Hotel in DC

[Jaylie]

We are planning on spending about three days in Washington, DC, this summer on our way down to Disney World (BWV). We've never used our points for anything other than DVC resorts, so I was wondering if anyone knew about the hotels that are in DC.......either to book through DVC or even recommendations of a hotel that we could just pay cash at. Thanks alot!

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BWV, VWL, SSR

 

[Starr W.]

I would do cash, last summer I booked the Grand Hyatt at Metro Center through Priceline for $90 per night and it's a 4 star hotel and regular rate was well over $200.

 

[DIZZNY]

I just returned from a conference in DC. I stayed at the Embassy Suites near the convention center on about New York and 10th Street. It is only about 2 years old. It was very nice with free breakfast and free happy hour, nice exercise room, and pool/jacuzzi with a convenient location to attractions and metro. I had a special rate of just over $200 so it wasn't cheap but I really like this chain and look for it when I go places other than disney. It kind of feels like DVC since they are suites.

 

[tor]

We just did priceline over christmas break and got The Madison a Loews hotel. It is nice and an easy walk to the White House and the mall. It was 69 a night but parking was 35 per day extra. If you plan on doing the washington monument I recommend going online to reserve tickets and pay the small fee. They started giving out tickets at 8:30am and were gone by 8:45am. I got online at 6:30 and by 7 the line was around the corner and out of site.

 

[DIZZNY]

I lived in Maryland for 4 years and had a lot of relatives visit and did the DC tour thing many times. One of our favorites was calling our congressman or senator's offices and reserving tickets for the white house and for the capitol (my senator was the minority and then majority leader so we were able to see his office and take pictures sitting in his desk chair- cool!) This was pre-9/11 so I am not sure if you can still do this. But, if you are interested, it really is just a quick phone call to find out. I would recommend doing it months in advance since the tickets are limited.

 

[MikeS.]

I like to stay in Rosslyn, Va. There are a number of nice hotels there, they are all near the Metro stop and the prices are better then in DC itself.

 

[tor]

I lived in Maryland for 4 years and had a lot of relatives visit and did the DC tour thing many times. One of our favorites was calling our congressman or senator's offices and reserving tickets for the white house and for the capitol (my senator was the minority and then majority leader so we were able to see his office and take pictures sitting in his desk chair- cool!) This was pre-9/11 so I am not sure if you can still do this. But, if you are interested, it really is just a quick phone call to find out. I would recommend doing it months in advance since the tickets are limited.

The white house requires a minimum of 10 in your group now and most of my congress peoples websites say they only do white house tours for groups like boy/girl scouts or school groups.

 

[wintergreen]

The only Concierge Collection option now seems to be the Mandarin Oriental. It is a fabulous hotel, in a good location for getting to the Mall and the museums. I have never stayed there, but have heard great things about it from others who have. If you would rather pay cash, you may want to try Priceline, as others have suggested ($69 for the Madison is a steal!!!).

For a really fun tour, I recommend the DC Ducks tour. Tour takes place in a refurbished WWII-era amphibious vehicle (goes on land and water). You see the major sites, then, weather permitting, take a turn on the Potomac River. The tour can be picked up at Union Station. Lots of fun!

 

[DIZZNY]

The white house requires a minimum of 10 in your group now and most of my congress peoples websites say they only do white house tours for groups like boy/girl scouts or school groups.

That's too bad. Both these options were really nice for bypassing the lines and kind of made you feel special, too. I think everyone needs a little "special" sometimes.

 

[Jaylie]

Thanks, everyone, for all the hotel suggestions. Has anyone ever used the points for a 2 or 3 night hotel stay in DC? I'd probably have to borrow from next year's points, so it might not be worth it. I should look in my Vacation Planner to see how many points it is. I was just curious if anyone has done it and how I would go about it.

 

[klaubaugh]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn on the Hill. Reasonable family hotel. Seems like it was about $150 for the night plus parking. Good location.

Our daughters loved the tour of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (they were 6 and 9 at the time). We reserved it though our Congressman's office.

We stopped in the Agriculture Department on the way back for a snack at their food court. That was interesting and the cheapest snack we had on vacation. You just tell them you want to go in and eat and they give you a visitor pass.

We were able to arrange a White House tour. Our Congressman put a group of 10 together for us. That was probably one of the more disappointing parts of the trip. You don't get to see many of the rooms and it was a self-guided tour or more like a cattle call. There were a bunch of people going through at the same time and it just didn't seem as special as we thought it would be.

 

[conciergekelly]

We are staying at the Manderine in July. We have a cash reservation for $345.00 +tax for a district room right now. I called MS today and it is 35 points per weeknight for the same room. She said that it $95.00 fee for the reservation. It looks like a great hotel in a great location. Check travelocity, there are many nice pictures of it and reviews.

 

[eliza61]

We are planning on spending about three days in Washington, DC, this summer on our way down to Disney World (BWV). We've never used our points for anything other than DVC resorts, so I was wondering if anyone knew about the hotels that are in DC.......either to book through DVC or even recommendations of a hotel that we could just pay cash at. Thanks alot!

_______________________
BWV, VWL, SSR

2 years ago with used our points at the Mandarian Oriental for a Memorial day trip. It was fabulous. Great Hotel, great location. Not sure of the cash price.