The Alexandrian, Autograph Collection

We had a wonderful holiday return stay at The Alexandrian and truly felt right at home. Sam, the general manager, and his entire team go above and beyond to make guests feel welcome. Our suite was fantastic, Chef Victor sent an incredible platter of fruits and desserts, and Sam surprised us with a bottle of wine upon arrival. From the front door to the front desk, the staff is exceptional. We’re already looking forward to our next visit in the spring. — Dr. Eileen Fontanetta & Rob Byrne

If you book this hotel use a parking app and save money. We were able to park in the hotel garage underneath the property. It was nice to be greeted with a welcome bag that included two bottles of water and chocolates. The elevators were small and closed very quickly. We had to rush to the doors or they would close before we got on. Hopefully the timing can be adjusted for anyone who is not standing next to the door that opens first. The room was one of the largest I’ve seen in a historic area and we appreciated the space. For the price it was not as luxurious as one might expect. They seem to be working on some maintenance needs in the lobby and one of our curtains was missing a gold button. Small details, but they add up. It was centrally located for exploring Alexandria.

I typically stay here every quarter for work conferences because of the great location and convenience to work. In December, I stayed for a week and tried to put incidentals on my personal card and found out that they put a hold on it. I was furious because they had my work credit card already for the room charge and all I wanted to do was put the 7 dollar water bottle they put in your room on my personal card. ( Don’t even get me started with that scam as well) I was extremely upset because I had some very important payments coming out of my checking and was concerned they would bouce before I could transfer money so I went down to the front desk and the agent informed me there was nothing he could do to release the funds. He said I should have just paid upon check out. I informed him that someone should have let me know this and about the hold. I asked to speak to a manager but he blew me off and said that no one was available and then told me to have a nice day. Needless to say, I will never stay here again. How greedy do you have to be to place holds on both the cards, seriously? Like you aren’t going to get your money? Never again!

The location is great. Because of that, I get it as a good spot for big parties-weddings, reunions, etc… We often stay in Autograph Collection hotels, and property-wise, this isn’t close to others. The rooms are dark, dated, small, and shabby. Marriott really shouldn’t market this in the Autograph collection until it is updated.

We have stayed annually at the Alexandrian for the past several years for a family staycation. In short, service has gone downhill and the hotel is looking tired, which is a pity because the location is fantastic and previous stays have been good. The person who checked us spent several minutes typing on her computer before even acknowledging us. (There was nobody else at the front desk.) No mention was made of what our destination fee covered (though we’ve been there previously, a reminder would have been nice). Any time I had a question for the front desk, the staff was on the more dismissive side. We were in a room on the 5th floor and while we did not hear any construction work being done, the room, in particular the bathroom, showed its age and there was a faint stale odor. It’s a pity, but this is probably our last year at this hotel and we’ll be looking elsewhere in Alexandria in the future.