This hotel gives you what you would expect from marriott but it didnt have that wow factor that I get from new hotels.

We had a dinner there and the service and the food was great! Thanks for that.

Plenty of parking which is always a plus and very easily accessible to 495.

Getting off coming from college park is tough and you will have to make a uturn.

The so called free shuttle at this hotel is a joke. They claim it runs every 30 mins, it does not. On a good day it is 45-60 min. If you are a patient at NIH I would recommend you leave plenty of time for delayed shuttles before your flight. The rooms are old and dirty and do not bother paying extra for the elite floors with access to the private lounge. The rooms are the same as the rooms on lower level floors and as far as I can tell the lounge had no alcohol in it. The bar is over rated and is expensive for the poor quality of the food. There are better hotels in the area and really no viable reason to stay at this one.

I received an e-mail about weekend specials at Marriott properties and found several options in the Washington, D.C. area. When the special turned out to be only good for two night stays, the phone rep worked with me to book me into the Bethesda Marriott.

I thought $84 sounded great when usually getting anything good around $100 in that area is a miracle. We were surprised when we pulled up to a modern and pristine property. People were friendly and helpful, but I was a little irritated by the $14 parking fee. That went away when I found out the the package I didn't know I had included breakfast for two (valued at $17 each and worth every penny of it) and free wi-fi because I was a gold member.

The room was plenty big and nicely appointed and the extra towels I requested were delivered promptly. The indoor pool was attractive and clean and staffed by an attendant and a life guard, while the excercise room was surprisingly big and well-equipped.

Now for that breakfast: I'm not a breakfast fan, but this buffett was excellent. There was whole fruit and cut melon and berries, breads of various types, cheese and some meats, sausage, bacon and a station where you could order eggs, waffles or pancakes. Oh, and I can't forget the very good oatmeal. $17 for breakfast sounds like a lot and it is, but for that money you do have a surprisingly good meal. As a plus, the waitress and the short order cook were absolutely fantastic--polite and very friendly.

I stayed here on a work trip a couple months ago, and it was a nice place to stay during my stay. I was working at NIH, and the hotel is fairly close, though the traffic is terrible. I was working with a co-worker who was staying elsewhere and picked me up, but the hotel has a shuttle to the NIH campus which seems really convenient.
I took the shuttle in to town for dinner, and after eating and then taking the metro to see a couple monuments on my quick business trip (in the dark) I caught one of the late metro trips back to Bethesda. The Marriot really came through for me in that I got off one stop earlier than the hotel shuttle usually picks up from, about 5 minutes after they technically stop running the shuttle - and they still came and got me. Which was really awesome.
The room was comfortable, and drinks (was super warm there in mid-July) from the little convenience-store thing were very nice to have (especially on the company tab!). I can't exactly speak to value as I didn't pay for it or shop around in the area, but the folks there were helpful, and the hotel room was a peaceful place to crash at the end of the day.