We took the family to DC for spring break and wanted to stay in Old Town. The kids wanted an indoor pool and we wanted something close to the metro and this hotel worked out great. Recent renovations were mostly complete and the little bit that was left didn't impact our stay at all. The pool was nice and had a lifeguard which was reassuring. The breakfast had something for everyone and the fresh fruit was fabulous. One night we ate in the hotel and everyone found something they liked. The rooms were a good size and made traveling with the family very do-able.
The hotel is across the street from the metro into DC and is on the shuttle route down to the Old Town waterfront. This was an extremely convenient place to stay.

In all fairness to fans of Embassy Suites, if there was a rating for "Excellent decor and amenities but horrible service" I'd have checked that instead of "Okay, but some problems".

You should bear in mind that I've been to a number of Embassy Suites and have reviewed several of them for Trip Advisor.

For the most part, I'm free to rave because nearly every Embassy Suites suites my fancy. In fact, my husband and I stay in an Embassy Suites hotel whenever there's one close by while we're traveling. To make things smoother for everyone, I joined the Hilton Honors club, and completed our "profile", which includes our preference (near an elevator, on a low floor, king sized bed, and non-smoking). Usually the room we get meets all criteria, so I assume our preferences are available to each Embassy Suites Hotel.

So, back to the one in old town Alexandria, VA and we booked it for two nights. It's in a great location, has wonderful views, superb decor, and staff who don't seem to have a clue... and no apparent desire to get one.

Beginning with check in (which I approached using a cane to help me walk), we were assigned a room on the 8th floor which, as it happens, is the top floor. I asked if there was a room available on a lower floor and the young man furrowed his brows as he studyied his computer screen, eventually coming up with a room on the 4th floor.

Since I also prefer an open view of the atrium (the ambiant light is part of the Embassy Suites charm), I asked if the room on the 4th floor had such a view. "Oh yes" said the clerk, who pointed to a wall of rooms and told me our room was "along that wall in the middle." Great!

So we checked in and the one and only customer-oriented staff member (whose name I failed to notice -- but really should have written it down -- because he deserves a raise)... anyway, the one outstanding staff member helped us get our bags to the room. When we arrived on the 4th floor, it didn't take a whole lot of time to realize the room we'd been given was tucked back in a dark corner, at the far end of the hotel (as far from the elevator as you can get) and no view of the atrium).

The outstanding staff member quickly realized the room wasn't going to work, so he took it upon himself to pick up the phone and call the desk for another, better-suited room. We were given what was probably the original room... on the 8th floor. But it was within 10 feet of an elevator and had a view of the atrium, so all things considered, the location of the room was fine. The furnishings were comfortable and quite nice but, after a long day's drive, we were happy to finally have a place to settle.

Near the elevator was a sign that said "Welcome to the Hilton Honors floor. We hope you enjoy your stay!" Call me a snoop, but I wanted to know what the significance of being on "the Hilton Honors floor" was. I called and the front desk and was told by the buy who answered that he didn't know, but that he'd check with someone else and let us know.

Hours passed.

By 5:30, we were at the "Manager's Reception" when one of the desk staff stopped by to ask if we were happy with the room. We said we were fine, and asked (again) about what it meant to be on the Hilton Honors floor. He said that was a good question, because he didn't know, but that he'd find out and let us know. He turned out to be the second, fairly good, staff member, because he returned with an answer: it means you get some extra amenities, such as a bathrobe and "a few other things". (One of the "few other things" might have been a packet of microwaveable popcorn (which I love). So I popped the one packet our first night there.)

But back to the significance of the Hilton Honors floor, I told the fellow who've brought us the explanation that we'd found just one bathrobe in the room, and he said he'd have another sent up for us. It never showed.

About the Manager's Reception: it has an impressively more diverse selection of hors d'oeuvres than most Embassy Suites: meatballs, egg rolls, veggies and dip, fried cheese, and the usual popcorn, pretzels, and potato chips... all at no cost, of course. But the drinks aren't free: $2 for a mixed drink, $1 for wine or beer.

The drinks are served by two barmen behind a bar that's perhaps 12 feet long with one of the men on the left and the other on the right. Well, you give your order to the guy on the right and he collects your payment and then gives you tickets. You take the tickets two steps to the left and hand them to the other barman, who asks for your order again and then give you what you want.

The system seemed so redundant and wasteful that I asked why it was set up that way. Both barmen told me they had no idea.

After our first night, we awoke ready for our tour of Mount Vernon, and we left our room at 10:30 or so, with no sign indicating we didn't want it to be disturbed. After our trip to Mount Vernon (not recommended over the Saturday of Spring Break on a cold March day), we returned ready for the warmth of our room.

When we returned (at around 3:00), the room hadn't been tended to. We had to call the front desk, and they send they'd have someone handle it right away. We waited a bit, and finally went looking for a cleaning person, who happened to be 4 doors down from our room. We asked her to clean our room next, which she did. So we spent roughly 30 minutes sitting in the atrium near a TV with no volume, and no one around to help.

By then, we'd pretty much given up hope for a service-oriented stay, so we muddled our way through the wait for our room to be cleaned.

We ordered dinner in our room, and on the following morning, we got ourselves ready to check out by 11:00. We called the desk to ask for a bellhop, and were told there weren't any available. We asked if there were any baggage dollies. No, none of them either.... but they'd send one up when they had one. We grabbed our bags and managed (slowly) to get to the lobby.

There were smaller annoyances, but I don't want to seem too picky. The main point is that the staff don't seem to have had any training in the value of good customer service. If that part of the hotel gets fixed, this would be an "Excellent" rating.

We picked this hotel because we wanted to see D.C during the day and have a safe, relaxed place to hang out at during the evening. We stayed 3 evenings.

Pros- Very short walk to the Metro. Clean quiet rooms.( Ask for a room with a view on the Metro Station side- very interesting view). Nice beds. A free hotel shuttle will take you anywhere within 2 miles. We used this several times to go to old town and never had to wait long.The only thing we didn't care for was the evening driver played Christian music at a loud volume .

Cons- The breakfast and manager's reception were a letdown.

They are not able to handle the breakfast crowd during peak times. The food was just ok, fairly large assortment but everything was just fair-to-average in taste and quality. The made- to- order omlettes didn't taste that fresh (powdered eggs?) and always seemed to have a long line , the cereal area was always a mess- you had to walk over crunchy cereal on the floor, not quick enough to restock items, almost always low on soda (didn't see diet soda), creamer, utensils, etc. There was oatmeal slopped on counter, dirty tables. On the second day I did complain to a manager who said something to the effect of "Well it is so busy." In her defense she then pitched in to help the overworked breakfast staff.

The manager' reception had low budget appetizers like potato chips, goldfish crackers , meatballs in a strange sauce, a veggie assortment where the veggies always looked dry and a warm appetizer of some sort, again not very tasty. They do make a good mixed drink for $2 with a fun bartender that makes his drinks at one of the food stations used for breakfast in the mornings. It you want soda they have some tacky 2 liter bottles that are self serve, again out of diet soda when I checked.

Old town is a fairly long walk so take the shuttle. We had an amazingly fun dinner at Taverna Cretekou, a Greek restaurant in old town complete with live music (Thurdays) and improptu dancing. We also highly recommend dining at Il Porto Ristorante for wonderful Italian food and great atmosphere.

Just back from one night. I will not give a full review, just an update to what has been mentioned in other posts:

RENOVATION STATUS: The lobby/atrium renovations seem to almost be done. There are still lots of temporary floor coverings over the lobby and atrium area. The fountain is not operational. When we arrived there was quite a bit of dust in the lobby area, the plants and foliage seemed to be esecialy full of dust. There was a crew cleaning up as quickly as possible to get ready for the 5:30 happy hour crowd. The dining are is open and is quite nice. Our breakfast was one of the best we've had at an Embassy Suites.

PROS: Location is good, but I thought we would be closer to the downtown walking area. It took us about 10 minutes to walk to the prime shopping area on King Street. We did not want to go into DC so being across from the train station didn't mean much to us. The room was very clean. We booked a Corner King which gave us lots of room and a very large, six-seat dining/conference table. Staff was especially nice, both at the front desk and at the food/beverage bar. The exercise room is small but very up to date with tv screens on all cardio machines. Our room service meal was good, large portions and arrived quickly.

CONS: The room was so hot and we could not get someone to come help us cool it down. The makedown sofa was very uncomfortable. The pool sign said the pool was open at 6AM. However, it doesn't open until 9AM on Sundays (not posted as such). Then, no one showed up at 9AM to open the pool. I tried to call, but the house phone didn't work! Had to take my upset daughter (who has autism) back to the room to call to ask when the pool would open. They opened it at about 9:45am.

All in all a nice stay, we will return.