Max W.
Yelp
This Ritz Carlton doesn't really live up to the name it used to, but then again the standard has slipped over the years and especially now that Marriott controls it. This location, however, has a myriad of issues, as we have learned over our frequent stays.
First of all, the rooms are not always up to par - there are random issues with things like the air conditioning, room phone not working, TV having connection issues, etc. I could excuse this at a normal hotel, but a so-called luxury hotel should not have these issues, especially for the price.
The same goes for the food; I would be more amenable to spend $100 per person, per meal, if the rest of the experience was to a professional, luxury standard. The bad taste in your mouth over dealing with the hotel is enough to ruin the taste of anything else, in other words. However, the food is admittedly quite good and consistently so between Ritz locations, and the downstairs bar has nice live music and a fun menu.
However, for the last point of contention, a very irritating issue is that the room is often not ready on time, which they state is because many people have late checkout, but they do not offer that through their own Marriott points system. Thus, it is more preferable to use American Express Platinum to reserve a room; therefore, their rewards system is undesirable in comparison. It appears to me, also, that they only have one maid per floor, so they are perhaps trying to save money on staff, but it is not fair to the maid to have to clean the entire floor by herself. Again, this may not be the reality but it was from our observation.
In conclusion, the Ritz-Carlton of Tysons is nothing more than an average, overpriced hotel. Now, they are apologetic whenever there's an issue, but if they do not hold themselves to a better standard, they are going to lose customers, or perhaps they will have to lower their prices because those with standards will pick a better alternative. I would say it is acceptable to stay here if you want convenience for the mall location, but otherwise you are better off staying at a luxury hotel in Washington D.C.