As a family member of a patient at NIH, we have stayed here at the American Inn for the last 10 years! It is clean, and predictable. The help at the front desk are kind, and very friendly. The breakfast is standard with good coffee. Yes, the hotel room is small, but it is sufficient. It is within walking distance of great hotels, I can recommend quite a few. It is also within walking distance of NIH and the metro, so on a nice day, it is a great walk. Yes the bed is a little too soft, and the pillows are a bit too thin, but the hotel does its part to keep our stay here predictable. We know what we are getting every time. The hospital shuttle also picks you up at the hotel.

I spent a week at the American Inn of Bethesda a month ago, while attending a conference about 5 miles away at the Strathmore Arts Center in Rockville. It is really just a large motel, and maybe my expectations are lower than they should be, but the place served me just fine and I would stay there again. Prices are shockingly high in this metro area. I managed to get the pre-arranged conference rate of $125 for a double room, and that was fine, but without my several phone calls and explanations to various staff it would have been $175. I guess $175 for a motel in Bethesda is acceptable, but to me it’s just exorbitant. The conference rate for a single was $95, and that sounded even better, but they were sold out of those rooms. Just as well: they proved to be miniscule! I would not recommend one of them for a stay of more than just a night. By contrast, the double I had for myself was the size of a normal hotel room, and suited me just fine. Good bed, good desk, good ac (temperature was 100 F all week, plus humidity), and quiet. There’s a bustling Mexican restaurant connected to the hotel, and a cute sun-room of that establishment functions as a breakfast room for the hotel’s complimentary continental breakfast. You’re eating off plastic and styrofoam, but there are fruits, cereals, waffles, and yogurt, a skylight and view of the pool, and the place is delightful. Except for the free copies of USA Today, you could be in a different country. A half-mile away is a 24/7 old diner straight out of Edward Hopper. Superb place, with colorful staff who are both friendly and gruff. Next door to the hotel is a Doubletree Hotel, where I had a couple of nice breakfasts. Within 5-15 minutes walk are literally dozens of upscale Bethesda eateries for lunch or dinner. I found the American Inn staff, nearly all immigrants, to be unfailingly helpful and quietly cheerful. One fellow drove me every morning to my conference in a courtesy van, and was always prompt. I tried the pool one day, and used the little computer room every day. Hotel’s coin-op washer/dryer worked fine if you have lots of quarters, and I bought my detergent right across the street. There are cookies and coffee/tea put out every afternoon. The big NIH medical complex is about 10 minutes stroll, while the bustle of downtown Bethesda is about 15 minutes in the opposite direction. The hotel is located at the quiet end of the Bethesda commercial strip. DC’s wonderful subway system is within walking distance. Don’t expect too much, and don’t pay full fare, but the American Inn is just fine if you’re in one of the larger rooms. Friendly, suburban vibe to the place.

Stayed for two nights at the American Inn Bethesda in May...Here's what went wrong: - front desk clerk rude and coworker sarcastic w/me - they checked me into a room already occupied - request for add'l pillows not carried out by front desk staff or housekeeping despite two calls - A/C noisy and not effective, i.e., much too warm in both rooms - Hotel maintenance man draped over lobby sofa sleeping (both mornings!). To me, this said as much to me about the hotel and its staff as anything else... - Front desk and manager failed to address any of the issues when made aware of them other than to grudgingly switch my room, but the new one wasn't much better... - Manager on the frosty side: acted like somehow I had screwed up rather than his staff or himself. This was quite irritating. - strong urine and mold smell in 2nd room - ants in bathroom in 1st room - Had to wait 15 minutes to get key to change room while front desk clerk on personal call One positive note: great location if you want to be in downtown Bethesda. This place just didn't cut it. I wouldn't stay here if they paid me to... Aaron

If you are going to Bethesda Md. book early or expect to pay. The bargain prices of the American Inn lured me in but boy was i disappointed with what $175 a night gets you. The room sported the world's smallest tv with the worst cable connection. This was enjoyed on a spongy bed with two thin pillows. No extras in the closet. The bathroom, although clean, was in desparate need of scrape and paint and had an unusually powerful shower which i needed after the sleepness night.

This well-located Bethesda hotel is owned and operated by representatives of at least four countries--none of them the US. These folks are well meaning but unprofessional and unable to communicate either among themselves or with their clientele. The shuttle bus driver who picked us up at the metro stop, parked his van in a corner and sat until we found him--this took two trips to/from the hotel and 40 minutes of waiting for me and my exhausted mother. We were placed in a non-smoking room, in spite of our reservation for a smoker. I believe that this was not an oversight but that the rooms were overbooked. What followed rivalled the Three Stooges except that my 86-year-old mother is the smoker in question. The night staff did not pass the information to the day staff and we waited in the lobby for an hour while we were transferred to--not a room within the hotel, which we were promised--but a room adjacent to a restaurant, where we heard the kitchen staff all night. Our belongings were transferred to the new room, but we were denied access to them while the room was cleaned. The room was off the street and had no safety lock; we barred the door with the furniture at night. In order to access the one microwave it was necessary to exit our room to the street, enter the hotel and take an elevator up four floors. We should have been compensated for a much lesser room--we should have been given a free night. At check-out we were treated to a lengthy lecture from the manager to the desk clerk which should have been conducted behind closed doors. The management of this hotel--with its staff--needs a hotel communications/public relations class or some occupation which does not require contact with the public. Kate McClintock