The Alexandrian, Autograph Collection Reviews

We loved getting married at the Alexandrian! I exchanged probably 100 emails with Amanda, the venue coordinator. She was responsive, kind, thoughtful, and on top of things. The venue is the most significant vendor in terms of how your wedding will look and feel - and how you will feel! I had complete confidence in Amanda and her team, so it meant I wasn't nervous the day of. There were a couple little things my Best Woman had to check in on right before the ceremony, but we were able to have our wedding go off without a hitch - even without a day-of coordinator. Amanda and her team went above and beyond! The food was wonderful, all of the spaces were gorgeous, and my guests had the best time ever.

The Morrison house was an incredible venue for our 50-person wedding. It was small enough that is created an intimate feel but still large enough that everyone could enjoy themselves. The wedding coordinator Chelsea did a wonderful job with the small details, especially on the day of. The guests loved the accommodations staying there, especially with the proximity to the water.

As Father of the Bride, I wanted to make sure the venue and team we chose would be the best. Amanda and the team from The Alexandrian simply did an amazing job this past weekend (4/2). From the initial planning to guest accommodations, the pre-event activities, event set-up, courtyard cocktail hour, the main ballroom, and even post-event pick-up, just can't say enough about how happy we are!! Flawlessly executed. Highly recommend!!

Perfect from start to finish.
Have no hesitation in booking The Alexandrian. They are professional, responsible and flexible. They listen attentively to your specific requests.

We used this as our wedding ceremony and reception venue, and I only have praises to sing! The hotel staff and wedding coordinator(s) were SO helpful from start to finish. They were very responsive and answered my piles and piles of questions throughout the whole process. The venue is beautiful and does not need much to make it any more charming than it already is. We did the ceremony in the courtyard, and it was so lovely out there. Then the reception was in the ballroom, with cocktails in another room inside. All of the spaces were great! The in house food was delicious. There are tons of restrooms on the same floor of the event space, which I learned to ask about when venue shopping as some venues only have a couple bathrooms available. The hotel itself is gorgeous . And the bridal hotel room was sooooooo nice! It was a great wedding weekend, and we will go back to the venue often. It was really convenient to have everything in one place!

The Alexandrian Hotel was not our original wedding venue pick, but like SO many people - 2020 changed our plans. Thankfully, we found the Alexandrian and were able to pull off a wonderful outdoor wedding. Ashley was super responsive and easy to work with, especially considering we booked the hotel about 2 months out from our day - so we crammed a lot of planning and random questions into a very short period of time. The food was delicious, our guests loved being able to stay on site and enjoy Old Town, but honestly the biggest thing was having a totally worry-free wedding day because Ashley and the team at the Alexandrian are true pros! Also, the bridal suite is the *perfect* place to get ready with your bridesmaids!

I have a rather unique experience, as my wedding was rescheduled three times. First, my fiance was in a very serious bicycle accident riding into work three weeks before our September 2019 wedding at the Alexandrian. We had been planning this event for over a year from across the country and we were both devastated to postpone. The team at the Alexandrian was very compassionate and caring. With guidance from his medical team, we were able to reschedule for April 2020. Alas, COVID-19 had other plans in store for us and we postponed again. After serious consideration, we stuck with our most recent rescheduled date in September 2020. I am glad we did! It was absolutely wonderful! We were able to have the ceremony and reception outside in the stunning courtyard.
There were great safety procedures in place for guests and staff. Clearly marked signage for social distancing and numerous hand sanitizer stations. We did have a smaller guest list, but with tables being further apart it was the right size for a safe gathering (54 including the bride and groom). The catering staff members were just fantastic! All catering staff wore their masks properly (which was very much appreciated). The main reason we had our wedding in Northern VA rather than Southern Cal (where we live) is so my grandmother could attend. I was unsure if she would be able to attend, given she is part of a more vulnerable population. However, She is a bit of a spitfire and insisted on coming. Another reason I am so thankful the staff at the Alexandrian took such care of providing the safest environment, even in these uncertain times.
As many other reviews have mentioned, there were some staff changes at the Alexandrian, and I did work with several coordinators for my wedding. To be transparent, there had been some communication/billing issues early in the process. However, Ashley, the new Catering Sales Manager, is truly a professional. She is building a team of hospitality staff that will truly set the Alexandrian apart. I will also say that any wedding issue large or small, Ashley solved or helped me solve quickly. All in all, I am glad we stuck with the Alexandrian and they stuck with us!

The Alexandrian was exactly what my husband and I were looking for for our December wedding. We had our first date and got engaged on King Street, so it was only appropriate that we got married on King Street in the heart of the city where our story began! The location of the hotel is so convenient with easy access to the airport, restaurants, shopping, and things to do for our out of town guests. We also loved having everything in one building - it made planning all the logistics incredibly easy as the bridal party all got ready in suites, we had our ceremony and reception in the ballroom, were able to utilize the courtyard for our cocktail hour and for guests to get some fresh air during the reception, we even used the hotel lobby for our first look pictures in front of the fireplace.

We did have a day of coordinator who was essential in handling all the day of details and coordinating with the hotel catering manager to ensure all of our decor was set up for both the ceremony and reception. She was also essential in keeping us on scheduled and communicating with all our other vendors, including the hotel staff, to make sure all the details of our day were executed perfectly.

Ashley, the catering manager, was absolutely amazing in helping us plan our big day and iron out all the details. She was new to her position when we started working with her, however it was clear she knows her stuff and was willing to go out of her way to help us plan our perfect day! The catering team the day of was absolutely amazing, they made sure my husband and I were well fed and always had a drink in hand. We also heard from our guests that all the bartenders and wait staff were incredible.

I will say that we did have some issues with the front desk and the reservation team. For example, my in laws had booked a suite for the weekend at least 8 months in advance and the reservation got lost. We also had a few miscommunications when trying to update our room block and change around the dates of reservations that were ultimately resolved but were frustrating to work through.

Overall, we are SO glad we had our wedding at the Alexandrian. The hotel fits my husband's and my style and our story so perfectly - I can’t even imagine us having our wedding anywhere else.

We booked our wedding reception at The Alexandrian and could not have been more impressed. Annee and the team took care of every detail! I stayed in the Eleanor suite and my husband stayed at Morrison House. The pictures are stunning! The food was fantastic. Our guests are still talking about it. We were impressed by the bar service as well. They made sure everyone had a 5 star experience.

For future brides and grooms: If you're looking for unparalleled customer service and a hotel that will go above and beyond for your every need, look no further!

We stayed at this hotel on our wedding night, and I used the Mediterranean Suite to also get ready for our big day! My 2 bridesmaids and I had our hair and makeup done in the suite and we ordered room service, the hotel was very professional and accommodating despite recently changing in management!

Old Town means a lot to me and my husband and when we began looking at venues for our wedding, we were surprised to find that Old Town would fit into our budget. Ultimately, it was the perfect location for us to welcome our out-of-town guests.

The Sales Manager that we did our walk-through with and executed our contract with ended up leaving within 6 months of us signing our contract - please make sure that when you sign a contract with this venue (or any venue) you have everything written into the contract (for example we had a certain menu item written in at the 2021 price and it had increased 10% for the 2022 menu).

I had to reach out to the new sales contact at the hotel as they never reached out. Our tasting was great and leading up to the event, it was requested that I complete many forms/documents to make sure that everything was aligned. I am disappointed to share that it was apparent that no one ever reviewed the documents that I spent time filling out. Additionally, the contacts that I was provided for the room block and setting up the delivery of our welcome bags were non-responsive on the days leading up to our event. Several of our guests never received welcome bags (and I never received the leftover bags) even after I spoke with the front desk (and sent an email to our direct contact). We ended up booking the Eleanor Suite for the duration of our stay as we were not guaranteed that we could have an early check-in on the day of the wedding. Personally, I would recommend booking this room for the duration of your stay as it has ample space and a balcony. Additionally, I had requested a separate room for my husband the night before our wedding and he was placed in the room directly next to me (and I was told that nothing could be done).

We were able to store our decor overnight (after the wedding) as well as our cake; however, we completely forgot to pick up our cake. The event ran smoothly and the event staff were fantastic. Our guests loved the food (and we did too!).

Overall, I would recommend The Alexandrian for your wedding venue and hotel. Just keep in mind that you (or your coordinator) need to stay on top of things with the administrative staff and be sure to write all things into your contract.

Overall, I am very happy we chose The Alexandrian as our wedding venue, and would recommend the hotel to anyone looking to plan a wedding in the area. We are not from DC, and almost all of our guests were from out of town. Our guests would not stop raving about how nice the hotel was and how great the location is! The day of staff was fantastic to work with - everything went off without a hitch! The food was outstanding - we had multiple guests let us know the next day that it was the best salmon they've ever had at a wedding. Wedding venues are always going to be on the pricey side, but overall, I feel like we really got the most for our money at The Alexandrian in the best way possible.
My one piece of feedback is around the planning and billing portion. There was a lot of miscommunication with the billing. As we got closer to the day, I would receive a day of outline that summarized my total bill. I let the team know multiple times of errors I found in the contract with being overcharged. I was told that the bill would be corrected when it came time for payment. The errors were not corrected and I was overcharged. I was reimbursed, but it was frustrating to tell multiple people for weeks that I was consistently seeing inaccurate billing statements, only to be overcharged. I also felt like I had to ask the same questions over and over, because I wouldn't get a straight answer.
That being said, I am very happy with our decision to have The Alexandrian as our wedding venue. The pros very much outweighed the cons. Because of Covid, this was the first time our friends and family had been together in one room, and it was perfect day :)

The Alexandrian is a beautiful hotel and an ideal setting for a wedding, but they suffer from significant mismanagement and incompetence. We chose this venue in October of 2016 when it was under different management and still the Hotel Monaco. Under the Marriott's new ownership and management they have declined in their ability to deliver excellence, yet the price of a wedding there falls into the "upscale" category. The bride and groom, who live out of state, love Old Town Alexandria, and decided that this would be the ideal location for their wedding. Over the course of the year leading up to the wedding, we encountered multiple personnel changes, which constituted much concern. The bride's mother and I (mother of the groom) consistently communicated with them by email, phone, and in person regarding wedding specifics such as distribution of Guests’ Welcome Bags, Bridal Suite Reservation (said we did not have a reservation and upgraded another couple for free), and serving of the wedding cake (many guests did not even get cake), and none were handled as we had discussed. Reservations' clerks also demonstrated a lack of knowledge. Many of our guests experienced great difficulty with booking rooms through our room block for various reasons. Additionally, there were many issues at check-in regarding availability of type of room reserved and rooms not being ready at check in time. Many staff members, such as the bartenders, were incompetent. They didn’t even know how to make many of the most common drinks, and weren't well versed on the beer and wine selections. The accounting department is disorganized and lacks basic skills. They failed to follow a graduated schedule for deposits despite our prompting, and a week after the wedding attempted to charge an inaccurate amount for the final payment. It took us 6 weeks, and much back and forth to include a meeting, emails and phone calls to resolve the issues and receive a final statement in order to settle the bill.

We used The Alexandrian as one of our room blocks for our wedding. When we originally signed our contract, it was with Kimpton Hotels; however, by the time we were informed the name of the hotel as well as the management had changed, we had already printed our wedding invitations. We reached out to the sales manager to try and ameliorate the situation, and while we were provided with a very nice discount for the Eleanor Suite to use during our wedding weekend, the responsiveness of the team was very slow and often times, we were given incorrect information. Our booking link took over 3 weeks to create, and was done incorrectly 3 times.

Upon arrival on the weekend of the wedding, things only got worse. First of all, not a single guest was given their welcome box upon arrival that my planner dropped off at the front desk. We either had to track it down with staff, or even worse, the front desk staff would leave a voicemail saying there was a box downstairs for them and to come get it themselves. Next, after being promised that my grandmother's room would be adjacent to my parents in case my parents needed to get into her room in the case of medical emergency, we arrived to find that not to be the case. Not only that, but my grandmother's room was not ready at check-in, and once it was, the front desk refused to give my mother my grandmother's room key, insisting my 91 year old grandmother needed to come down and get it herself. Also, one of my bridesmaids' reservations went missing (they did offer her an upgrade, but still... she reserved in the room block. What happened?). Finally, after 12 hours of waiting for a mini fridge that actually worked for the bridal suite, we were finally brought one, but the staff member refused to take the old one leaving it in the middle of the suite.

Long story short- it was quite an ordeal and unfortunately made me much more stressed than I should have been on my wedding weekend. Really, really not pleasant.

I would not recommend getting married here. The reasonable cost, great drinks, solid food, and perfect location were not worth the heaps of anxiety caused by dealing with the venue.

We signed a contract for our wedding 18 months ahead of time, and The Alexandrian gave us the impression that the ballroom would be renovated well in advance of our big day. The ballroom needed to be renovated – the carpet was gaudy, the light fixtures were too large and too low, and the room is quite dark – and we wouldn’t have otherwise picked The Alexandrian without these assurances that the renovation would happen. Most irritating about the entire situation was how the venue strung us along with the renovation schedule: in January 2022, the renovation was scheduled for "summer 2022"; then in February 2022, "there is no definite timeline"; in May 2022 "the end of the summer 2022"; in September 2022, the venue said “they are continue moving forward with the renovation plans. We should be closer to a date within the next month or two,” ; at our tasting in January 2023, the venue said the renovations would be done within the next few months but "definitely before our May 2023 wedding".

The ballroom was not renovated in time. We found this out in February 2023 from looking at their Instagram story. So we just crossed our fingers for good weather so we could get married in the gorgeous courtyard. But it rained.

On the Wednesday before our wedding we were told to decide by Thursday whether our Saturday wedding would be inside or outside, even though the forecast was changing by the hour. They then threatened to charge us a $3,000 rain fee (not in the contract, never discussed before). What we were allowed to do on the patio in the event of rain changed on a daily basis that week. On Tuesday we could use the patio for dancing and have the bar outside, but on Wednesday that was a liability. It did stop raining during dinner and many guests ended up standing on the patio during the reception. But the Alexandrian did not move any of the outdoor furniture for us. It is my understanding that all of these decisions and last minute changes came from management.

Speaking of their lack of rain plan: they casually mentioned to our vendors (not to us) 2 days before the wedding that our seating chart (20, 8-person tables) would not work indoors with a band – the band and dance floor would have to be in a separate room down the hall and around a corner. This could have been raised months before, or even to us directly, not as an off-hand comment the Thursday night of our wedding-week. This meant we had to spend several hours Friday morning rearranging the seating charts, and my mother-in-law spent all day Friday and early Saturday morning (the morning of the wedding) reformatting, reprinting, and recutting new escort cards.

Having a wedding here caused so much stress. The event coordination team took up to 3 weeks to respond to emails, even in the weeks leading up to the big day. Do yourself a favor and get hitched at a location that is better-organized, more responsive, and doesn’t hide the ball. Don’t settle. To their credit, they did discount our wedding around 10% and threw in gold chairs and a dancefloor for our troubles.

I will say the staff, the food, the drinks, the location, and most of the guest rooms were amazing. It’s just clear that they need more forthcoming and responsive management (and a renovated ballroom).

We chose this hotel for our room block because of its prime location and affordable price. Unfortunately, the hotel is extremely disorganized. Guests had a hard time booking rooms on the room block site, reservations frequently went missing, many guests did not receive welcome bags, etc. The whole thing just seemed much more difficult than it needed to be. Would not recommended for couples looking for room blocks.