I spent four nights at the Comfort Inn while attending a seminar in Chantilly. I selected the Comfort Inn based upon the price, location, and my previous experiences staying at other properties in the chain. Since I have quite a bit to write, I think I will structure my review a little differently this time.
What I liked:
The staff was excellent--top notch. Everyone I spoke to was very friendly and helpful. When I got locked out of my room due to a lock issue the first morning, Ray dropped what he was doing and got me back in quickly so I could grab my stuff for the seminar. Since my door was going to be left open for maintenance, Paula immediately assigned me a new room. I was impressed with their service and grateful for the room swap. I also liked the large room size, abundance of electrical outlets, and the excellent cable TV lineup. The free breakfast selection was about average, with hot eggs and sausage patties, waffles, mini muffins, English muffins, breads, cereals, apples, oranges, yogurt, and hard boiled eggs. Not a bad selection, but not the best, either.
What I thought needed improvement:
The rooms need maintenance. Aside from getting locked out twice by just pulling the door closed (lock issue and then dead batteries in the second room lock), the first room had purple splatters on the wall that looked like a wine or grape juice bottle had exploded at some point in the past. The bathroom also had a mismatched ceiling tile that made the room seem kludged. The second room looked like it had experienced water damage at some point and the wallpaper was reattached with drywall screws. Again, it looked kludged.
I also have to wonder where the hot water heater is located. In both rooms, I ran the bathroom faucet for over three minutes without getting anything more than lukewarm water. I finally turned on the tub faucet for an additional 2-3 minutes before I got any hot water. When taking a shower each morning, I had to spend several minutes coaxing the hot water out of the faucet, and I quickly learned it was necessary to keep one hand on the valve, as the temperature would alternate between warm and invigorating (cold, that is) in the blink of an eye. Showers were not relaxing. I spoke to another seminar attendee with a room on the second floor and he reported the same long wait for hot water. I can only assume the hot water heater is located somewhere distant--possibly miles away.
Other general information:
The rooms were clean and the beds were comfortable. They do not use a mattress bag to shield against bedbugs and they do not sandwich the blanket between two sheets--if you have read any of my other reviews, you know I like to see both of those. There is no central light switch for the room--the wall switch only controls the entry light. There is a large flat screen TV in the room. If you get audio but no video, reseat the power cord where it enters the TV. Don't ask how I know this, but did I mention the staff is very helpful? The bathroom sink is located in the bathroom itself, which is less convenient if traveling with a family (I wasn't). There is a prep sink in the kitchenette area, along with a microwave and a fridge. There is a nice workplace in the room.
Overall, I was a little disappointed with the property. It looks really nice on the outside and in the lobby, but the rooms need some help. If/when I come back to Chantilly, I will most likely stay elsewhere. It's sad, because the place could be really nice with some TLC (and a hot water heater).
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
