Chances are you can do better.
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 07/31/06
First off, this is not your typical Bed and Breakfast. My previous experiences with B&B's were historic homes in semi-rural locations. That is not the case here. Almost Heaven is located in Kingstowne, VA just outside of Alexandria and not far from the Franconia-Springfield Metro station. It is essentially a large modern house in the suburbs. Imagine if you will, sharing a Bed and Breakfast with a family that lives downstairs. There are family decorations everywhere, toys in the garage, kid's books and trophies in a bookshelf upstairs and myriad reminders that a family is very much in residence. While Ms. Clark is very gracious and a charming host, frankly the other members of the household don't give off the most welcoming of vibes. The rooms are very private and secluded but the common areas are usually filled with family members. Lounging downstairs feels sort of...off-limits.
Almost Heaven has no sign outside. Nor is there any other indication to signal that this is actually a B&B. Mapquest got us there but as we were pulling up into the driveway, the man of the house, who incidentally never introduced himself, looked at us as if he had no clue why we were there. Again, not terribly welcoming.
We stayed in the "Top of the World" room. The room was large and clean (although there was a leftover container of Carmex and a very used wrist wrap in one of the drawers). The room was also quite warm. There is an air conditioning unit in the room but it's located behind a heavy curtain which reduces its usefulness. There was a large fan in the room and that, in conjunction with the ceiling fan, helped a little. There is a small television in the room but there is no cable or satellite connection. Instead there is a set of "bunny ears" which provide shaky reception at best (and about six channels). If you want to watch TV then rent the basement room. There is no cleaning service on the weekend and your bed will not be made. The bed however, was well appointed and as soft as advertised.
The bathroom was clean and well stocked but there's nothing particularly glamorous about it. Just a standard home bathroom with a shower. There were plenty of towels. The complimentary toiletry items though were from other hotels. For example, the shower gel, shampoo and conditioner were all labeled "The Venetian". The bar of hand soap was labeled something else altogether. Upon seeing this, my girlfriend suggested that the name for this B&B be changed from Almost Heaven to "Almost Legitimate".
I didn't bring my laptop so I can't vouch for the wireless Internet but Ms. Clark was kind enough to allow me to use the laptop downstairs when I needed to.
The pool is nice and clean but due to the presence of an automatic pool cleaner and volleyball net swimming laps is not advised.
There are plenty of menus for local restaurants, travel guides and maps located downstairs. I have no doubt that the hosts would have been more than happy to provide information had it been needed.
That said, if you need a safe, decent place to stay near Alexandria and understand what you're getting then you could do worse
