The Crowne that Doesn't Deserve its Title (DC Adventure Continued)

Okay, so when we go on vacation, one of the most important things we focus on is our hotel accommodations. For this trip, my Husband and I traveled with my sister and she insisted on getting a 4 star hotel at an affordable price. This made planning a little more difficult for us. We decided on the Crowne Plaza in Maryland. At $72 per night, it was one of the most affordable hotels we could find July 4th weekend. The Crowne Hotel we stayed in was outside the city. We could not afford downtown DC during the July 4th weekend, the prices there started at $150, which was beyond what we wanted to pay at the time. As I said, we booked this package together with my sister, which made things a little bit more difficult.

We generally do our research before we go to any hotel because we have had bad experiences in the past. My Husband called the hotel to make sure we were not that far from the hotel. They said it is a 20 minute ride from downtown, but turns out, they are wrong. Our ride was more like 35 minutes. They said they offer a free shuttle from the train to the hotel and they were right. But they forgot to mention that it takes a while for the driver to get to the station. Fifteen minutes went by when we first arrived to get picked-up at the train station.

When we arrived at the hotel it looked pretty good. It was nice and clean and seem to be a good fit. We quickly went upstairs and discovered that the room was not that bad. Nicely decorated, equipped with a flat screen, and a desk; the room was impressive at first glance. Then we looked out the window to find that our view was of the dinning room. Then we jumped on the bed and discovered that the sheets were not exactly the best. Then I noticed that I could hear my sister when I stayed in her room while she went to mine to speak to my Husband. OH NO!!!!

Needless to say, I concentrated on the sounds I could hear or could not hear for the rest of the trip. On Saturday, we had an experience coming back from the station. Apparently, there is a shared shuttle with the Inn next door, we go to ride it. The big surprise was the stench coming from either the driver or the van. The smell was indistinguishable. All of us held our breath during the ride home. On Friday, the driver told us about the "the long way" to the hotel and on Saturday on this ride home we began to understand the need for the short way.

All in all the stay was not that bad. It just was not what we expected. I learned my lesson: A Four Star is nothing but a number.

2.5 stars

-Wife