Help! Where is a safe place to stay in Washington, DC?

[msim]

Preferably around the Mall and all of the "touristy"areas. Travelling with small children. Thanks for any help you can give.

 

[travelin' girl]

Hi we spent spring break there- we splurged and stayed in The Willard (loved the history, have boys 11&16.) In the mall area is great-we were a block from the White House and felt very safe. Police and Secret Service all over the place-we walked around the White House at 10:30 at night and felt safe.
I noticed there was a Marriot across from The Willard. It is smart to stay downtown so you don't have to travel into the city during the week (traffic).
Some people like the Homewood Suites and the Grand Hyatt too- I'm not as familiar where they are. Wonderful restaurants downtown.

 

[janethill]

How much do you want to spend?

The Mayflower is in that general vicinity as well, and is pricey too. There are lots of places that are safe and more reasonably priced.

Another option is to stay in Old Town Alexandria at Embassy Suites. The metro is literally right across the street.

As long as you stay our of certain neighborhoods DC is really quite safe. The Capital Hill area does have some "shady areas".

I work in DC everyday (White House area) and leave work sometimes very late, and have never felt in danger.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

Hi we spent spring break there- we splurged and stayed in The Willard (loved the history, have boys 11&16.) In the mall area is great-we were a block from the White House and felt very safe. Police and Secret Service all over the place-we walked around the White House at 10:30 at night and felt safe.
I noticed there was a Marriot across from The Willard. It is smart to stay downtown so you don't have to travel into the city during the week (traffic).
Some people like the Homewood Suites and the Grand Hyatt too- I'm not as familiar where they are. Wonderful restaurants downtown.

We always stay at the Willard! Ds is a student at American University in D.C. so we stay two or three times a year. First time (orientation) we stayed at J.W. Marriott and it was nice but we love the history feel of the Willard. Stayed at the Madison once when we weren't able to book the Willard but just didn't have the same feel.

 

[tjmw2727]

We just returned from a vacation in DC in April and stayed at an Embassey Suites in Alexandria VA - awewome! Affordable "suite" with two rooms, q/q in the bedroom and pull out sofa with a table, microwave and wetbar in the main area. Plenty of room for our family of 4, mom, dad and dd's ages 8 and 10.

Complimentary cooked to order breakfast every morning and happy hour with great snacks, soda and "beverages" from 5-8 every evening. Indoor pool and across the street from the Metro. Even thought we were in VA - it was no more than 10 minutes to the mall via the metro. This hotel was just perfect for us, lots of great places to eat at night and close enough to do the sights during the day but take a break when needed. I booked it on the embassey suites website with the AAA discount, afer looking a orbitz and expedia. With the AAA discount it was about the same price as a traditional room at other places and it offered soooo much more.

Have fun - we LOVED this vacation.
TJ

eta - if you care to post on the community board (I did) many posters vist and or live in the area so you will get some great advice. If you haven't already done so - write your senator and or congressman for a tour, if you don't you won't get to visit either. Also places like the monument and the mint require tickets -free but you need to get in line EARLY so do some research. I did tons of research, or so I thought, and was still caught off guard by some of the restrictions.

 

[katallo]

So many of the DC hotels are neat the metro. The Westin Grand is very nice. It's fun to walk through Georgetown. We really like the Sheraton Suites in Alexandria, Va.