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On our great smoky mountain road trip, I used the Amex $200 Hotel Statement Credits at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner in McLean, Virginia, a short driving distance from Washington, DC.
The lowest rate I could find for my stay date was $299/night, so after the $200 hotel statement credit, I had to pay $100 plus about $15 in taxes and fees. The best part of the stay was I could also take advantage of my Marriott Platinum Elite status and receive additional benefits, such as dining credits on top of the Amex FHR benefits while staying at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner.
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| The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner |
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Ritz-Carlton McClean Virginia Location
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner is located in McLean, Virginia, with direct access to the Tysons Galleria Mall, Virginia’s upscale shopping destination.
In my honest opinion, this Ritz-Carlton property’s location is not ideal if you want to sightsee Washing D.C. because it’s not within walking distance of the metro station that takes you into the D.C. area. It is, however, close to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) than Washington Ronald Regan National Airport (DCA). Therefore, for convenience, you can drive or take an Uber to The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner.
Booking With Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner is an Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts (FHR) property; therefore, you can use the Amex $200 Hotel Statement Credits to book and receive a $200 statement credit back.
- The nightly rate I booked was $299/night before taxes and fees, so by factoring in the Amex $200 Hotel Statement Credits, the rate was reduced to $99/night before taxes and fees after receiving the statement credit back from Amex.
- Booking with Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts also offers elite benefits such as daily breakfast for two ($60 credit), 4 P.M. late checkout, and a $100 experience credit that can be used for dining, spa, parking, and more.
- But that’s not all. My Marriott Platinum Elite status is also recognized, and I was offered additional welcome gift options to choose from:
- 1,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points.
- Complimentary self-park worth $13 per exit.
- Complimentary breakfast credit for two worth $60
- $30 food and beverage credit
Between the Amex FHR benefits and my Marriott Platinum Elite benefits, we truly enjoyed all the savings at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner. Because the breakfast benefit overlaps and we were there just for one night, we went with the $30 food and beverage credit, which complemented well with the Amex FHR’s $100 on-property experience credit that we utilized at the onsite restaurant.
Below is the welcome letter that the front desk clerk handed to us upon check-in. The letter outlines the Amex FHR benefits in detail:
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| Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts Benefits at The Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner |
Recommended Post:
How to Earn American Express $200 Fine Hotels & Resorts Statement Credits
Amex $200 Hotel Statement Credits is one of the travel benefits available on the American Express Platinum Card.
Therefore, to earn the $200 Fine Hotels & Resorts credits, you must be a card member of the Platinum Card. The annual fee of this Amex card is very high; however, if you enjoy traveling, I strongly believe that you will enjoy all the travel rewards and benefits that the Platinum card offers you to justify that high annual fee.
Room Upgrades
Unfortunately, the night we were staying at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner was busy with two events, so the front desk clerk told us they could not upgrade us to a larger room type. So we remained in the room type that we booked – Deluxe Guestroom.
Also, I felt it was useless to contact or message the hotel for the upgrade request using the chat feature via the Marriott Bonvoy app because they all replied with the following generic message:
We have made a note in your reservation regarding the upgrade you requested. While we are unable to confirm at this time, we will do our best to accomendate your request if at all possible.
Room Review
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner Dexlue Guestroom is underwhelming to me, and it’s a bit dated, and it’s hard to classify it as a “deluxe room” in a “luxury” hotel brand.
The window is also small and dirty. Our room is located on the 19th floor, facing the skyscrapers. It was beautiful during the sunset, but the window glass was so dirty that it was hard to enjoy the view clearly. Regardless, the room offers a comfortable one-night stay to start our great smoky mountain road trip! Here are some pictures:
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| Sunset View |
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| King Deluxe Room |
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| King Deluxe Room |
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| Bathroom |
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| Dirty Window Glass |
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| View from the Guestroom |
The Ritz-Carlton Club Level
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner has the standard Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge, but it’s not available for Marriott elite members or guests who book through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts with no club-level access.
Please note that you cannot apply the Ritz-Carlton Club Level Upgrade Awards to the FHR reservation because Marriott Bonvoy agents cannot modify the reservation to use the Club Level awards. If you really want to access the Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, you must book the rate that includes club-level access when you book through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts.
Amex FHR Welcome Cakes
It was strange when we heard a knocking on the door around 10 P.M. at night. To our surprise, a hotel maid brought us a couple mini cakes and a welcome note as a token of appreciation for the stay at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner through Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts.
While I appreciate the gesture, does it have to happen at night? Why can they not do that during check-in or during the day? The cakes don’t taste as good as they look!
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| Amex FHR Welcome Cakes |
Amex FHR $100 Experience Credit
When you book your stay at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner with Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts, you also receive an on-property $100 experience credit. This credit can be used for any charges that incur during your stay, such as dining, drinks, spa, parking, you name it.
The way it works is that you must make sure your bills are charged to the room, and the hotel’s billing system will automatically take care of it. You can also view your bills through the TV inside your guestroom.
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| Use Amex FHR $100 Credit For Drinks |
Welcome Amenity
As a Marriott Platinum Elite member, the hotel offered the following four (4) choices:
- 1,000 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points.
- Complimentary self-park worth $13 per exit.
- Complimentary breakfast credit for two worth $60
- $30 food and beverage credit
We went with the $30 food and beverage credit, which complemented well with the Amex FHR’s $100 on-property credit that can be used for dining at the onsite restaurant.
The $60 breakfast credit was nice too. However, we already had that credit with the Amex FHR benefit. The self-park is worth only $13, and we did not plan on leaving the property after checking in, so that was not worth considering, and the 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy points are worth a lot less.
Complimentary Champagne Service
It was nice to see that The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner has a complimentary champagne service available to all guests staying at the hotel. The setup is in the check-in/checkout area. They serve unlimited champagne and an appetizer in the evening and bottomless mimosa in the morning.
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| Free Champagne Service at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner |
Food & Beverage Credits
If you have Marriott Platinum Elite status and above, you can pick the $30 food and beverage credit as your elite welcome amenity gift. See above.
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| Use F&B Credit For Crab Meat Pad Thai |
Daily Breakfast Credit
Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits and Marriott Platinum Elite benefits all include daily breakfast credit of $60 per day per room. The benefits overlap, but you can get a $120 breakfast credit if you think you will spend that much on breakfast.
All you have to do is enjoy breakfast at the onsite restaurant and charge the bill to the room, and the hotel’s billing system will automatically take care of it.
Please note that gratuity is not included in the $60 credit.
Just a quick tip, if you want to enjoy bottomless mimosa, don’t spend money at the restaurant. They have complimentary mimosa service available to all guests at the check-in area.
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| Amex FHR Breakfast Credit |
Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner Restaurant
Items on the menu at Entyse are not cheap, especially their cocktails, so having dining credits can help while staying at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner.
Resort Fee
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner does not have resort fees.
Parking
- Valet parking is available at $49 a night
- Valet Hours: Daily from 7 A.M. to 11 P.M.
- Daily valet parking is $30 per day
- Day self-parking is $13 per exit
- Premium Valet Parking (Oversized Vehicles taller than 6′ 8″ and Luxury Vehicles) – $65.
Pet Policy
Service animals only.
Internet/Wi-Fi
Yes, enter your name and room number to connect.
Internet access is complimentary if you are a Marriott Bonvoy member. Join Marriott and Earn 2,500 Bonus Points. Marriott Elite members get complimentary enhanced Internet access.
Bottled Water
Yes, two complimentary bottled water at the mini bar inside the guestroom.
Early Check-in
The regular check-in time is 4 P.M. We did not utilize early check-in.
Late Checkout
Yes, Amex FHR benefits include the 4 P.M. late checkout. The front desk asked if we wanted it, but we declined because we had to leave early morning.
Spa
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner has a small spa located on the 3rd floor.
It’s worth mentioning, too, that the spa at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner also sells Ritz-Carlton gift cards if you want to purchase and maximize any Marriott-related Amex Offers. More below.
Swimming Pool
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| Swimming Pool at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner |
The pool at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner is located inside the spa, on the 3rd floor. You don’t need to have a spa service to enjoy the pool.
The pool has adults-only hours, too, which is kind of cool. See the hours below.
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| Spa Pool Hours |
Fitness Center
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner has a fitness center on the 4th floor.
In-Room Safe
Nowhere to be found.
Robes & Slippers
Just the robes inside the closet.
Contact
If you wish to contact The Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner:
- Phone: +1 703-506-4300
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner
Ritz-Carlton Gift Cards
I think this deserves mentioning because it can be challenging to find a Marriott Bonvoy property nowadays to purchase a physical Marriott gift card.
The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner does have Ritz-Carlton gift cards for purchases. While the logo on the gift card is the Ritz-Carlton brand, you can use the gift card at any participating Marriott Bonvoy brand hotels, such as Marriott, Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, etc.
This can be beneficial if your stay occurs when one of your American Express cards is targeted for one of the Amex Offers to receive a statement credit. For example:
- Get a one-time $100 statement credit by using your enrolled eligible card to spend a minimum of $500 in one or more transactions on room rates and room charges at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, EDITION, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels & JW Marriott.
You can purchase the gift card at the front desk or the spa. The front desk ran out of gift cards, and we were told to buy them at the spa instead, which was not a problem. Your purchase must be charged to your room to receive the appropriate Amex statement credit, or you can simply charge the purchase to the card if you are not staying to receive the credit. The gist is the gift card purchase must be processed directly at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner hotel.
Earning Marriott Bonvoy Points & Elite Nights
There was a bit of an issue for me regarding earning Marriott Bonvoy points and elite nights at The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner booked with Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts.
Generally speaking, Amex FHR bookings are eligible to earn hotel points and elite nights after checking out, but that did not happen for me and required me to do a bit of work:
- During the FHR booking, I ensured my Marriott Bonvoy number was entered, and the reservation appeared as expected in my Marriott Bonvoy account.
- A day before the check-in date, I chatted with The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, and they had to make an upgrade request note in my reservation. My reservation disappeared from my Marriott Bonvoy account on the same day.
- I called the hotel, and the lady manually added my Marriott Bonvoy account number to my reservation and assured me that I would earn elite nights and points from this stay; despite the reservation being an Amex FHR booking. However, the reservation still did not reappear in my Marriott Bonvoy account.
- I called Marriott Bonvoy customer service to get the confirmation number from Marriott. I began to enter it in the Marriott reservation search section, but it kept erroring out on me. However, the reservation did appear in my Marriott Bonvoy account after that, despite the error.
- At check-in, I ensured my Marriott Bonvoy number was on the reservation. However, I did not receive elite points and nights after my stay. 10 days later, I decided to file Missing Stay Request and attached a digital copy of the receipt.
- A few days later, I received a response from Marriott, and they honored that stay and credited me all the points and night credits, including any bonus points through Marriott Promotions and Offers from that stay.
I’ll do a more detailed post on this incident because it’s not very common that an Amex FHR booking is not eligible to earn points and elite night credits. Moreover, don’t waste your time arguing with Marriott customer service if this also happens to you. They would say no to you, claiming the reservation is a third-party booking via Expedia (Amex back-end OTA service). Instead, keep the digital receipt and file the missing stay request.
