Extended stay in Gaithersburg

September 17, 2012 12:02 PM

I will be staying in the Gaithersburg, Maryland, area for four to six weeks and I'm looking for a decent extended stay hotel. Has anyone stayed in this area before and could you recommend a good extended stay hotel, preferably close to NIST? Thanks!
posted by Aanidaani to Travel & Transportation around Gaithersburg, MD (3 answers total)

I recently spent a week at this location (actually the week it was being re-branded from a Homestead to an Extended Stay America) and found the prices and location totally decent. Note that this hotel and the ones near it are all in an office-park wasteland. There's very little within walking distance, but there's no parking problems to speak of.

The people at the front desk were nice and helpful, though I didn't have cause to interact with them much. I didn't have any problems with my fellow residents and felt safe, but it wasn't always the most quiet place.

The kitchen was a pretty crappy 2 burner coil stove-top, full-size fridge, 2 place settings (2 cups, 2, plates, silver) and a double sink. I had to buy a pot and a pan to use. The room is no bigger/nicer - and possibly smaller/worse - than your average 2/3-star hotel room. There was a decent TV, cable, and reliable wireless.

The place felt a little run-down: not great lighting, some weird smelling stairways, and older furnishings. I think staying there for more than a month would have been a stretch for me, but I probably fall on the pickier side of things.

If I had to do it again, I would probably consider chancing it at one of the slightly more expensive places just up the street.
posted by juliplease at 12:56 PM on September 17, 2012

I recommend the Residence Inn at Washingtonian.

You will find a Target within easy walking distance (1/2 mile or so), and lots of food options (mostly chains, but a mix of fast casual and regular restaurants). There's a grocery store about a mile away (there aren't many grocery stores in this area) and also groceries available at the Target. NIST is nearby (5 miles). If transportation to NIST or parking at NIST is an issue, there is a bus that runs right past this hotel and goes to NIST (on a weekday commuter schedule -- there might only be busses that take this route at the start and end of the day, I'm not sure. The bus schedule is here, the Washingtonian stop is the one that will go by this hotel).

I have not stayed at this Residence Inn, but I am very familiar with the area and this hotel is not very old (maybe 10 years old or so) and I've heard good things about it from people who have stayed there. I have stayed at the hotel juliplease mentions, and I do not recommend it. It's old and in a very isolated area.
posted by OrangeDisk at 3:40 PM on September 17, 2012

I haven't stayed in any hotels there, but I used to work at NIST and lived in the area. For an extended stay, I'd also recommend somewhere around the Washingtonian Center. Although there are hotels closer to the NIST main gates (like the Marriot TownePlace Suites on Perry Parkway ), but the Washingtonian is much nicer to stay in, there are shops, restaurants, and a small artificial lake with a fountain and a boardwalk. It has a nice, vacation-y feel to it :)

Bus route 54 goes through Washingtonian and goes inside NIST twice a day on weekdays (morning and afternoon), where it stops in front of the administration building, but even at other times it will drop you off close enough to the main entrance (W. Diamond Ave and Perry Parkway).
posted by Ender's Friend at 7:47 PM on September 17, 2012