My wife and I stayed at the Bethesda Marriott for one night at the end of January '08. We were very pleased with the standard of accommodation and with the location. We booked the hotel as it is very close to Strathmore Concert Hall. (Just about a mile down the road from the hotel. If ever you see a concert advertised for Strathmore, go. It's a beautiful concert hall.) The hotel room was comfortable and of good size; it was one of the renovated rooms on the 11th floor. Our package included champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries on arrival, plus breakfast. The breakfast was very good - plenty to select from, plus an omelette/waffle station, selection made to order. We had dinner in the restaurant (Agio); that was also good. All in all. a great stay.

The Marriott Bethesda MD is a company-owned hotel, which normally guaranttees attention to detail and exemplary service: in a recent visit this was not the case.

Beginning with an argumentative check in person, followed by the seemingly willing to help front desk manager, and ending with the genuinely sorry general manager, none of whom made good on their promises duirng my stay, the hotel left a bad taste in my mouth.

I've stayed at thousands of Marriott properties in all parts of the world over the last 30 years, but this is only the second time I've had a bad experience.

The problems I encountered were never solved during my stay and I got a tardy letter of apology from the management there (after jogging their memory) that did little to allay my concerns or to give answers my questions. I even offered suggestions on how the situation might have been handled more positively, but these were not heeded, just apologized for, and in a less than professional way.

Word to the wise: avoid this place if you can unless you are paying the full (overly high considering what you get) rack rate--the treatment you get is in direct proportion to the amount of cash or credit you expend in staying there. In the interim and until they can fix these personnel problems I would find another place to stay in the heart of Bethesda, preferably, and give the Bethesda Marriott time to change for the better.

Service grade for this hotel D+

My wife and I stayed at this hotel for six nights on a trip for pleasure and business. The staff were very professional and helpful when needed, and everyone on staff was friendly.
The hotel itself was very clean and accommodating with comfortable beds, good restaurant for breakfast and well sited for access to Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area.
They couldn't accommodate us in the same room for the entire six nights, so put us in a special needs room the first night with a promise of an upgraded room for the balance. Our upgrade was a standard room (and smaller then the first night's room--especially the bathroom), so maybe the staff wasn't 100% professional--but otherwise very good.
My only complaints were for the $9/day parking charge, $10/day for an internet connection in the room and the lousy pillows (I had to stack two to get partly comfortable).
We will travel regularly to the D.C. area in the future and would stay here again.
BW

Just finished staying at the Marriott for a business conference from September 18-21.
Overall,it was a good experience though I have several complaints.
(1) Why do they charge $9.95 for Internet connection when you're paying over $200 a night? I have just read an article about up-scale hotels who charge you for all types of conveniences and the conclusion of the article was that these hotels do it because they can.
(2) ditto for parking, $9 a day.

The people are very friendly and professional. The rooms themselves are spacious and clean. The exercise room is well furnished.

Overall, it was a pleasant stay, though I'd probably staty elsewhere w/ free internet/parking