Hotel Heron Old Town Alexandria

What a beautiful, comfortable little hotel. The rooms are clean, the bed and pillows were very, very comfortable. The staff was so friendly, everyone I spoke with was helpful and welcoming. This is the perfect place for a lovely time in Alexandria. Lots of it boutiques and restaurants, casual outdoor seating in the shopping district within walking distance. Special shout out to Amy in the KILN restaurant! What a lovely person! She was so attentive and kind, I felt like I made a new friend. I had a delicious kale salad and Amy was nice enough to arrange a special side dish for me. What a wonderful experience all around.!

Room was cute and comfortable. Love the bird themed decor & design, tastefully done. Bed was comfy and shower was excellent. Great location. Chocolates on arrival was a great touch. The rooftop has nice views and the restaurant was tasty. Would recommend.

The staff is the best. I have been coming to the Heron on business weekly for over a year now. Their staff is the best. They treat me like family. Amy, the bartender, mixes awesome drinks and provides service with a smile. Always putting the customer first. Michael at the front desk|Is always welcoming and wearing a big smile whenever I walk through the door.

I booked the Heron Hotel for a conference at the Gaylord Center, and I couldn't be happier with my choice. Not only is the location perfect, just a short distance from restaurants and shopping, but the hotel itself is exceptionally comfortable and a 15 minute ride from the conference center and not more from downtown DC. The rooms are fantastic, and the restaurant and lobby are very inviting. I also enjoyed a delightful breakfast on-site, pleasantly surprised by the menu. Whether you're visiting for tourism or for business, the Heron Hotel is definitely a great option.

This hotel was so cute, and the room was a dream! Very clean, very stylish. Parking was extra but the valet guys are very nice and helpful. I was able to get Kiln (the restaurant that’s attached) sent to my room- food was good! Not amazing for the price but still very convenient. Get the risotto & sweet potato!

My wife and I stayed a night here and we loved the place. The staff was fantastic, the hotel in clean and new. The room was a little small (I would say cozy), but it was well appointed and very nice. Loved the bathroom. The location was great too, it's walking distance to the riverfront and is only a short drive from Reagan. It was the cheapest room in the area that night too. Definitely going back. *EDIT* We ended up back in the DMV the following week. After a long, no-meal day of travel we got to the hotel 5 minutes before the restaurant closed. The restaurant staff (including the bartender)stopped their cleaning and went into high gear to prepare us a lovely meal. Fantastic service.

An absolutely stunning hotel! The valet parking was very easy & the entire staff was super friendly, made me feel very at ease. Very conveniently located in downtown with just a short walk to local bars, restaurants & shops. Highly recommend Don Taco. The valet parking was nice & the valet staff was very respectful of my vehicle & fast to retrieve it. Did not get to eat at the restaurant located in the hotel but it looked nice. The room was small but very homey & clean. King size bed was extremely comfortable & shower was spacious. Had a nice mini bar located in the room as well as nice robes in the closet. My only real regret is that I couldn’t stay more than one night.

We had a fantastic experience here, we didn't want to leave! The room and bathroom were gorgeous and very well designed. We mentioned it was my birthday and they went above and beyond and left chocolate truffles and champagne in the room for us. Amazing location just off king street and walking distance to the waterfront. We had an incredible stay here!

Still my fav. A few minor hiccups occurred but nothing that won't keep me from returning as I fly in monthly for work. I do think Patrick (bartender/server at Kiln) was overwhelmed on Tuesday night, not sure if he is new and still acclimating or was short staffed but he dropped several drinks and a bottle and seemed slightly distracted. I dined in at Kiln and ordered the 1/2 chicken and cabbage. Both were incredibly flavorful, especially the cabbage, nothing like I've ever had. When I tabbed out the first time, the check read, glass of red. I advised him that this may be someone else's check, so he printed mine again and it included fries. I had to notify him again of the mistake, but eventually got it right. The only other issue was the inoperable lighting in the bathroom until maintenance came and rectified. Heron team is incredibly friendly, polite, complimentary and courteous! 10/10 would recommend

I read some of the lower reviews on this site and noticed that they were for Good Fortune bar (rooftop bar), not the actual hotel itself. The hotel opened in June of 2024 and was simply beautiful and stunning. I loved the newly renovated interior and the lovely boutique hotel. You will no the disappointed but the hotel. However, there are a few things that could be improved, as noted, below. Service (3/5): At check-in, Rosie was amazing to explain everything but upon check out, the lady was confused. When we went to check out the next morning, the lady at the front didn't actually credit us for our free drinks - we had to ask twice for a new receipt. Instead of admitting she made a mistake, she said, "the details showed the discount." No, the details came up with completely different final bill....I really hate it when I have to be the one to explain things to those that work there. What could be easily taken care of (through training, etc) it leaves it to the customer to have to pay more attention. Value (3/5): The hotel room itself seemed like a deal, but the confusion in the actual amenities left me a bit discouraged. There is an automatic $25 charge (amenity fee) that is automatically charged. You MUST use it in the attached bar/restaurant, KILN, or you lose it. That hardly seems fair seeing that KILN doesn't have breakfast other than a take away pastry and not a good lunch option. We had a "two free drinks" from Hotels.com (ie, Expedia) that we were told we could use at the speakeasy, Francis Hall. While we were there, the server was confused and said that we could not use them here but she would make an exception for us. Valet was $45 a day for parking which seems a lot for Old Town Alexandria. We saw a lot a block away that was $10 per day. Location (5/5): Just a block of King street, this hotel is in the BEST part of town.

We enjoyed our stay! The front desk and service was very friendly. The room was perfect and bathroom was pretty and spacious. Great location. Would definitely come back! Our only complaint was the breakfast. It was actually laughable. They didn't even try with the breakfast sandwich lol. Luckily we used our $25 credit.

Great new spot in Old Town, much needed rooftop Real Estate that gives you beautiful 360 views of downtown Alexandria and the river. The drinks were great and the hotel is beautiful. There's a small food menu available on the roof with full service restaurant on the first level.

The cutest hotel in old town Alexandria! It was super convenient, being walkable to anything you can imagine! The staff was so lovely and the rooms were absolutely charming! We took advantage of the rooftop bar and it was lovely with sweeping views of old town! The staff was so lovely and even gave us complimentary drinks! I'd highly recommend making hotel heron part of your stay!

I've been here to the rooftop bar a few times. Once with a group and a couple times on my own. I haven't seen the rooms or stayed in the hotel. When I go the front desk staff is friendly and greets guests which is nice. The elevator to the top can be a bit slow but it's usually people going up and down. The rooftop is nice and has nice views of old town Alexandria. They have a DJ and you can have a chill time with friends. It's not a big Space and seats can fill up fast and there's not much room to stand. Drinks are a bit high and not filled up for the price you pay. $18 for half a small cup wine.

A wonderful hotel in old town Alexandria, super friendly staff, very clean and comfortable. Actually one of the nicest places I've ever stayed. Bar and separate speak easy for nighttime fun. Very classy!

House keeping turned the lock so the door was open. I assume this was while they cleaned, but guess what, they never retracted the lock... so my room was wide open for hours. Would not recommend anyone stay here.

Well, it's 5 stars now! Management popped for a bunch of really nice, sturdy umbrellas and it made all the difference! Went last night and were greeted by beautiful, cool, Army-strong Candace at the concierge position running the deck like a boss! Janae was our server and her 1000 watt smile and infectious laugh set the tone! Cocktails were large and icy! The view was lovely, the breeze welcome, and once again, the crowd eclectic and well turned out! Great venue! MW

I had really high hopes for the hotels new rooftop cocktail bar, Good Fortune. It is a beautiful rooftop with stunning views but on my birthday there was quite a few issues with the treatment we received, the service, and the drink menu. Things would definitely need to make an huge turn around for my friends and I to go back or even recommend this lace. Reservation: About 2 weeks prior, my friends and I were able to reserve a table here for my birthday to enjoy the rooftop. I was especially looking forward to the espresso martini cocktail. My friends arrived before I did. There weee told to sit in one of the areas that said reserved, so they did. Shortly after a manager came over to remove them, stating the section was reserved and they couldn't sit there. My friends shared that we had a reservation and were told to sit there. The manager said that I hadn't paid for the reservation and they needed to move, then brought her friends over to enjoy the area. When I arrived my friends had shared what happened and I spoke with the manager and that I was not even given an option to pay when reserving. She said that was a new feature as of this month. But I had made the reservation 2 weeks ago and after our interaction I went on the site to make another reservation and was not prompted to pay for any reservation. Service: The only reason they received 2 stars was our service was so nice and had great recommendation for drinks. However, the manager was giving special treatment to her friends and after awhile our drinks were collecting a lot on the small surfaces we had without being cleaned up. My friends had also brought a cake and asked to get plates and silverware. They told to go to the bar in the hotel lobby for that. After disappearing for awhile they returned but later on our bill, without any acknowledgement or service, we we charged a cake cutting fee. After going back and forth with the manager about how this should be shared upfront prior, we had to go retrieve all the dinnerware ourselves, and we cut the cake ourselves the manager went and removed it. Drinks: The menu looks incredible and interesting and we were excited to try some of the cocktails. Our reservation was at 8pm, so not incredible late for a night out for drinks at a rooftop bar. However the espresso drink and a few others we were interested in were already out. We were made aware the cocktails were batch cocktails and whenever they were done that's when they stopped serving them. The crowd didn't look incredibly large that night and it had rained for most of the evening before we got there. So to run out of batched cocktails seems like poor planning. Ambiance: It had rained right before we got there and the seating in the reserved section was all really nice and new outdoor cushioned furniture. So because of the rain it was pretty soaked and it was not wiped down at all for us. We managed to flip the cushions, sitting on pillows, or just finding ways to deal but some of us just ended up just getting our butts wet. We had a really nice view of old town, the water, and even National Harbor. Would love to see this location again but with better service and better planning or not doing all batches cocktails.

My husband and I were very excited to explore all that the Hotel Heron had to offer. As long time residents of Alexandria we enjoy finding new and exciting places to go. I am very sorry to say that we were extremely disappointed in our experience.  Upon arrival we went to Good Fortune, their roof top bar. Since there are a limited number of true roof top bars in Old Town we were excited to experience this. Unfortunately, we were met with disappointment. The bartending staff was not friendly and did not make us feel welcome. One bartender was scooping ice with a glass instead of using a scoop. This is a dangerous practice that can leave glass in the ice receptacle if the glass were to break. We asked about an item on the drink menu and our bartender said "those are to be enjoyed in solidarity". Not having any idea what that meant and not appreciating the cryptic description, we did not order this. The 3rd bartender was very arrogant and publicly stated that she wasn't going to follow protocols because she "did not break glasses".  After one drink we decided to test out the bar off the lobby. I would like to commend our bartender, Andrew, for his friendly demeano. He should be recognized. Additionally, several of the dinner menu items which we tried while sitting at the bar were quite good. Unfortunately there were also several missteps here as well. We were disappointed that a bar that prides itself on cocktails made so many of them with regular ice that you would use in a soda. It completely ruins the experience that a large cube could add to a well made cocktail. After a cocktail I ordered a bottle of wine. We also ordered off the restaurant week menu and we wanted to enjoy this bottle with our courses. The bottle did not appear for over 20 minutes. Our 1st course came out and still no wine. We were then informed that the wine needed to be chilled. I informed the manager that I did not want my main course to come out because I was holding off on finishing my 1st course until I had my wine. Five minutes later our main courses came out and we still did not have a bottle of wine. At that point the manager brought out the bottle of wine but we decided to cancel the order prior to him opening it. With our entire dinner now sitting before us it didn't make sense at this point to open an entire bottle of wine. The manager barely commented when I requested to cancel the bottle. I can't think that this type of behavior is good for sales.  Suffice it to say that I really wanted to be blown away by my experience at the Hotel Heron after all the hype I had read. Unfortunately, the experience was so poor we are afraid to even attempt his again. I have little confidence that this establishment will last in the competitive Old Town market.

Excellent all around! From location, to staff and service, our family couldn't be any happier!

We are Old Town locals for the past 4 years and were looking forward to trying the brand new rooftop spot, Good Fortune. Unfortunately, our experience and impressions aren't great after a few visits. While it's one of the nicest and best views for OT rooftops, not to mention cool vibes and music, the service here is terrible. Service staff are unfriendly and unwelcoming. As much as we would like to recommend this place to friends/family visiting or passing through, there are plenty of other places with just as good drinks but with the service that locals here expect. I'm pulling for this place, but they have some management issues to sort through.

Horrible experience. The lobby smelled like sewage and I didn't have hot water for TWO straight mornings. They don't start serving breakfast until 0800. In DC.

The Staff at Good Humor are amazing. The kindest most good natured fun people. We especially love Jenay, Erajen (sorry if not spelled right!) and the whole staff. They're so kind and nice and calm under pressure. Def come here to hang with the bar staff!

So thrilled to have such a beautiful new staple in Old Town! The hotel is gorgeous and the people working there are even better. Amari is an outstanding hostess who goes out of her way to make guests feel welcome, Harry is a visionary who cultivates a one-of-a-kind atmosphere, and Phillip keeps everything on point. The restaurant, Kiln, has excellent food and drinks - get the sweet potatoes and any of the specialty cocktails! The sunset view from the rooftop bar, Good Fortune, is the best I've seen in Old Town, and the music is a complete vibe. I was able to preview Francis Hall, the bar toward the back of the hotel that is set to open in July, and it was an absolute gem. I asked for a custom cocktail by explaining the type of drink I wanted and the bartender did not disappoint. I recommend Hotel Heron to anyone who's looking for a unique stay curated with local touches, a delicious meal, or a fun and stylish evening with great cocktails and a view!