DC/Bethesda NIH - Vacation
 

We are going to Bethesda, NIH for a week in May for a study on Parkinson's but will have the afternoon & evenings to visit the DC area. We were told the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda would be best to stay at<BR>in our situation.....<BR>(vicinity, metro, NIH, restaurants, room service) We have never been in this area & are combining research for the good of Parkinsons Disease with a vacation for us! Any advice would be appreciated!

There are several hotels in that area that would be fine for the reasons you mention. Specifically, I think you could consider the Hyatt, Marriott Residence Inn and the Golden Tulip Bethesda Court. There are a few cheaper hotels around there that are not so nice, so I wouldn't suggest them unless you don't care much about the hotel and want to save money. I think the GOlden Tulip is cheapest of those 3, not sure about the other two, but all are about equally convenient. The Residence Inn and the Golden Tulip are both about 1-2 blocks from the metro station, whereas the Hyatt is right above it. The Golden Tulip does not have room service, however. The Residence Inn will deliver dinner but don't have their own restaurant; I think if you want around-the-clock room service, you would have to choose the Hyatt, but if you want more of a suite and your own kitchenette, I'd choose the Residence Inn. The Hyatt is a very large convention hotel (which is one reason I don't like it for other stays) and the others aren't; the Golden Tulip is a smaller average hotel, the Residence Inn is not deluxe but more for long-term business guests, I suppose. The NIH has a shuttle service that goes around to nearby hotels, so you won't have to worry about transportation to NIH from any of these 3 as they are all on their route.

Also consider the Marriott, Pooks Hill. Their sports facilities are probably the best. However, I'd still prefer staying in downtown Bethesda where you can walk to all the restaurants, pubs, movies, etc. The Residence Inn may be a good choice, even though the Hyatt is more upscale.

I had a chance to see the Hyatt Regency Bethesda from the outside, and it appeared to be nice. <BR><BR>By the way, I would not even consider staying at the Marriott Suites Bethesda, since this is where I stayed and I walked away very unsatisfied even after talking with the manager.

JL, what happened? The ones near Democracy Blvd?

Toby,<BR><BR>Last August I stayed at the Marriott Suites Bethesda at 6711 Democracy Blvd in Bethesda, with my family and like I said in my previous reply walked away very unsatisfied. I originally decided to stay at the hotel because of a great weekend rate of $69 per room, and with a location near Marriott Headquarters I thought the property would for sure be great. <BR><BR>However, after checking in I was placed near both of the elevators even after requesting not to be, along with finding a dirty room, which after talking to management I was told would be fixed; however, the next day I found it to be in the same condition as before. Additionally, since my family and I were new to the area we decided to rather take the complimentary shuttle van from the hotel to the metro station instead of driving our rental car. Under the knowledge which was even stated on a printed card stating return service at anytime back to the hotel would be offered. So when we returned back later in the afternoon to the metro station for our supposed complimentary ride back to the hotel. We instead were told by the hotel after numerous calls because no one answered that they were too busy to pick us up at the metro station and that when they get a chance to come by they will. At the same time it was raining extremely hard outside while we stood waiting outside in the middle of a thunderstorm. After waiting nearly one hour, we eventually decided to take a cab back to the hotel since no shuttle ever came by to pick us up. Additionally, here is another interesting thing that I was told by the hotel lifeguard and that is that I was not allowed to take pictures of their pool/recreational facilites even while I was staying there. After checking out three days later (only because I did not want to pay a $100 cancellation fee per room) I walked away very unsatisfied because the manager said that the shuttle service was more of our fault and that we should have known that even while they say they will give you free shuttle service that they don't have to if they don't want to.<BR><BR>I would definently not stay at the Marriott Suites Bethesda, and I would even question the Marriott chain as a whole especially since their coporate headquarters is located right next door.

Wow, sounds like a terrible experience you had. It's already a bit late but if something like this ever happens again, I would urge you to use www.planefeedback.com to file a complaint. I've been very happy with this free service. You describe your experience by "filling in the blanks", and they send a letter to the person in charge at the place you're complaining about.<BR>By and large , I have found Marriotts really good, and it's a shame that they apparently lost you as a customer because of such bad treatment.

We can all safely assume that English is not JL's first language. Punctuation is a wonderful thing.

I remember one guy sometime within the past year on here saying he was going to stay at the Marriott Suites in Bethesda and I told him not to because it wasn't near the metro at all and in the middle of nowhere (my def. of Democracy Blvd) and even if they had a shuttle, that would be a pain to depend on it. That wasn't you, was it, JL? If so, I could say .... but I won't.<BR> Anyway, it's good to post events like that so others learn, and I do know a lot of people that like Marriotts in general. I work about across the street from their training headquarters so will give them your regards.