Alexandria Hotel Guide: Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza

This hotel is at the heart of the 360-outlet suburban Green Plaza Shopping Mall and adjacent to the Hilton's 6,000-seat Al Zahraa Ballroom, the largest meeting and banquet facility in the city. While it completes fiercely with the Sheraton for international business, it wins out with shoppers; its location keeps guests entertained easily.

The Lebanese cafe is an open-air eatery offering regional favorites in front of the mall. The pizza oven wafts delicious smells within a 200-foot radius, luring in more diners. A buffet room and lobby lounge lure in guests for breakfast, and coffee throughout the day. An Italian menu is available by the pool in a panoramic, air-conditioned dining area.

An outdoor pool is well-maintained and a diversion from the unbearable heat. A modest business center supplements the wireless Internet-equipped meeting space.

The decor in guest units varies wildly from remotely modern to severely dated. Contemporary rooms feature crisp white linens and padded headboards. All units offer necessities for the modern traveler including high-speed Internet (for a fee), phones with voice mail and data ports, cable TVs, safes and minibars. Views are of the active city life, and rooms facing the street tend to be noisy. The dated units are deplorably old with fabrics from the 80s and furnishings from even earlier decades. Baths are comfortable with hair dryers, toiletries, and plenty of terrycloth towels. The only reason to book an Executive room is the access to a private lounge for breakfast and evening snacks.

Small pets are permitted in the lobby and guest rooms only, and room service is always available.

While nowhere near Hilton's best standards, this is a better choice than the Sheraton if Alexandria calls and the budget is minimal.