WhyHotel by Placemakr Alexandria

I felt safe here, especially because a key card was needed to enter and use the elevator. There were plenty of restaurants and a grocery store conveniently close by. The apartment was clean, nice for my family, and had everything we needed. This was easily my best stay, and I’ll come back.

WhyHotel gave me a much bigger apartment than I expected, with a fully equipped kitchen, spacious living room, laundry space with a walk-in closet, and a great view of the garden terrace connecting all the buildings at level-6. Great value for money. Everything else was perfect, with a couple of minor headaches. It’s very hard for a first timer to find the entrance. There’s no sign outside, maps don’t help locate it, and neither neighbors nor people nearby could point us there. The parking entrance and exit directions were confusing too. The outdoor photo with the art installations shows the entry. The Latch App is handy when it works, but it was ridiculously annoying at times. The entire facility, including the main door and elevators, uses this one app, and when it failed there wasn’t an easy alternative.

There are lots of things within walking distance, and the hotel staff were extremely helpful. I loved the hotel and enjoyed my stay, but the Latch app caused a lot of trouble when I tried to unlock the doors, making it hard to get in quickly. I think every guest should be given a physical key. The smoke alarms also go off easily, so I gave it four stars.

The apartment itself was fine, though there was a loud hum inside the walls whenever water ran in the bathroom sink or shower. We got two towels for two people for three days, and a third would’ve been nice. There was no bureau for clothes and no trash can in the bathroom or bedroom, just one small bin under the sink. On day one, pest control came in to spray while I was working online in a meeting. Why spray while we’re there, and what were they treating? We chose this because it was pet friendly, reasonably priced, and we were open to trying an apartment reservation as if it were a hotel. The place is new and has more space and apartment-style options. The hotel staff, once we found them in room 822, were pleasant and helpful. Management should put someone at ground level 24x7. Still, this isn’t a hotel by any traditional measure, and the stay was just okay. The Latch app is a disaster. At first and on other occasions, it wouldn’t let us in from the parking level, and it worked less than 50% of the time at the main elevator. The parking entrance was hard to find. We found it at the building’s third parking entrance, and the garage signage was terrible once inside. I’d recommend this for a week or more of work travel, but not as much for a shorter personal trip. There’s a convenient Wegmans food store down the block. Foot traffic is light, and I wouldn’t recommend walking alone at night.