Railfan Motels

Rockville, MD - Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting Ctr

Address: 1750 Rockville Pike Phone: 301-468-1100

Location/ Directions: I-495 West toward Silver Spring. Take Exit 34 Route 355 North (Wisconsin Avenue/Rockville Pike). Proceed approximately 3.4 miles on Rockville Pike and the Hilton Rockville will be on your right after the Rollins Avenue/Twinbrook Parkway Intersection.

Average Price (Checked Feb 2016):  $150.00     AAA Rated:  YES   Stars: (***3***)

About Hotel: 7-Floors, 315-Rooms, Interior Corridors, Business Center, Fitness Center, Restaurant On-Site, Cribs, High chairs, Elevators, Local Area Transportation, Lounge, Room Service, Sight Seeing Tours, Air Conditioning, Arm Chair with Ottoman, Black-Out Curtains, Alarm Clock Radio w/ MP3 Connection, Connecting Rooms, Ergonomic Desk Chair, Non-Smoking Hotel, 27-40 Inch Flat Panel Cable HDTV, Thermostat (adjustable), Work Desk with Adjustable Lamp, 24 Hour Housekeeping, Coffee Maker, Convenient Electrical Outlets, Hairdryer, High Speed Internet Access, Iron/Ironing Board, Newspaper M-F (USA Today), Rollaways, Self Laundry Available, Tea/Coffee Making Facilities, Speaker phone with Voicemail, Self Parking (fee), No Pets Allowed. 

Railroad View:  Clear but only a fair to poor view of the railroad.  Get a room on the north side, overlooking the Metro station.  The tracks are across the commuter parking lot.  The Metro tracks are closer to the hotel with a train station which blocks most of the CSX / Amtrak view due to the station canopies.  You will be able to see the CSX / Amtrak trains and even capture locomotive numbers with binoculars or a video camera, but photography of trains from the room is very poor. A retaining wall along the elevated Metro tracks eliminates a nice view of the Metro trains; only the upper 2/3rd's of the train can be seen.  There is almost no noise from the railroad heard from the hotel.  Windows do not open.  In a quiet room you may hear the soft rumble of the locomotives.  At night you can also see the trains, but its not enough light to video.   

Railroads past Hotel: CSX Transportation / Amtrak (trains # 29 & # 30) / MARC (Commuter rail) / Washington Metro (electric transit).  During my short stay of 12 hours on Labor Day (10pm to 10:30am), I only saw 3 freights, however because it was a holiday and the fact its hard to hear the passing trains, I'm sure I missed many.

Railroad Radio Frequencies:  160.320 / 160.230 - CSX BC Dispatcher Baltimore 

Notes:  The hotel is located next to the Washington Metro transit's Twinbrook Station located on the Red Line.  This makes this hotel easy access to Washington DC and Union Station.

Comments:

Photo Comment: Looking north out the window of room # 409 the white canopy of the Twinbrook station can be seen.  There are 2 tracks for the Washington Metro trains, behind that are 2 tracks for CSX / MARC / Amtrak.  This trains are hard to view with the Metro Station in the way.  Bottom photo shows a eastbound Metro train in the station, although you only see about half of the rail cars, this is the best view you will achieve of what would be a clear view of the railroad. 

Floor Plan:  Ask for a high floor, odd numbered rooms that end with 01, 03, 05, 07, 09, 11, 15, 17, 19, 20 should work as well.  My room # 409 was in the center of the building, which was fine.

Within Walking Distance from Washington Metro's Twinbrook Station (Red Line)

RailfanMotels.com - Reviewed September 2015 / Posted 2/15/2016.