The Westin Arlington Gateway

Stayed here a number of times. The hotel is close to DARPA and National Science Foundation. We have also had formal functions at this hotel. It is a greta new hotel with modern facilities and all the usual amenities. There is good internet, …
There is a StarBucks shop adjacent to the reception area. It is a great place if you have to do formal business in the vicinity. Great front office staff.

Somehow listed as a 4 star hotel. Maybe I’m missing some thing. Price for the days I was there were cheap. But I would have been extremely disappointed if I had paid any more. Little things like a continental breakfast even if it was only 5 bucks would have been nice. Instead they have an over priced yuppy little restaurant that charges you 15 dollars for an omelet. It’s supposed to be a «healthy choice» but when there’s a Starbucks fifty feet away, I’ll take my chances and grab a cup of coffee and a croissant. Then there is the tv. Usually, I don’t care about what is on the tv when I’m traveling. But they have the stones to charge 18 dollars for movies that are already out in redbox. Then there’s parking for 30 dollars a day. So to clarify on top of the room price. If I want some granola and milk it’s 13.50. if I parked my car it’s 30. if I want to watch a movie it’s 18. that is 61.50 on top of room costs per day. haha. wow. the room was fine. the staff was helpful. everything was fine as far as the room. just a little disappointing that the costs would have skyrocketed if I hadn’t found parking next door for 10 dollars a day. gone to Starbucks for breakfast. simply used Netflix. nice hotel. watch out for extras… which really shouldn’t be «extras»

While the room was comfortable enough, we had this constant tapping sound all the time. We complained to management who moved us down a couple of floors right below our original room. Guess what… the tapping sound continued!!!
When we told them the sound was still occurring, we asked to be moved to the other side of the hotel and guess what… They were all booked. Worse night of sleep I ever got in a hotel.

My experience is perhaps the effect of many factors and may not give justice to this place. Nonetheless, let us start with the pros: the hotel is well located, there are several nice restaurants nearby, the metro not far away and escaping the area by car easy. The room I got was fine furniture wise (bed comfortable, bathroom and bath fine and so were the provided bath-​care of good quality).
The cons are many however. The main issues awfully noise, with its window on the main avenue — overnight, I had sirens, motor bike sounds, cars, … all very audible through the 6^th floor windows — did this even have double panned windows? On the corridor side, I was in front of the ice machine room with two times during the first night of a bucket refill and sounds of a ice-​cube fall. Result: a bare 3 hours of sleep. On the other night, I found no other ways than using ear-​pugs. Second issue is that the hotel has a concierge parking at 18 $ /​day which I find quite expensive (it is not that this hotel is cheap and I would expect the cost to be somewhat included or competitive to other parking garages). I found out afterward there are close by garages for lower costs, not that I was pointed to that when I asked at the front desk. Finally, the room cost did not include breakfast.
Honestly, not sure if it was due to the travel agent trying to find a deal or not but I would only recommend this place to others with extreme caution and taking notes of the downsides.

Disgusting water damaged rooms. The smell and noise is unbearable. No invoice for business travelers. Been waiting 9 days for the hotel to send me an invoice for my expense report. They like to play games and ignore emails.
Avoid this hotel at all costs.

I stayed here 7 years ago and would have given it 5 stars then. Why 3 now?
Pros:
–Excellent location. Close to nice restaurants, metro station, good clean part of town.
–friendly staff.
–beautiful lobby.
–very comfortable bed.
–awesome shower.
Cons: –no microwave available once we got here. Fridge broken but was replaced.
–requests of front desk were provided about 50% of the time (cups, towels, etc.)
–bathroom did have significant mold spots that were not cleaned during our stay (1 week)
–they do not have a self serve laundry room. They will clean your laundry for $$$$$.
–although they boasted of a complete renovation just completed, the toilet leaked a puddle from the base and all other faucets were older and leaked. There was 2 torn wallpaper patches.
Pool was gross. Inadequately ventilated; lifegaurd was irritating (stayed on his mobile phone loudly our entire visit), and kids under 18 can’t go into the spa. The pool opens at 5pm and closes at 10pm. Lack of ventilation makes the entire 3^rd floor smell like nasty body odor and chlorine. I feel sorry for the people who are given rooms on this floor.
Some of these things wouldn’t bother me if I stayed in a lower-​priced hotel. However. We paid top dollar and therefore expected much better. Will I stay here again when I visit D.C. Yes, probably, because of the location alone. I just hope they can get it together before then.

Pretty happy staying here — newer hotel, friendly staff, great location. We could walk to the ballston metro, casual food nearby in the mall, harris teeter supermarket, and lots of restaurant options.
Breakfast was generally fine altho a few times pancakes were too dry/​hard and eggs were bland. But french toast was great and pancakes were delicious when cooked right

Good hotel. Clean. Good bed. Clean bathroom. Nice bar but very expensive. Staff is nice. We showed a few hours before checkin but had to wait until 3pm to check in. We would be back but a little too expensive.

I admittedly get confused when I try to remember which Starwood brand is supposed to represent which level of service. I’m pretty sure that the Westin is supposed to represent the higher end, but my stay in Arlington could best be described as «ordinary».
Actually, I can’t say that about the price. Because I booked late, the price per night was pretty exorbitant, especially for the room I ended up getting. The room and hotel were your typical «corporate» vibe, devoid of much personality but functional enough. I liked the fact that free Wi-​Fi came with the room, and as with all Westins I do like the Heavenly Bed and the rain water shower head. And to the credit of the staff, they did accommodate the special request I made upon my reservation. Another nice touch was the hot «apple cider with cinnamon elixir» they had waiting for guests.
My particular room came with free breakfast as well. The lady at the front desk forgot to give them to me at first, so i had to go back and get them later.
Breakfast was definitely the low point of the trip. Every morning they set up a buffet in their restaurant. I can honestly say the breakfast is 1000 times better at the Holiday Inn Express. The first day I was seated and when I got to the buffet table, the pancakes were dry and looked like they’d been sitting there for hours, the bacon was soggy and sitting on bread drenched with grease, and the supposed «steel cut oats» had been sitting there so long it literally looked like Elmer’s paste.
I thought I’d give them another chance the next day. Same thing… the «farm fresh eggs» may as well have come from a couple cartons of powered egg, and the «grits» had a thick film covering it by the time i got to it.
Given that it was «free», I couldn’t really complain (although I probably should have, given that the additional cost was clearly built into my rate).
The rest of the stay was hit-​or-​miss. One morning I realized I’d forgotten my razor and shaving cream so I pressed the «Service» button on my phone. After about an hour, no one came. It would have been nice if they’d told me upfront they were understaffed and asked me to come down to pick one up. Instead, I had to walk around like Grizzly Adams all day.
The rating of «A-​OK» seems to fit this place the best. Probably a step above the other options in the area, but at the end of your day it’s your typical corporate hotel without much personality or character.

Reasonably nice Westin in a central location in Ballston and convenient to Metro.
Pricey, valet was $ 29 a night, with no easy parking nearby.
My main complaint beyond price, was noise, we were on the 10^th floor but there was mechanical buzzing and whirring all night from outside and the HVAC made what can only be called a flatulent buzzing whenever it kicked on.
Also, the cable sucked (some pretty basic channels out) and there were signs for a gift shop, listed in the book, but actually? No gift shop.
There is a Starbucks in the lobby and the restaurant/​bar looked nice, though we didn’t eat there. Breakfast buffet was pretty industry standard.
Will not likely be recommending it to friends.

I pinch myself everytime I get to stay here to make sure it’s really happening and I’m not dreaming.
This Westin is beautiful and it’s located on N Glebe and 66 in Ballston (Arlington). One of the largest lobbies in the area it’s very welcoming with wood accents and just the right amount of warm lighting. There’s a starbucks and a Pinzimini restaurant accessible through the lobby.
The rooms are nice. Floor to ceiling windows so you get lots of light. Blackout shades are also great.
If I had to change anything it would be two things:
1 — more outlets on the nightstands (right now I have to plug my phone in on the wall which causes me to get out of bed to check my phone)
2 — newer tv
Also, if you’re staying here long term I purchased a humidifier to keep in the room. It definitely helps in the winter time when it can feel dry. Trust me… your skin will thank you.

Disappointed by the poor customer service. I’m an SPG proffered guest, and I chose that for a reason. This was utter disappointment.

The hotel is in a convenient location to explore virginia and DC via metro and the price for the room was great. The room was nice, comfortable beds and a nice shower. However two things stuck out 1) parking was an additional $ 30 on top of the hotel stay which was surprising. I’ve never been to a hotel where parking on the property (this was below the hotel, their own garage) was an additional fee. I wished that it was included in the price, even if it were $ 30 onto my bill vs the surprise cost when I got to virginia with no choice but to stay. 2) the location of our room was next to the elevators and I couldn’t tell if it was the elevator or the air system but every 20 minutes or so we heard a scraping noise (like loud hangers moving across a metal clothing rod) even in the middle of the night. Definitely not as peaceful as I wish the experience could have been.

Beautiful hotel, clean rooms, great location… that’s about all it has going for it.
Staff: friendly but not helpful. First issue was that the shower head was broken so we the called front desk advised that she will be sending an engineer up… about 30 minutes later we called to cancel and decided to just take a romantic bath… No offer to change rooms or even a complimentary drink or something huh? I asked, she says «no sorry» lol. Second issue, wasn’t too big of a deal but glad it was caught… parked my car with valet (no self parking here). As I was leaving they were about to charge me 2 nights worth of parking… doesn’t make sense because I’ve only been here for 12 hours…
But like I said earlier, it’s a beautiful hotel with clean rooms and sits at a pretty good location. However, based on the amount of money people are paying for the rooms here, one would expect services to be that of a 5 star hotel and not that of a 2 star one. Would have given it a 2, but the hotel’s beauty, cleanliness and large beds bumped it up to 3 stars.

First time around staying at one of these premium Starwood properties in Arlington and my 2^nd time staying in the city with Hyatt back in 2013. While the hotel was clean, inviting and the room’s clean all around nothing screamed wow. also there were some little quirk’s that left me questioning the brand.
Apparently there is no snack machine in the hotel! As I hadn’t ate in nearly 7 hours and nearing 1 am ready for bed the answer to my prayers from the front desk was to walk 3 block’s down the street to ⁷⁄₁₁ for a bag of chips which I did there was no other logical choice. The hotel check in had no clue when I questioned them about earning Southwest Airline Rapid Rewards point’s which is a partner with Starwood so I chose to dog it out with Starwood at another time over the phone. another ding. Some how the phone in the room didn’t seem to work right when trying to reach customer service about sending some shaving cream up to the room. The rooms were decent size, the bedding decent, the pillows ehhh I felt better in $ 40 Red Roof Inn rooms lol. The room had no 12 v outlet’s on the bed side lamps, the wall? The choice was a surge multi type protector on the floor. while hey it worked but it left me laying as close to the side of the bed as I could. you would think with today’s tablets, iPad, cell phones etc. modern hotels like this brand would upgrade the lamps at minimum to meet customer’s evolving demands.
So now that I’m doing dinging them what’s the good here? Rooms are close to the Metro so for D.C. travel is nice. The in room Starbuck’s for the coffee maker was nice positive and the rooms were clean.
In general The Westin was nice all around and I’m far from a picky hotel visitor even though this review sound’s like it I expected a lot more from this brand. I wouldn’t honestly seek The Westin out in my future visits around the country so the best were gonna get here is 3 out of 5 stars.

I stayed here on a business trip and had a good experience. The staff was friendly and although they gave me bad directions, they tried.
The room was clean and fresh. (Everything aside from the robe that had old makeup on it). Other than that I have no complaints.
It is walking distance to a lot of restaurants and there is a starbucks located inside.
I was dissapointed after reading their website that the indoor pool was only open on weekend. I did not pack a swim suit, and upon arrival it was open mid week. I think an update to their website is needed, or just call and ask before packing.
It is a short walk to the metro which takes you to all the sightseeing there is to do in DC. Not a fun or clean ride, but it is close.

I’m a huge fan of the Westin brand and this particular location has a beautiful lobby, fountains and gardens nearby (for photos) and it’s centrally located in Ballston. The rooms are spacious too.
They gave us a really good room rate considering the level hotel it is. The Holiday Inn a block away had given us the same rate but it wasn’t as nice of a hotel. They also threw in discounted parking and free WiFi for our guests.
Given all of this, they were difficult to work with once the contract was signed. I sent over various questions throughout the months leading up to the wedding, and I either never got a response or it would take more than a week. Sometimes I had to resend the questions because they would answer some but not others. But I tried to be patient.
The night before our wedding, I went to check into the suite that I’d booked for the girls and I to get ready, and for my husband and I to stay in on our wedding night. It was then that they told me I’d canceled my reservation and my suite was no longer available. I took a deep breath before I went into panic mode, and said I absolutely did not cancel it. Why would I cancel the room where we were getting ready for the wedding?!
Thank my lucky stars (and theirs) that they had their top-​line suite available and offered it to me for the rate I was paying for a regular suite. It had a dining table and full fridge — JACKPOT!
The guest services were great — they brought up a bar chair and champagne glasses promptly when I asked for it, and even placed an order for breakfast room service after the deadline for the next morning. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve stayed at hotels, asked for something (ie. more towels, etc) and they never show up.
Unfortunately, I found out on the day of checkout that several of our guests didn’t get discounted parking and the WiFi didn’t even work. My brother also was told his room was complimentary, but was later charged. When he called to get it reversed, they refused.
It took us reaching out to the hotel manager to get any kind of resolution to these issues. But even the process to get a hold of /​find him took several days and persistent follow up. He did end up comping my hotel suite but (again) it took persistent follow up.
Although the location is great and hotel is nice, this Westin was really difficult to work with and added much unnecessary stress to our wedding weekend. Perhaps it would be better for a weekend stay rather than coordinating a big event/​room block.

I am staying here tonight and have stayed here before. I am generally a fan of Westin. Service at front desk is always excellent. For some reason getting bell service to your room requires making the request… not as automatic or easy as it should be.
I had other issues last time but this time it was simply that all I wanted was an hour or two of TV. However the sound keeps going in and out every 5 or so seconds. I called the hotel operator tonight as the front desk staff recommended to do if the problem continued. The operator responded to my concern by saying (very nicely) oh yeah we have had that problem with ABC (earlier in the evening it was all channels I selected). Operator offered to call the service provider «again» but it wouldn’t do much for me tonight. Why am I paying a premium for a Westin tonight if I can’t even get basic service like TV?
Disappointing.
Dinner also at the hotel’s restaurant tonight wasn’t great for me (didn’t care for salad or entrée) but my companions made much better choices and were happy with their steaks and braised ribs. Service was good.

Hmmm. With all the great options in the DC area, this hotel falls very short.
I don’t know what’s going on here exactly. It appears that there are robots manning the front desk and while they are not rude, they are certainly not helpful. A simple question of where can I get a cup of Coffee? and I was referred to the concierge by the ever officious Austin the desk clerk. BS on that. Turns out there is a Starbucks attached to the lobby about 17 steps from Austin at the front desk– really?
I arrived at 9:30 AM from a transatlantic flight on a Tuesday morning. In a hotel that has around 1000 rooms, there was not one room available for me to check in at that time. I find that weird. They called me 2.5 hours later to let me know my room was ready frankly that is not acceptable.
I decided to make use my time by going for swim. I went to the pool at around 2 PM to find it was closed. Apparently here, they have a lifeguard and you can only swim during specific hours while there is a lifeguard present. I have never seen such a thing in any hotel around the world. Very disappointing.
It is clean and polished and austere. The room was fine. I just don’t know why you would come here when there are perfectly nice less expensive options with friendly staff and better options– very strange place. Additionally, there is really nothing to walk to from here. Woo hoo. PF Changs.
Unfortunately I had a meeting two blocks from here that is what brought me to this sad strange place.

Clean, efficient and very normal hotel that met my expectations for a stay at a Westin branded property. Lobby has the spartan efficiency of a college housing. No grand foyer welcomed us, just a few seats in a waiting area, and the reception desk. This is clearly a property that is focused on business travelers going to sleep, not as a good meeting point.
I think its two strengths are location and focus as a nice spot to sleep. Located a couple of blocks from the Ballston Metro and mall, it provides a nice neighborhood for someone staying, and access to Washington. I actually like that they have focused on making this property a place to sleep rather than a place to stay. They’ve simplified everything here and if you want to do anything, you can just go outside where lots of restaurants, coffee shops, and bars await you.
Of note, I mentioned in the notes of my online reservation that this stay was a special occasion for us. When we arrived at our room, there were flowers, chocolate, and champagne awaiting. Normal for this level hotel, but nice to see they aren’t slipping.