Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Arlington

This is a beautiful hotel in an excellent location, right in Crystal City and close to both the airport and downtown DC. The staff were consistently friendly, housekeeping cleaned the room daily, and the lobby has a pleasant coffee shop and bar with live music in the evenings. All of that makes the property feel warm and inviting.

However, for a hotel that positions itself as four stars, some basic details fall noticeably short. The bath tissue and especially the towels felt extremely rough, almost like sandpaper, which was honestly the most disappointing part of the stay. The room included an ironing board but no iron, and the Mobile Key feature rarely worked despite being advertised as a convenience.

The WiFi situation is also unusual. The hotel provides internet throughout the building except on the second floor where conferences are held, which is precisely where reliable access is most important. That connectivity is sold separately to the conference organizers instead of being available to individual attendees. Even the standard WiFi that is included runs slow enough to affect streaming unless you pay for the upgraded tier.

With issues like these, the experience aligns more with a three-star property rather than a four-star one, even though the staff and common areas are excellent.

P.S. One small service issue worth noting. I informed the front desk twice that I would only be parking for one night, and they even provided an exit ticket for the garage. Still, at checkout, the bill showed parking charges for my entire stay. The person at the front desk fixed it right away once I pointed it out, but if I hadn’t checked the digital invoice immediately, it could have turned into a frustrating situation after leaving the hotel.

If you are someone who gets hot easily like me, I would recommend bringing a portable fan when coming to this hotel. The rooms are extremely warm and you can’t turn down the temperature much. We woke up sweating every night. The rooms are spacious and fairly clean. The staff is nice. Parking is $38 a night plus tax.