Need help with planning a few days in Washington DC

Hello and thanks in advance for your help!! We have some family visiting next month from Ireland and I thought it would be nice if my Mom took my Uncle and Aunt to DC for a few of the days. Can you recommend a hotel that is close enough to the main sights and subway? Is it easy enough to get around? Also what about good restaurants that don't break the bank? Thanks again!!!

We like to stay at the Embassy Suites in Old Town Alexandria. It is across the street from the Metro Station (Kings Street) and with the suite set up, it's good for families. We also like to spend our evenings in Old Town. There is a free trolly that takes you from the Metro Stop into Old Town so it's easy. Restaurants...food is just expensive in DC. We try to have a big meal at lunch and smaller meals at diner time. There is a grocery store not far from that Embassy Suites (Whole Foods or something??) that has a good breakfast that was pretty reasonable. We also got snack food to keep in our hotel room there.

Not an expert by any means, but some thoughts:

--We stayed a Residence Inn near the ... I want to say Federal stop? If you look on google maps, it'll be several large blocks south of the main Smithsonian area and around the corner from a metro stop and a Starbucks. Parking was annoying but that will be true anywhere (tiny garage, but doable), and a queen suite was about a hundred bucks. It included a hot breakfast buffet. But we were definitely in off-season, the dead of January. Actually, I also stayed there again in June of last year, come to think of it, and I think I still paid under $200 a night for a pretty big room/suite. The walking distance to that metro stop is very nice.

--Prepare for almost as much walking as WDW, even with metro stops it's a LOT of walking. There isn't a particularly close metro stop to the Smithsonians, for example. You may save yourself a few blocks but you'll lose that time getting down to the actual platform and waiting.

--Keep in mind much of the town in the area of the Smithsonians simply shuts down on the weekends. Even the Starbucks around the corner from the Residence Inn was closed on the Sunday we were there. So when you are researching quick eats near the hotel and you see something like a deli that seems promising, be sure to check their hours. You may discover they are not open on weekends. We had a car on my first trip and ventured out to other neighborhoods for dinner; on my second recent trip we took the metro to another neighborhood for dinner.

--Study maps of the metro system ahead of time, it'll make it way less confusing when you're actually there trying to figure out which line and direction you need.

--Make dinner reservations for TS, you will need them.

Oh, and there are really good fried oysters to be had there.

National cherry blossom festival runs through mid April, really a tough time to visit DC. Late april will be lots more quiet

Thanks very much, I think we will book the Embassy Suites in Old Town Alexandria! Now I just need to figure out which tours would be the best for them to do..

There is also an Embassy Suites in Tysons Corner, VA that we stay at for about $100. The metro is walking distance and they have a shuttle to the mall (where Dd likes to go to American Girl Doll)

I second the Old Town Alexandria Embassy Suites. The included breakfast buffet is great and the subway and trolley are very convenient.