A holiday weekend just sailed by and I can tell you that I again was out of town. It seems that my whole life is out of a suitcase and I am fine with that. We are always on the move and sometimes it is just me and the kids, sometimes all of us and others just a two of us, depending on the occasion. My most recent travel was to the fabulous destination near the Washington, D.C area and well we needed a place to stay, all five of us! We elected to stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Dulles Airport and I can offer you a bit of insight if you plan on staying here. This is how I lavishly lived a four day weekend out loud with my family. We usually stay with The Residence Inn, this time however, we changed up what lodging we were in and stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, and it was definitely a far digression from what we have become accustomed to. Every-time I stay anywhere but The Residence Inn with my family I can’t help but put up that Dana Comparison Scale and state what I don’t like. Sorry, just the way it is.
The Front Desk
I have to tell you, this person tending the the front desk was pretty lackluster, and had no knowledge of what we were asking about. I find it hard to believe that when we asked him how far we were from the Ashburn Ice Center he told us, “he thought about 1/2 hour.” Here’s my thing on this, he offered to Google it, after being asked again, but I told I would just figure it out, and he informed us we had WiFi so I took that as a hint to just use it. This person was there all weekend long, so I think he knew the area, as he seemed to be a regular, but he had no idea this place was less than 4 miles away? When we have stayed at other places, like the Country Inn Suites or Residence Inn that staff has always jumped out of their comfort zones to help us with smiles on, so I can say I was a bit disappointed.
The Airport
Here’s the deal, you are right by the airport, so if you are nearby in ANY hotel you are going to have noise,but my Midnight it stops. It is loud, you can hear it in your room, but go expecting it.
The Cleanliness
The Fairfield Inn & Suites was VERY clean. The carpet was brand new, and you could smell the newness in the hallway. I will say I did not appreciate that there was a non-smoking sign and yet the smoke in the stairwell was overwhelming and disgusting.
The Room
We had a hairdryer in our room, a separate sink area from bathtub and toilet, which was great for getting ready separately. The pillows were comfy, clean as were the sheets and the room was vacuumed and kept(I can tell you because we had a small crumb mishap!)We loved having a fridge, missed having a table to eat on and we missed a room microwave. There was an in-room coffee maker, which was nice when you woke up in the morning. Ask for a top floor, floor number three when you stay there, then you won’t hear any thunks or movement from above.
The Main Elevator.
There is one elevator to get in and out of the building, but we used stairwells which ran down the side and we got in this way as well with our room key cards. The parking area was well lit and large.
Restaurant
The Cracker Barrel is right in the parking lot area so you can walk there if you like that type of food, making it quite convenient. If you don’t like it, turn of the lot and head not towards the light, but towards the right. We found a great little community with a lot of fast food and shopping. Or you can take a close-by exit and visit Wegman’s, we did!
Would you be able to fit a family of 5 in one room? NO way. the rooms are small, our King Size bed was all that could fit in there, but we got a room with an adjoining room for the kids. The kids had 2 queen beds and they were fine, but no way would this have worked with everyone in one room.
The Pool
I want to make a note about the pool because of all the places we have ever stayed, I think this pool was probably my LEAST favorite, unless you count a Georgia Hotel that had no filter. The water in the pool was a bit murky, which left me leery of the cleanliness. The kids went in, to really just rid themselves of excess energy, but it was nothing extended. There were pool towels just tossed on chairs from the day and a bandage or two floating. On the side closest to the windows, I noticed ants crawling across our flip flops so that totally ended the party for me. There seemed to be NO Filter, but by the third day the pool was much cleaner, and more clear, so I am not sure if the Ph was off or it needed chemicals or what the deal was, but it definitely was different.
The Kids
The kids are used to being able to grab snacks(at the Holiday Inn Express) all night long(chips, cookies, etc) and the same from the Country Inn and Residence Inn, this was not available here, though there was a little mini mart if you cared to purchase items. My kids love the little perks available and asked me to mention this to all of you.
Overall it was very clean and the price you can save a room for is almost unheard of($58 a night), but that is subject to change and whatever they are offering I am sure. The rooms are clean which is what is most important and the area is convenient to everything. My comparison is based on Adventure. Eat. DIY. Repeat. at other places we have lodged at quite frequently and these were just a few of the highs and lows of our stay. Here’s to traveling and trying out new places!
