My spouse and I stayed at the Hampton Inn Reagan National Airport for 1 night in late October 2013. The hotel is a 5-minute drive from Reagan National Airport (but is not safely walkable) and provides complimentary shuttle service to that airport, although it does not run 24 hours per day. (The hours might be 4:00 am to 12:00 midnight.) The hotel shares a large van (holds 10+ passengers) with the Radisson hotel next door. You can also take the metro (approximately $1.50) or a taxi cab (approximately $5.00).
We thought that the location was excellent, because the hotel is located on busy Jefferson Davis Highway amidst many other hotels, chain and independent restaurants, the Crystal City Shops, and so on. It felt like a relatively safe area to walk from the hotel to restaurants or shopping. The hotel does not feature its own restaurant, but the Radisson hotel directly next door (the buildings may even be attached) has a bar/restaurant called 2020 Bistro & Lounge. Other restaurants within walking distance include Legal Seafood, Chili's Grill, McCormick & Schmick, Morton's, Ruth's Chris, Jaleo, and many independent ethnic restaurants (Café Italia, Kora, Portofino, Top Thai, Kabob Palace, Charlie Chiangs). There is a gas station and 24-hour CVS pharmacy in the next block. The hotel is a 5-minute walk from the Crystal City metro station, which will lead you into downtown DC in about 10 minutes.
The hotel has an underground parking garage that charges $15 per night to park. The hotel reserves some parking spots closest to the elevator bank for their Diamond Hhonors members. The single elevator from the garage leads into the lobby, although it does not connect with the elevator bank (containing two elevators) that leads to the guest rooms. The lobby features some grouped seating arrangements where you can socialize or wait for friends, as well as an ATM machine. The lobby area adjoins the breakfast space, which is open and spacious with high ceilings and lots of windows to let in light. The serve-yourself complimentary breakfast was standard Hampton Inn fare, with some hot and cold options (cheese omelets, bacon, hard-cooked eggs, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, pastries, make-your-own waffles, milk, coffee, and juices), or you can choose a grab-and-go packaged breakfast bag during the week if you are in a hurry. Coffee service (decaf, regular, tea, hot water) is available 24-hours a day in the lobby near the front desk and the pantry store. The breakfast room contains several TVs, and offers seating at regular tables (although they were extremely low for us!), a high-top community table with bar stools, and semi-booth (banquette) seating. The indoor pool and fitness center are located off the lobby, as are the meeting rooms and business center, although we did not use/see them. Smoking is permitted outdoors, and the hotel provides a park bench where you can sit while you do so.
We reserved a king-bed studio suite, which was large, although the usable space was tight. The building itself is not rectangular, so the size of the rooms might vary a bit. (This hotel has regular guest rooms, studio suites, and one-bedroom suites.) For example, the wide hallway leading into the room that housed the wet bar with sink, microwave, coffee maker, and mini-refrigerator was spacious, as was the wide hallway that houses the bathroom vanity and leads from the main area of the room to the bathroom, but the area that held the sofa, desk, and king-size bed was rather compact. The main part of the room also held this odd side dining chair (which we noticed in other rooms as well). The bathroom was a large cube, but there was a strange permanent doorstop near the middle of the floor to prevent the door from swinging into the wall. Standard Hampton Inn toiletries were provided - soap, shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, and mouthwash. There was tons of cabinet space in the wet bar and bathroom double vanity areas - probably more cabinets than we have in our bathroom at home! We cannot imagine when hotel guests would ever use that amount of space! Wireless internet service is complimentary. The closet held an iron and ironing board and one luggage rack. (Why are there never two luggage racks? There are often two guests.)
We would stay here again if the situation called for it - if we were flying to or from National at an early or late hour. It is not an ideal location for sightseeing in the tourist areas of Washington DC, although you might be able to easily reach them using the metro.
