I have stayed at this Holiday Inn location about a dozen times over the last 4 years, most recently in February 2005. There are several positive and negatives about this location. On the positive side, the location relative to DC is excellent with a Metro station at the end of the parking lot which gets you into DC in 20 minutes. Location is safe and I have had no problems walking to the hotel late at night while alone (I am a woman) or with kids. Also, there is a huge multi-plex across the street so if you tire of sightseeing or the weather is bad, the movies are right across the street (along with a Ruby Tuesday restaurant and deli). On the negative side, the food in the restaurant ranges from inedible to tolerable, particularly the breakfast buffet which is often inedible. Also, the hotel is popular with school trips and if you wind up on a floor with high school students (as I have on several occasions), the noise level is unacceptable until the hotel **really** cracks down which is about 11pm (unless you grab a chaperone and they quiet their group down). The front desk staff varies from very helpful to moderately rude but is more positive than negative. The indoor pool is great and well maintained. The gift shop is not worth the time so don't worry if it's closed, everything is terribly overpriced. Finally, request a room away from the ice machine if you need maximum quiet, although not unbearable, it is noisy.
The rooms are more than adequate with comfortable beds, good temperature controls for the AC in each room and bathrooms of comfortable size. The rooms with a king size bed come with a refrigerator and microwave which is helpful or those items can be requested if your room does not have one included. In every stay, I have found the room to be clean with clean linen and towels. All in all, I stay here because the location is extremely convenient (also close to Pentagon City Mall and Crystal City both on same Metro line and 10 minutes away), the value is good for the money (particularly if you reserve early) and safety.