Residence Inn National Harbor Washington, DC

I very much enjoyed my stay, the room, the breakfast and the many restaurants around the hotel. It’s a very cute and entertaining little town.
The only thing I found to be disappointing during my 4 night stay this past week was that every time I asked the front desk something about either transportation, the town or what time the Capitol Wheel opened, no one seemed to know, nor went the extra step to find out. With computers and telephones at their disposal, there’s no reason they couldn’t have assisted the guest.
As a travel agent, these notions are extremely important to me, especially when I go on vacation to experience these hotels from a client’s point of view, only to leave unimpressed.
If I do end up booking my clients at this hotel, I will unfortunately have to make them aware that they will have to gather their own information as the front desk is not knowledgable.
Also, the front desk employees could be a little more friendly and aware. I noticed that they don’t go out of their way to greet or acknowledge the guests as they return from an outing or are just simply passing through the lobby. Sometimes there wouldn’t even be anyone behind the front desk, they’d be sitting in the back room, to the right of the snack area.

Residence Inn is a nice hotel. We stayed one night after attending a wine festival at National Harbor. Upon checking in, the front desk staff were pleasant. The room was nice and spacious with a king size bed, 32 inch TV, kitchenette with pots, pans, dishes, cutlery, etc., full size refrigerator and a microwave. The bathroom was nice as well. The parking was conveniently located across the street. We had a room on the back by the parking garage and except for a vehicle with music blaring late into the night, it was pretty restful.
The hotel offered complimentary wi-​fi, exercise room and indoor pool. There was a patio on the side that yiu could access from the front entrance which was spacious with a fire pit.
The complimentary breakfast was nice with the traditional offering of eggs, toast, sausage, oatmeal with fixings, bacon, cold cereal, juice, coffee, tea and milk.
Although the price was nithing to sneeze at, this hotel met and exceeded our expectations and l would stay here again.

I’ve stayed at this hotel twice now and have never been disappointed. When attending a conference at the Gaylord, I purposely chose this hotel over the Gaylord. This hotel has wonderful amenities, cheaper parking, and no crazy resort fee. The continental breakfast was always a little different each morning, so during my 3 night stay, I had a variety to choose from each morning. The staff are really nice. I also don’t really feel comfortable having my room entered by housekeeping while I’m staying at a hotel unless its for multiple nights, so I usually hang the do not disturb sign on my door when I’m out, but they were nice enough to leave a bag on my door handle with fresh towels and toiletries. I have found the beds and pillows to be very comfortable and the noise level between rooms is pretty minimal — the only noise I heard was a door close or people in the hall a few times, but otherwise it was very quiet. I recommend the harbor view rooms, but unless you have a lot of time to stare out the window, it really doesn’t matter. I will definitely come back again if I need to be in the area. Some folks complained that the wifi was slow, but I never had any problems with the free basic wifi connection (I was on the 6^th floor) and I even Face-​timed with my family each night without issue.

Nice rooms. That’s about it. Staff at the front desk no more than accommodating. A «Continental Breakfast» with cardboard eggs, manufactured meats, and no better than the same provided at fine hotels with doors opening up to the parking lot so you can make a quick getaway. $ 200 a night and they say they’re Pet Friendly… it cost another $ 200 to keep my pet there for one night. Friendly to their accountant maybe. I’ll never spend another night in a Resident Inn ever. Dog and cat owners… Stay far, far away from this money pit.

MY 100TH REVIEW! WOOHOO!
What can I say? Just fairly classy diggs while still being no frills.
Had to stay here at the Residence for a week while transitioning between and negotiating contracts and I have to say, for a place that couldn’t provide my spoiled bootay with room service, an amenity I need to LIIIIIIIIVE dammit… I was still impressed.
It’s a Marriott, and I’ve never been disappointed with their facilities… uh…for the most part. The hotel itself is sitting smack in the middle of the good stuff at the National Harbor. It’s well lit, the lobby is modern and inviting, gym is super clean and the staff was awesomely friendly and said ‘hello, good morning, and have a great day’, every time they saw me. Like little greeting ninjas… they’d pop out when you’d least expect it. Its like a lobby full of Chik-​Fil-​A employees. Lol but it did make me feel that they were at my service and available to me.
Compliment sandwich method here… lol so… the bad. Mannnnn listen. I don’t give a flying fiddle dee dee if you’re a family of 4 or a big baller stepping outta new Maybachs… if I pay $ 159 a night, I better park for free! Super disgusted at the 16 bux a night parking. Unnecessary c-​note spent for what I truly think should come with being a guest. But whatevs, guess that’s why I don’t own hotels so I’ll just piss and moan quietly and keep it moving.
Closing the compliment sandwich… The room was very comfy, modern, brightly dressed and spacious. My view wasn’t much as it’s situated between the Gaylord Hotel and the Mariners garage but, that didn’t bug me at all. I loved the bed linen. Pillows were soft as my abs after a week of restaurant hopping annnnd the kitchen was well equipped and convenient to have. The breakfast every morning was quite a bit more than a «continental». As it had hot items, from make your own waffles, eggs, sausage and potatoes… to cold items like cereal, muffins and fruit. I was more than full, and I’m greedy so that’s saying sumthin! Lol
Overall, I would totes recommend this spot to friends and colleagues and not worry about them wanting to kick my well dressed culo for sending them to a place not befitting the location. Go! Sleep! Dance around the hot bar! Bring your doggy as they are pet friendly & Enjoy your pricey yet competitively rated & ultimately pleasant stay. ⁴⁄₅ cubby wubby womb room feels.

I stayed here for one night on a Saturday and I have no complaints. Checked in at 4pm with no problem. Parking was validated so I didn’t have to worry about that extra fee and the garage is across the street (literally a few steps) from the hotel. My room was standard with 2 double beds, refrigerator, microwave, stove, and the utensils you need to cook and eat. Everything was clean. No bad smells in the room or the hallways. Front desk was pleasant. Beds were comfortable and they have a cute little seating «living room» area with loveseat, chair and TV. Check out is at 11am. We checked out a little after 11 and was able to exit the garage with no problem.
KEEP YOUR KEY CARD if you park in the garage. That is your key to get in and out and guarantees you from having to pay for parking during your entire stay.
Overall, I was happy with my stay and will stay here again!

The sofa bed is seriously uncomfortable, with a tilt away from couch portion, so one is continually sliding off. We eventually took mattress off and put on floor. Some serious security, elevator requires keycard. Left my roomkey in room one day and couldn’t get a replacement, only my husband could as he was the one who registered. Huge dent in fridge and tattered desk chair made place seem worndown. They were out of most breakfast items when we went down at 9:30, milk, yogurt, oatmeal, juice. Very disappointed.

Great place, I have used this hotel since 2010 – 2015 to host our annual trainings and conference attendance functions. The staff always bends over backwards to keep my people happy while they are staying at the hotel. The rooms are spacious and clean, one of the best… I should know I spend over 75 nights a year in hotel rooms. Why pay more at the Gaylord when you can stay here for less and get a free breakfast and appetizers in the evening?

I picked up this room while in-​town for a convention because I like having access to a kitchen during conventions so it’s easier for me to eat properly, and it looked like a great room.
I have zero complaints about the room itself, it was nice, spacious, the beds were comfortable, well supplied, and I got to cook many delicious things in the kitchen.
I knocked the review down to 2 stars because the service staff decided to take away the key card of the other person staying in the room with me until I could come back and prove they were the same person who was registered to the room.
I had to leave the convention to address this issue, which should have been easy enough for the hotel staff to figure out on their own since I provided them with her name when I checked in, and she had her ID on her. I’m still not really sure what the issue was with that, but it didn’t leave me with the best taste in my mouth for this place, and it’s not like there aren’t plenty of other options in National Harbor for us to go to in the future.

The Residence Inn at National Harbor is a great hotel for long stays.
The good — The room is spacious, with a small kitchen, a fridge and a dishwasher. The beds OK as well. The stay usually includes breakfast. Location, location, location.
The bad — It is a bit pricey, but this is a booming location. The internet access is kind of slow. With only 1MB of download speed, you will be re-​living your slow-​as-​heck internet access days. It barely works for loading facebook… No streaming, no VPNs, no anything worth doing… Walls are pretty thin, so noises carry through out the floor.

We were given a room right next to the elevators so a lot of noise! Up to midnight loud talking, laughing, etc. The small couch smelled like corn chips. No soap DISH in the bathroom. The soap was there, just no DISH so I used a washcloth. The location was ideal. Loved it. The hotel desk staff were cordial, that’s it, nothing more/​less, just average, kinda like how we feel on a Monday morning back at work, they just didn’t seem to want to BE THERE. Understandable but at least smile :) It would have given the check-​in a better «feel». The maids all seemed lacking in understanding English. Had to use hotel key for elevator and we were headed to room when the elevator took off to Floor 2 and a maid got on, hit Lobby and was puzzled we didn’t get off. We told her we didn’t know about the room key and she still looked puzzled but nodded a lot getting off at the Lobby we just left. Other than not getting a restful nights sleep, the breakfast buffet was awesome! Absolutely everything you ever wanted! Very pleased. After confirming with the front desk the checkout time was Noon, my husband walked around the Harbor by himself while I read for awhile. Then the maid knocked at 10am exactly and I was seconds away from coming to the door when she entered the room with her key and had a look of horror because she wasn’t expecting anyone in it. I told her we would check out at Noon and she didn’t seem to understand so I put up 2 fingers and said «in 2 hours» and she nodded. It wasn’t a big deal because I was so tired from not getting sleep because of noise in the hall, and we had just ate a very satisfying breakfast, so I didn’t dwell on it at all, but NOW, looking back on it, there wasn’t enough time to even get to the door before she was IN IT. If I were in the bathroom or lying in bed, like I was doing, there just wasn’t ample time to even get TO the door before she came in! The overall stay was a 6.5. I must say the shower was absolutely amazing! Loved the shower head pressure! I don’t know if I would stay here again. It is an ideal location, awesome breakfast buffet and was overall A LOT cheaper than the Gaylord! Which we stayed at years ago and found it to be a money pit. So that being said, it wasn’t bad, just average.

Nice reception personnel even the trainee was very polite and courteous. Rooms are much like the standard residence inn rooms except they have made them feel bigger by using a dresser and tv as a wall instead of actual walls that close in the space.

Average hotel. Below Average service. Very limited pool hours not specified on web site.
1) Front desk authorized way over what I was told would be authorized at the front desk at check-​in creating an inconvenience to me.
2) I purposely stayed here because they had an indoor pool and it’s only open at night. When I asked if I could use the sister marriott hotel they said there was no absolute way even if I paid to use the spa, etc. They blamed the state ordinances on the fact that they needed a life guard at the pool and the life guard was only available at night. Then maybe they need to hire a life guard to be there at normal business hours. They expected me to cancel my plans for the evening so I could use the pool during their ridiculous pool hours.
3) Also, the housekeeper unwrapped my toothbrush that i had in a blue wash cloth and took it. I’m not really sure how you can confuse the thin white wash cloths with my nice plush blue one.
Manager thinks 5,000 points will suffice for waisting my time and not publishing their limited pool hours.

The quality of the room and property was actually 4 stars, but the staff was so bad that I had to knock it down to 2 stars. By far the worst hotel staff I have ever experienced. They were slow, rude, and completely unhelpful. Needless to say, I will never stay here again, especially considering the distance the property is from DC. It’s a shame how bad the staff is considering how nice the rooms are. I even witnessed/​heard staff members using inappropriate language in front of a large amount of guests who were waiting in an incredibly long line that took much longer than it should have. The WiFi might as well be non-​existent it is so poor. Only stay here if you have the timeshare price and plenty of patience.

Lobby has a very nice décor.
The rooms are spacious, with a sitting room, full kitchen, bathroom, sink and mirror outside the bath, and bedroom. It was very clean, and they cleaning staff did a great job straightening up after us every day. The mattress was very comfortable, and we had a great view. Apparently they have a small buffet every morning and night, because the menu was on the fridge. Nothing fancy, but enough for a snack :)
Free wifi with no need for a password.

Very happy camper, er, hotel-​er? Clean, new? but far exceeded my expectations. Even more so, having scored a same-​day major discount through an online bid site.
Be aware that the parking deck next door is $ 11, with in-​out privs using the room card.
A no-​party waiver is required at check-​in.
The elevator requires a room card for all floors. External doors also require a room card throughout the weekend. Which begs the question, is this area safe?

Pros: people very friendly, accommodating, had a frig in the room as I’d wanted in my profile and it was a holiday, had an interesting no party policy for the 4^th which was great for those of us that wanted sleep, we could not hear our neighbors and it was a full hotel, room was bright, excellent water pressure, despite the excessive heat and tons of people around, the hotel was calm as was the staff
Cons: hair dryer vibrated a lot and was super loud — I was concerned using it, wifi was very slow
Overall: definitely recommend

We’ve stayed at the RI-​National Harbor twice. Each time service and cleanliness exceeded expectations. We were greeted promptly at the front desk, although the lady was helping another guest, she acknowledged us and said she’d be right with us. We checked into a spacious room (more like a mini-​suite), fully equipped with a full sized fridge, microwave, sofa, comfortable bed and large screen TV. The bathroom was clean, the carpet was clean, the linen and towels were clean. We wished we could have received a Harbor-​view room, but there were no more. We had a view of the parking garage and Cadillac Ranch on the corner.
This hotel has a pool, jacuzzi and fitness room. We took advantage of the pool and jacuzzi. Both were clean and the attendant/​lifeguard actually tested the PH level while we were there. We didn’t use the gym, it was small and we never saw anyone in there.
We took a walk around the harbor and dined at McCormick & Schmicks. The meal was a little pricey, but worth it. After dinner we stopped and enjoyed the outdoor movie that was showing. A little crowded, but hey it was free. The hotel is within walking distance of just about everything you would need: a CVS, a gourmet grocery store, restaurants (no fast food), souvenir stores, jewelry stores, a small but clean sandy «beach», clubs, and other hotels (in case you’re there for one of the many conferences held at the Gaylord, its right across the street– literally walk out one door into the other).
We never had a problem with noise or rude staff or guests. The breakfast buffet was plentiful and included many hot and cold selections. There is also a bar in the lobby.
We asked for late checkout and even though they couldn’t really accommodate our request they were nice enough to allow us an extra hour.
The hotel feels safe. You must use your room key to operate the elevator and enter the rear door after hours.
All in all a nice spot for a mini get-​away for me and hubby. We’ll be back soon!

Seeing my options were limited when I found out the Gaylord National had NO rooms left for the conference I was to attend there, Residence Inn was the best choice!
Located directly across the street from the convention center (and I mean about 40 feet (away), I was able to get to my sessions within 5 minutes. The hotel was very clean upon arrival (although I did arrive 4 ½ hours early, I still could not check in until 3pm. Reasonable since there WAS a conference in town). Plenty of guest amenties available from a pretty decent sized breakfast buffet, to a lounge area to unwind in and take in the view of the Potomac River, to a fitness center, a pool, and a laundry facility for those on extended stays.
A few drawbacks I noticed were they only had 2 washers and dryers and one of the washers were down for the count! Also, no vending machines to purchase laundry detergent or dryer sheets… you have to get those at their little convenience market where you can also purchase snacks. Purchases are billed to your room.
I stayed in a studio with a King sized bed. The room was practically fully furnished with most of the amenties, but I guess all Residence Inns are, right? Full sized fridge, microwave, dishwasher, pots, pans, dishes and silverware were all available. Loved the Wi-​Fi at no charge! I’m amazed as to how many hotels will still charge for internet use?! Ridiculous! But not Residence — a nice perk for someone traveling on business.
Since I was there on business, the floors were quiet… not too many doors banging around until my last night. That did turn out to be the start of the weekend and many families arrived for their vacations. Maybe they should have business oriented floors and family oriented floors? Just a thought! Oh, and being on the side of the parking facility across the street I had to endure some car alarms.
Overall, a pleasant experience. Everything around the hotel was in walking distance. Security is in place for those arriving back to their rooms after 11pm. You need to swipe your card to open the front doors and the card is also used to access the floors from the elevator. A good choice if staying for an extended time.

Residence Inn’s are one of my favorite places to stay on travel because they offer a lot for a little. Like all Residence Inn’s the room is a mini suite with a king bed, couch/​lounge, TV, kitchen area. Mon-​Thurs they have a happy hour with food and drinks. Most residence inn’s offer cooked food and beer and wine, but this one just offered desserts and juice. I blame it on the general snotty fair of National Harbor.
This place is in spit shot distance of the Gaylord Resort. So if you have business at the Gaylord but want a cheaper stay or want Marriott points this is a great alternative. The staff are warm and attentive.