isn’t much, but that would be a perk anyway.
The Virginian is about a 10 minute walk to the metro, and a 5 minute walk to the nearest corner store and restaurant.
The rooms are clean and the furniture is nice. The rooms look like they’ve been renovated a few times and the buildings old a little old from the outside. If they were to replace the kitchen appliances and AC unit (which looks ancient), this room would be solid. The bathroom is small but clean. It too could use a change.
For the price, I don’t think this place is at all a steal. However, I believe customer service and clean facilities go a long way. So I would stay here again.

Booked: studio suite — 2 queens with sofa bed
Pros:
1). Very spacious, like a studio apartment
2). Has a kitchen
3) close to two Iwo Jima and Arlington memorial
4) awesome, friendly receptionists — especially the Asian guy.
5) free shuttle to get grocery from Safeway and to the metro station (did not use the service)
6) sofa bed has springs — but the receptionist were so accommodating and gave me 2 extra comforters for extra padding which were so nice of them.
7). This is the hotel for you if you travel with kids (large room, fresh cookies and cold lemonade in the lobby)
Cons:
1) saw an old dirty diaper in the back of the sofa
2) no grocery or restaurants near by
3) kitchen was useless, stoves wouldn’t turn on. Boiled hot water using microwave instead. All windows had nails to prevent people from opening the windows so no fresh air, will need windows open if cooking. So we did not cook a single meal.
Tip:
1) Enroll as a choice member or you will pay $ 12 for breakfast and $ 14 for parking.
2) 3^rd floor is the VIP floor — breakfast, saunas, computers with a printer that you can print almost everything
3) Not worth purchasing the breakfast. We had the exact same items for three mornings. The eggs, sausage and potatoes tasted really weird.
Despite the above cons, it’s an okay hotel for the price. I will definitely stay again.

My boyfriend and I booked a room here and stayed last night. Their website says this hotel is pet friendly. We get there and told them that we have a dog and tells us there is a $ 150 pet fee. Their website failed to mention that. We knew there was a fee but not $ 150 worth. Next thing, the elevator takes forever. Seeing as theirs 10 floors. When I took a shower the handle fell right off and the water was never warm. It went to either really hot or freezing cold. It was never a happy medium. This morning, I went to get breakfast where they offer it on the 3^rd floor. I fill a plate and start heading back to my room. A woman who was a few feet away told me that I can’t leave with any food. I said what? Why? And she pointed to a small sign. That was ridiculous. I’m going to pay for a room, that I can’t eat MY breakfast in? I’m not sure if this is all hotels are around this area, I wouldn’t know because I’m from Boston but that’s ridiculous. The associates were friendly but I wouldn’t go back to this place.

I would have given Virginian Suites five stars last year for their nice rooms which are old but well kept, for their amazing, friendly staff, and for their willingness to go the extra mile. This year, however, I am a little less satisfied. The staff has not been nearly as helpful and has seemed irritated by some of my simple requests. Last year they gave our group free breakfasts which, I’m sure, was influenced by the fact that we spent $ 6000 on rooms. This year, they said they have catering and cannot help us out.
I’m not sure where they get catering from but it is disgusting. Powdered eggs, some sausage, soggy fried potatoes, and a bunch of packaged food, all for $ 6. There is a Panera at Rosslyn Metro Station which you can actually eat at for cheaper than $ 6 if you are frugal. Despite Panera’s low reviews, everyone in our group was impressed by it’s quality. Maybe anything would have tasted delicious after the hotels abominable breakfast. Please save yourself a miserable experience by not buying the breakfast at this hotel. Perhaps if enough people avoid it, they will provide a halfway decent breakfast. I’ve stayed at $ 89 per night hotels that have better breakfasts than this.
We will be returning to DC again next year and will need twice as many rooms, about $ 12,000 in business for them. After last year, I was convinced we would be with Virginian Suites for a while. Now, I may start looking at other hotels.
Grant

Staying here was one of the worst experiences I’ve had with a hotel. There seemed to never be any sort of communication between staff members and management. Housekeeping was in our room multiple times a day because no one had told one another that the room had already been cleaned. To make our experience even better, in the middle of my stay I was asked to move rooms because the carpet was being replaced throughout the hotel. This should have been something I was warned about upon checking in. I would never stay here again.

I waited to write the review til I completed my extended stay. After three weeks, I’m well positioned to have an overall opinion. The property is convenient to the Rosslyn metro and business area. Its common areas are kept tidy. It’s minimally appointed. The gym was small. The pool was closed… it was Feb in DC. There is no bar or restaurant in the facility. They do serve a small breakfast in the morning and pizza on Wednesdays for guests. The breakfast is an additional fee, the pizza isn’t. Neither are spectacular. The rooms are adequate, but the heat quit four times. It was fixed promptly… but it quit four times. The fridge quit once, but the management replaced the loss based on my receipts. The maid service was good, but their timing on the weekends sucked. The front desk staff was fricken awesome! And I mean awesome, no matter the time of day. The shuttle service was friendly, timely and accommodating. For business, I would stay again. Trip with the kids, sure. Adult, romantic vacay? No way!

I’ve stayed here three times in the past four years because of its proximity to the Marine Corps Marathon finish line. Unfortunately no improvements have been made to the hotel despite rising prices. Also, housekeeping has gone downhill as well. Not only did we not receive towels in our room after check in, the housekeeper left her dirty rag in the shower after cleaning it the next day. The hotel desperately needs a makeover and renovations. At almost $ 300/​night for this weekend, you expect more. Much more. As a plus, the front desk staff is super helpful and friendly.

overall ok, our room was terrible, service not that great, breakfast was frozen Kelloggs breakfast sandwiches. probably a good thing because I wouldn’t trust the kitchen. Don’t eat the free cookies they leave out in the lobby in the evening. we found a huge Roach in the container and they didn’t even blink. must be a common occurrence. too bad because I really wanted a cookie. they were not replaced after they threw them out.
We stayed in the «penthouse» 11^th floor 2bdrm apartment with a huge living room. sounds cool right? not when you look closely and realize the ceiling is made of asbestos tiles and does nothing to dampen the sound from the giant building air-​conditioning that runs all night, the elevator control room is next to your apartment so you constantly hear that going up and down all night, the electrical sockets are all from the 20s and the holes are too wide for my cell phone charger so it won’t even stay plugged in. the sink in the bathroom is free standing and so small that I cant help but spill water everywhere when trying to use it. be careful when you turn on the water, if you turn too far around the water pressure goes away again. oh and forgot to mention the best part… the elevator doesn’t go all the way to the penthouse so you have to get off on the 10^th floor and go up the stairs… Definitely needs some serious work.

This is sort of a weird place. The building is old and during a one-​night stay, we had to call maintenance twice for a non-​flushing toilet. It broke again as we were departing so I figured I’d use the restroom in the lobby on the way out but after schlepping downstairs was told no, the restroom is on the third floor. Also, we were told on the phone we had a room with 2 queens and a full size pullout. Turns out it was two fulls and a twin pullout. We are a family of six and had a rotten night’s sleep. The front desk staff *was* really nice, but I wouldn’t stay here again.

Meh. A very unsexy property from the outside, to say the least. They’ve done a tasteful job of renovation in the lobby and rooms (the hallways are lackluster), but the layout of Reception is hopeless: the lobby entrance leads up to a narrow set of stairs (?), funneling back to a tiny Reception desk. Considering the size of the hotel and the number of people likely to be checking in at any given time, this design is guaranteed to cause a perpetual bottleneck.
As well, the bathroom is the most cramped I’ve ever seen in a renovated hotel, with absolutely no space for toiletries.
The property seems pretty clean, but given its age and the problems inherent with older hotels, I’m hoping for no bedbugs, etc.

I really hate giving bad reviews but this place needs to come with a warning sign. This review is for the two bedroom suite or as they refer it the «penthouse». I stayed here for 4 days with my boyfriend, mom and aunt. We were in DC for my sister’s graduation and my mom likes to stay across the bridge from the hot mess of Georgetown. Over the years, we’ve stayed at other hotels in the area but by the time I called around to make a reservation, Virginian suites was the only one that could accommodate us.
We came in on late flight and checked in. The girl let me know that the «penthouse» was located above the 10^th floor so you mean the 11^th floor right? WRONG. It’s like they turned the roof storage into a suite. In order to get to the «penthouse» you have a climb a flight of stairs from the 10^th floor. What if I was handicap? They neglected to even mention access on their website or even tell me when I called to confirm my reservation.
We took elevator to the 10^th floor and then walked up the flight of stairs huffing and puffing with all our luggage. We made it to the top and saw two doors, one for the mechanical room and the other our «penthouse». We open the door and good lord this place was huge. The living room is absurdly large with minimal furniture. Half the lamps in the damn place didn’t work so we had to stumble around in the dark to find a light that worked. There is a full dining room, kitchen, two separate bedrooms, two bathrooms and a roof patio. This all sounds great doesn’t it? No it was horrid.
Whoever did the paint job must have been blind because the red paint lines were not straight and haphazardly done. The ceiling was white cork boards. something you would find in a ghetto office building. My bf and I took the smaller room and the closet had gaping holes with wires coming out of them. Our bathroom sink was barely big enough for me to wash my hands, let alone brush my teeth without water splashing all over the place. I knew the towels were clean because they smelled like bleach. Almost all of the outlets did not work or were the wrong size– they must have painted over the holes because none of our phone chargers would fit.
Once we settled in, we headed into the rooms to get some sleep and you can hear the elevator moving up and down. To make things worse, the AC units for the entire building were right above the rooms making a loud mechanical noise sounding like a turbine. We called downstairs to complain about the noise and all they told us was, «they’ve never had a complaint before». Though it was spacious, I would never stay in the same suite again. The noise at night is unbearable. It was a pain to get to our suite as one of two elevator were constantly broken.
AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, they offer «freshly baked» cookies every afternoon. We were excited to try some and when my boyfriend reached in to grab a cookie, he found a cockroach. Naturally my mom and aunt started screaming as the damn thing ran across the cookie plate and the front desk lady came down to inform us it was not a cockroach, but a different type of bug. I almost threw up thinking of all those people who ate one of the cookies. WHO DOES THAT? Also, the breakfast is probably the worst I’ve seen. No freshly made food ie, frozen breakfast sandwiches and mini waffles; there were some yogurts, bagels, apples and bananas.
I would give them 0 stars but we did end up moving to a smaller room on the 9^th floor which is 100X better than that POS penthouse, hence the 1 star. I would have moved to a smaller room earlier in the week had I known. The one bedroom suite is much cleaner and comes with a full kitchen. There is also a pullout bed in the living room so plenty of space to sleep.
Pros: Close to the airport (Reagan International), big parking lot ($ 12 a day), kitchens in most of the rooms.
Cons: WORST PENTHOUSE SUITE, roaming roaches in the free cookies, worst breakfast buffet, slow elevators, SLOWEST WIFI ever, hoards of school children on field trips, and food delivery options are minimal.
If you are debating about the two bedroom suite, just get two separate rooms instead. It seems like a great deal but once you get there, it is far from a deal and rather a scary nightmare.

I’ve stayed at the Virginian Suites in Arlington twice now for business trips. It’s an older building, which you can see and feel most noticeably in the elevators and bathrooms (the look on my face when I accidentally pulled the hair dryer off the wall…). During one trip, I shared a single room with a colleague and had to spend the night on a folding rollaway bed and I would not wish that lumpy disaster upon my worst enemy (although I’m not sure if I should blame the event organizer or the hotel for this).
On the plus side, the hotel seems conveniently located given its distance from the National Mall. It was always easy to grab an Über or taxi in the morning, and the hotel provides a shuttle to the Metro. There were numerous delivery options and, if I’m not mistaken, the same shuttle also makes a trip to a grocery store. Friendly staff, free coffee in the morning, and affordable enough for my non-​profit to book rooms for two events.

Cons– Rooms are old, outdated, and overpriced.
The hotel is directly under a flight path.
There is hardly any water pressure when showering.
There is a $ 12 charge to park a car per day.
The location of the hotel is a 10 minute walk to the nearest metro station, but they do run a shuttle.
Pros– the rooms are clean, staff friendly and helpful, the suites are good size and relatively quiet.

I took my wife out for a date night to see the show Elf at the Kennedy Center. We live locally, and did not want to travel back home after the show, so we stayed a night at the Virginian Suites. We checked-​in early and they had a room for us. The staff was very friendly and helpful.
Being members of Choice rewards, the price was just right. We were not charged for parking that is normally $ 12.00 a day. We also received free breakfast. In addition, we received excellent advice to take a cab to the Kennedy Center instead of driving. The staff researched the parking at the Kennedy Center and found it to cost $ 22.00. By taking a cab to and from the show, we saved money, and did not have the hassle of finding parking and dealing with the traffic.
The room was great with one exception. The bathtub did have some very noticeable mold. Other than this one item, the room and facilities was great. I would stay here again.

We stayed here for a week a short while back and were very pleased with our stay.
First off, is the price. We had had room reserved right in the city; but, if you have not stayed there lately, let me tell you: hotels in Washington DC are expensive. Our room at the Virginian Suites was, literally, $ 100 less/​night than the room we had reserved in DC. With tax, for seven nights, that saved us nearly $ 1000. And, we were, literally, one stop further away from the action via Metro than we would have been had we stayed at our original hotel. The savings more than made up for the extra couple of minutes on the subway every morning.
Second, our «room» was huge; it was, literally, an apartment — with a separate bedroom, sitting area, dining area, and kitchen. (And, yes, I realize I am, literally, overusing the word «literally» this review. But, I am using the word correctly and it has fit each time.) We loved having the extra space. I loved having a proper gas stove to heat the water for my tea each morning. Are the accommodations a tad dated (as some have argued)? Perhaps. But, they were more than adequate for our needs.
The staff here were friendly and accommodating. When we arrived (at about 10:30 PM after a long day of traveling), we were greeted warmly AND offered free breakfast for each day of our stay. The front desk person said this was because we are members of their «Choice Rewards» program. (I suspect the length of our stay might have also played a role.) In any case, we were very grateful for this gesture. The breakfast was not gourmet. But, there were ample selections from which to choose, it got us going each morning, and we truly appreciated the time and money this saved us each day.
As mentioned earlier, the Virginian Suites are convenient to the Metro. (It is a less than ten minute walk, and the hotel also offers a shuttle to the station on weekdays.)
We took advantage of the free WiFi offered here and had no trouble with access or speed.
We had no complaints about our stay here. We would definitely stay here again and would definitely recommend to others.

Having taken other Unilocaler’s reviews to heart, I was sorely disappointed by this hotel, and it surely does not deserve a 4-​star rating!
We arrived to a smoke-​scented room on the 10^th floor and asked to be moved the next morning only to be sent to a room with an even more pungent odor on the 9^th floor. They finally gave us a 3^rd room on the 7^th floor that was better, but still not great in terms of cleanliness.
Overall, this is an older property that has been poorly reconditioned and marginally maintained. Can you get a good deal here? Yes. Are the rooms fairly spacious with kitchenettes? Yes. Is it worth it in the end? In my opinion, no.

I was attending a family wedding, and the soon-​to-​be-​wedded had reserved a block of rooms at this very nice hotel. Check their web site for discounted deals.
Apartment sized suites, this was a perfect fit for my needs, and would be perfect for a traveling family. The Potomac Club Conference Room continental breakfast was a pleasant way to start my day, with very nice staff.
They have a pool available from Memorial Day thru Labor Day. Each men’s and ladies room near the pool has a sauna, and there is a work-​out room available near them on the 3^rd floor.
Walking was the travel mode both days of my stay. The Marine Corps Memorial was a couple blocks away out the back door, as was the Netherlands Carillon. A slightly longer walk took me to the Arlington National Cemetery.
Free wi-​fi, paid parking ($ 9 per day) in their private lots. Potomac Club Conference Room continental breakfast was pleasant, very nice staff.
Notes:One of our party was in a motorized wheelchair. When the family booked the room, they were told that the accessible entrance was «in the back.» Because they did not want to be relegated to some service elevator, they chose a different hotel across the expressway. When we arrived, we looked at the facilities and were surprised to find the accessible entrance was highly accessible. It might not be ADA, but they easily could have used it.
The staff was responsive to the needs of their guests.
This reviewer recommends confirming reservations especially on late arrivals and busy weekends.