Hilton Washington DC/Silver Spring Hotel

King-​sized bedroom suite is spacious enough for 2 adults to unwind at the end of visiting DC or other locals. But closest space is limited, so luggage size and amount of it should be considered. Staff are genuinely friendly and prompt. For me, the killer features were the large tv and great wi-​fi.

It has become a habit to stay here when in the D.C. area, only because it is relatively cheap, yet still only a Metro Ride away from D.C. proper. The best things about this hotel is the location as it is two blocks away from the Downtown Mall at Silver Spring which has a Chick-​fil-​A that we have become addicted to (there are none in NYC save for one on the NYU campus), and the best Dim Sum restaurant outside of any Chinatown (and D.C.‘s Chinatown really sucks) along the East Coast.
As for the rooms, they are not bad, though in need of renovation and they could be larger — you are a bit squeezed for space when you have two doubles in a room. There restaurant is expensive, and not too great. There is a better down-​home style diner a few blocks away. The staff service can be pretty hit or miss depending on how busy they become (we came during a convention, one of the elevators was out of order, and we received no towels when the rooms were done). There is an indoor pool which is not bad.

My wife and I stayed in this hotel for almost the entire month of December, 2010. The housekeeping staff may occasionally make mistakes and the night manager, at that time, was arrogant without cause. It is an old hotel that needs a face lift and the parking situation is beneath them (pardon me but that was irresistible). However, there are many good things about the Silver Springs Hilton that made our stay comfortable and satisfying. Our room, freely upgraded, was spacious and comfortable with lots of closet space. We found most staff members to be helpful and friendly, and welcomed us by name when we returned to the hotel each day. The hotel is convenient to the places we wanted or needed to be, the hotel shuttles were available at request, and the metro is 2 blocks away. The Hilton lounge and restaurant were marginal, but there is a private Italian restaurant in the basement that serves the best Italian food this side of the Atlantic and does so at very reasonable prices (check out Sergio Ristorante Italiano in Unilocal:
). The owner, his son, and the staff are attentive and friendly. The food is authentic and homemade. I stop for a meal whenever I am in D.C.
I should mention that the Hilton lounge and restaurant were scheduled for renovation and it may be complete by now, but even if it is, I doubt that they will be memorable. Bottom line: The hotel is old, slightly run down but comfortable, reasonably priced, and convenient. From my first visit I have wondered why the Hilton hasn’t sold of this property and now that Walter Reed has moved to Bethesda that may be what happens. I am returning to D.C. next month and will be staying at this hotel (and eating at Sergio) even though my business is downtown.

Horrendous, revolting, putrid. And thats complimentary to this miserable old dump of a worn out shack. Frankly, though the place has definitely been upgraded by the multi-​million dollar facelift they’ve been in the process of completing for what seems like the last decade — -but one has to believe that Hilton did this only so the corporation can dump this relic. The management is that bad – oh, yes, I mean REALLY PATHETIC — that they must troll for employees off the street and give them no training whatsoever. There was a time when the only hotel in SS was this Hilton and they got all the govt (FDA) business and anything else happening in this backwater town without having to compete. Today with 2 hotels across the street and the new modern Marriott UMDCC a short distance away, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to experience the wretched abuse of staying here. In case you think I’m exagerrating, I just spent 2 nights in a suite with NO RUNNING WATER IN THE BATHROOM SINK. And this was my second room! I told them to move me after I realized that the room I got first was in the middle of a construction zone, hammers, drills the works on both sides! So after politely noting that the piping was disconnected in the bathroom sink I calmy went to work expecting that it would be expediently addressed, considering that I was hosting a meeting in one of the conference rooms and had 12 guest rooms. Oh, not so. After asking, and asking and yes, again asking for 2 days and getting one bogus excuse after another, I finally had the joy of checking out and thinking: just wait til you see the review I write…
And I’m Hilton Gold.
Everything was bad from start to finish. Unbelievably atrocious service at the bar, the restaurant and from the banquet crew (although the AV was OK to be fair). Sullen and surly are the order of the day from all the staff, with only a few exceptions. The bar in fact makes you feel like you’ve wandered onto the set of Waiting for Godot. The bartenders who spend their time socializing with the empty restaurant staff (they have plenty of free time), seem perplexed at the concept that they need to wait on you. The catering staff checked with me not a single time to see if everything was OK with my meeting room and meals. Why should they, clearly they didn’t care.
Do yourself a favor and stay well clear of this train wreck.

The lobby was under construction… And there is no free continental breakfast… U pay all that money to stay here and… you have to pay for breakfast?

I had the same, inexplicable issue with towels here as the other reviewers. The maid took away our hand towels and washcloths, even the unused ones, and did not replace them.
The TV did not work upon check-​in, but I called maintenence, and a technician came up and plugged it back in within minutes.
The bathroom is small, but the room was clean, and the bedding and pillows very comfortable. The free wifi was a nice touch. The breakfast buffet was adequate – hardly gourmet food, but plentiful and edible. There were more choice on Sunday morning than on Saturday.
The hotel is within walking distance of many restaurants in downtown Silver Spring, but driving down Georgia Ave. into DC from here a nightmare of traffic lights. The perpetual traffic jam on the beltway is even worse.

Didn’t honor my prepaid Priceline booking. Rude staff, rooms are tiny and hotel overall a shabby dump. Have to valet your car and pay extra for that when the Hampton across the street allows self park and has a garage. I have no idea why Hilton allows it’s name to be on this substandard and unkempt building where they completely ignore that the industry is not only called but based on HOSPITALITY.
Never again!

Long story short (er), I arrived at midnight and it took me 30 minutes to check-​in. The desk clerk gave me the key to a room that was already occupied! Next step would have been to apologize and immediately put me in another room (perhaps with an upgrade as the rooms are fairly small). Instead, the clerk insisted he had to change the reservation properly in the computer — which apparently takes another 30 minutes — completely unacceptable. He called the room 20 minutes later to apologize. While that was nice — I was already in bed and was not very excited to receive a call at 12:50 AM.
My review sans the horrendous check-​in experience might have gone something like this:
Hotel was chosen as it was closest to a morning appointment in Silver Springs, MD. Good location, close to the metro station and was an easy ride from Union Station — faster and much cheaper than a cab. Hotel is about average compared to other Hiltons. The bathrooms are rather small, but the room was clean and the bed was comfortable. The Internet in the rooms was free (and fast) which was a very nice surprise. Mobile phone reception was good throughout. Small workout room gave me some much needed exercise in the morning. No-​frills buffet breakfast was quick and easy.
I wouldn’t have minded the 50 schools kids on a field trip that we’re making noise outside my door at 6AM if I hadn’t had such a bad experience checking in the night before (the walls/​doors are rather thin).

Stayed here for business and it wasn’t as bad as everyone said it would be, but it was that great either.
The first night there was some noise in the pipe that would pound every ½ hour or so. It didn’t keep me up as I can sleep through 3 alarms, but a coworker couldn’t sleep as the noise was in his room as well.
They don’t have a lot of blankets which I need when I sleep. The bathroom is super small and you have to maneuver to close the door. The shower and sink need to be updated. The toilet paper roll is underneath the sink and way behind the toilet. Bad placement!
I would look for another hotel when staying in the area. For being a Hilton hotel it was disappointing.

This place was kind of old.
This place was kind of small.
Not that it was bad,
it was just a haul
to downtown DC
which is where I wanted to play.
If I could revisit the trip
I’d find another place to stay.

I spent the last few nights here using my Hilton points so I shouldn’t complain (free)… which I didn’t because I don’t think anyone really would’ve cared anyways or was at least motivated to care.
They upgraded me to a suite which was nice… I am a gold member so not unexpected. The breakfast buffet was awesome for sure… the kids loved it.
So what was wrong with my stay? Well everything else… the room/​furniture was really dated and needed a major face-​lift and was dirty. I mean it needed a real deep cleaning… especially when you find dirty showers and counters and rugs and dust everywhere. Oh and the other reviewers are correct… they played the towel game, the glass cup game (as if I am going to steal glasses/​towels) and the valet parking game. When calling the front desk for help, hotel employees (3 times this happened hence why I gave up) would put me on hold or transfer me to other «departments»… it’s a hotel give me a break… all I want was a towel.
I think the hospitality management company sucks and is the root cause for the lack of service coordination… my 2 cents. Good thing I don’t go to Silver Springs often.

The room was far too small for two guests, especially the bathroom. I would not recommend this hotel for a couple, though it may be okay for a business trip. We wanted to try the Italian restaurant in the building as it had rave reviews on Unilocal,but it was closed on Sunday. The best thing about this hotel was the restaurant district within walking distance at the Silver Spring Center on Ellsworth Dr.
Per William L’s April review, this hotel is still playing the towel game. During our breakfast in the hotel, my spouse found a staple in her eggs.

I just stayed at this property for 3 nights and I thought that I would contribute my 2 cents.
I was on a paid trip, pre-​paid a great rate in advance. When I checked in the staff was pleasant, friendly, and I was upgraded to a suite. The room was nice, a bit dated, but certainly worth the $ 81/​night I paid. Flat screens in living room and in bedroom (in fact there was an extra flat screen on the table in the bedroom, not connected… my welcome gift?)
Wired internet was free and I was given coupons for a FULL breakfast. The coupons had the word «continental» scratched out and the word «FULL» written next to it with no initial or anything so I guess if you get the regular one you could try to upgrade your own.
On my second day I noticed that when they cleaned the room they removed my dirty towels but did not replace them. I figured housekeeping forgot — no biggie as I have a few more towels.
The next afternoon, I returned to find that the room was cleaned, dirty towels removed and no new ones stocked. I had one small hand towel. I called the front desk and rather than just say «Sir, I am sorry, I will get you towels,» Gabriel decided to try to explain first that they were sold out the night before. «But,» I pointed out, «you took my towels 2 days in a row and gave me none so surely there is an extra towel somewhere.» Then he asked me if I requested towels because I should have. Now I was getting ticked off, since this was a Hilton property and as Diamond (or even when I was not) I never had to «request» for towels. After trying to blame me for not «requesting» them his next excuse was that a bunch of kids asked for extra towels.
I gave up. The next morning I hunted down the GM and was finally given towels. The ironic thing was that the day before I was thinking that this property was good and I would be happy to stay there again. I am not so sure any more.
There is no lounge. The breakfast buffet was okay. Some good choices.
The hotel is in a great location — The metro is 2 – 3 blocks (5 min) walk away. There are plenty of places to eat and shop nearby too. I felt totally safe at night as well.
Would I stay here again? If I get that $ 81 a night rate — SURE! Of course, I know now to «REQUEST» towels each and every day. Anything over $ 100 and I would consider the two other properties (I believe it was HI and either HGI or HS) next door. Great location for mattress run with 3 properties right there!