If you’re looking for the perfect place to host your family reunion, I’ve found it! I’ve partnered with Marriott to share two of their hotels with you in Arlington, Virginia and I’ve got the scoop on why this location is ideal to bring your family together. All opinions are my own. You can read my full disclosure policy here.
Residence Inn Arlington Capital View Hotel
When my family was invited to come check out two Marriott hotels in Arlington, Virginia I was really excited. We love to travel, and we’re really not very far from Washington, DC so we’ve been there a number of times. But, we’ve never stayed on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. Something new!
Something else that was new to me is how these hotels were set up. I didn’t fully understand until I got there and had the chance to explore, but here’s the scoop: The Residence Inn Arlington Capital View Hotel and the Renaissance Arlington Capital Hotel are two adjacent hotels that are connected by an underground parking garage, and on the second floor. So you can stay at one and have access to the other which makes it a perfect place to plan a gathering for a bunch of people such as a family reunion!
We spent two nights in Arlington and on our first night we stayed at the Residence Inn Capital View Hotel. This is the lobby, a very cool design and beyond this little seating area is a large seating area with a bunch of tables. That’s where breakfast is served every morning (included!). It’s a great place to hang out, too. There’s a foosball table that we might have gotten a little competitive with!
While I was checking in, my daughter was looking up her favorite Star Wars characters on the computer in the lobby. A, ahem, ‘regular’ guest might use this to check the weather, their email, or print a boarding pass.
The rooms at the Residence Inn are really comfortable and great for a traveling family. Next to this bedroom area is the bathroom.
And there’s a living room space that also served as a sleeping area for the kids. The sofa pulls out into a bed where they slept. Anything unique like that is always a hit with my kids!
The coolest feature of the rooms in the Residence Inn is the kitchen! It comes with a refrigerator, microwave, sink, and you can’t quite see it here but just behind the fridge is a cooktop stove. Eating out with kids can really add up so this is a great option to eat in now and then, and at least keep some snacks and drinks on hand so you don’t have to run out every time someone is hungry.
Renaissance Arlington Capital View
On day two of our trip we moved over to the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel. So easy to do, since we could just walk across the second floor where these two hotels are connected.
The Renaissance has a really modern, ‘flowy’ feel to it. Very cool design and lots of little cozy spaces to sit down and visit. There are several computers in this lobby for guest use as well.
Some of the lighting and decor hanging from the ceiling wowed me as much as anything else! This space is right outside of the Illy Cafe, a great place to grab a coffee drink or some light fare like fruit, yogurt, a sandwich, or salad.
Of course there’s an elevator but we actually loved this staircase and were back and forth between the two hotels so much that we used it often to get up to the second floor where they’re connected. Gorgeous, isn’t it?
Two Hotels, Connected: One Family Reunion Venue
And here’s the second floor. This picture is looking from the Renaissance down the hall to the Residence Inn. Notice how spacious it is. I think sometimes hallways in hotels can feel pretty cramped but this is very open and airy, and if you’re planning a family reunion with little kids that need a place to be active, it’s perfect!
There’s TONS of attention to detail in both of these hotels. Look at the texture of the walls! Mirrors, artwork, lighting, everything is a photo opp!
This is the grand ballroom and I really couldn’t get the entire room in one shot but hopefully you can get the idea of how HUGE it is. A gorgeous space for a family to come together. I’m picturing a wedding in here, too! There are tons of other meeting spaces too that are a little bit smaller. So, for example, if you want to plan a dinner for your extended family, you could do so in one of those rooms when you might not quite need a ballroom-sized space.
I mentioned above that the hotels are joined by an underground parking garage. The hotels, both of them, are accessible through this garage, no need to go outside to reenter. (And bonus: there’s valet and self-park options, plus 4 electric car charging stations!)
The hotels share a few other amenities that are definitely worth a mention: The fitness center is BIG. It’s really larger than fitness centers I’ve seen in other hotels. Check out that row of treadmills. And if you keep walking past them, you’ll find the pool. It’s pretty shallow (of course you should still watch your kids at all times) which makes it a fun place for families to hang out.
One more thing I love: there’s an on-site guest laundry room. You do have to pay to use the machines but how nice is it to have the option to do a load of wash while you’re traveling? I often wish I could do that when we’re on the road. Huge bonus!
Dining
I briefly mentioned the Illy Cafe above as a great place for a light lunch, snack, or coffee beverage. Both the Illy Cafe and SOCCi are located in the lobby area of the Renaissance.
Take a look at SOCCi. AWESOME! I just love this atmosphere and there’s a full bar there if you want to grab a drink. But we stopped there for dinner and had an amazing meal. Think urban Italian for the theme. It’s mostly Italian food, but a great kids’ menu too, and as you can see it has very modern decor.
I’ll just leave this here and say that you’re gonna want to get dessert. You’re welcome.
A Tour of the Arlington Capital View Hotels with See Mom Click
Get a better feel for the connectivity of the hotels in this fun video that we shot on site! You can see it’s totally gorgeous and comfortable. We had such a wonderful stay. And when we weren’t at the hotel….
Things to Do In Arlington
In addition to the hotels themselves being really comfortable to spend time in, their location is ideal to bring people together. We literally watched the airplanes take off and land outside of our windows in both hotels, so you’re very close to all kinds of transportation. The train runs very close to the hotel, too, if you travel that way.
And once you’re at the hotel it’s really easy to get around. This is coming from a total country girl who knows nothing about how to use public transportation. The hotel staff is SO helpful and we very quickly figured out the metro to go explore.
The Arlington Bus passes right outside of the hotel, and we used the free hotel shuttle to go to the metro station and take the metro to Arlington National Cemetery. It was literally 100 degrees the day we were there, but we hiked ourselves all the way around the cemetery and it was so worth it to share this with the kids.
We watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and I actually think witnessing this in that oppressive heat made quite an impression on my family.
On one of the other days that we were there, we took the metro to Old Town Alexandria. When you hop off the metro you can grab the free trolley that runs up and down King Street (the main street through town) and get off wherever you want. At the end of King Street is the waterfront and the view is worth the trip. Gorgeous! Lots of fun little shops and restaurants in Old Town, and our first stop was for some ice cream. Of course it was. 😉
We had so much fun exploring the local areas around Arlington and I think no matter what your family’s interests are, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. That makes it a great place for a family reunion too. These two were so proud of themselves, venturing out into a new place and making new memories. We had a perfect venue to make that happen.
Learn More
You can find out more about the accommodations and amenities at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel and the Residence Arlington Capital View Hotel on their websites.
The Residence Inn is also on Twitter and Facebook, and the Renaissance is on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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