Not sure what this should be filed under; the hotel is located in Arlington, Virginia but is part of the DC bidding area.

My stay here was more than a month ago, but I'm bored today, so here goes.

This hotel is located at the southern end of Crystal City, making it slightly less convenient than any of the other hotels in this area (more on this below). 2½* is a fair rating. I had a king-sized bed on a higher floor with an east view. West would have been better, as you'd get the DCA airport and the city across the Potomac. This was a Friday-Sunday stay, and there seemed to be a fair amount of weekender-type clientele, but my room was quiet. There is no free parking at the hotel or apparently anywhere nearby, even on weekends.

I don't remember this exactly, but the shuttle does not run on a regular schedule all day. For part of the day you had to request it at the front desk. That said, I believe you could ask to be taken to the Crystal City Metro station or somewhere else nearby. If you're landing at DCA you might want to call to make sure it's running. It serves a couple of other Marriott properites in Crystal City; the Courtyard was the first place it stopped. My point is, if you plan on using the shuttle, don't assume anything.

The walk from the hotel to the Crystal City Metro station takes 15-20 minutes and is not particularly enjoyable (cars whiz by right alongside you on the Jeff Davis Highway). You can minimize the distance spent outdoors by going through the shopping arcade: it connects several buildings south of the station and is open 24/7. Waiting for the shuttle to take you to the Metro probably takes as much time as walking and if you're relying on the shuttle you might as well take it to DCA and catch the Metro there, and vice versa when returning from the city. If being close to the Metro matters, you probably want to bid at least 3* here, because all the 3* properties are more centrally located.

My experience with the pool/hot tub could have been more pleasant. This mattered to me because I was recovering from the flu and still had sinus problems, and was looking forward to soaking in the hot tub and breathing its warm, moist air. The pool/ hot tub's posted hours were a bit odd (closed for some part of the day, IIRC), and furthermore really only open when the attendant is there: if she comes in late or goes on break, forget it. Also, most of the time I was there it was used by this large group of 10 boisterous kids accompanied by one or two adults. I'm not sure what they were doing there. The attendant sort of tried to keep too many people from using the hot tub and such, but it was essentially Romper Room. I presume I got them all sick.

The fitness center, through which the pool is accessed, is open 24/7, or at least more reliably than the pool.

My flight out was Sunday evening, and the hotel held my bags after I checked out that morning. While sitting in the lobby waiting for the shuttle I overheard that its walkup rate for the evening was $219. This sounded pretty ridiculous, as it was not a high-demand period or a weeknight (Sundays are usually cheaper than the other nights) and better nearby properties could probably had for about the same, if not less. With parking and tax that's $250! For a Courtyard! Perhaps that was the "no kids in the hot tub" rate.

Lowballer, we seem to get pricelined the hotels you visited a month or two prior!

We won 2 days at this hotel July 4th weekend this year.

Our experience was identical, although we found the shuttle slightly more reliable than you did while we were there.

Parking was a ridiculous $10-15 a day (can't remember exactly).

Still, those dozen plus screaming kids in the pool (when it was actually open) prompted us to cut our pool visit short. Also found that the pool wasn't clean, either... especially the hot tub. The pool hours were supposed to be 10-10... although, of the four times we tried visiting the pool, the first three visits brought us to a closed pool (when it was supposed to be open).

Oh, and don't get mixed drinks from the hotel bar... terribly weak!

Nevertheless, our stay was enjoyable... especially for the pricelined price!