Hotels in Sterling

Sterling is not really a town in its own right but a stretch of suburban Loudoun County, Virginia, that grew up in the 1960s around the newly built Washington Dulles International Airport. The airport's landmark Main Terminal, designed by Eero Saarinen and opened in 1962 with its swooping cable-suspended roof, remains the area's one genuine architectural draw.

Otherwise Sterling means data centres and retail parks: this corridor anchors Data Center Alley, reckoned to carry as much as 70 percent of the world's internet traffic, with Dulles Town Center mall the main shopping landmark. Be honest: there is no historic core or walkable centre here, this is airport-hotel country built for early flights and business trips into Washington. Stay near the airport for a Dulles connection, or towards Reston for more restaurants within reach.