I am still having difficulty finding a value priced hotel in DC after, even

[Northernlites]

reading the forums I seemed to have no luck. We are going in mid to late August of this year. We will be driving to the area. We would like to stay in Alexandria and take the metro into the mall area. Our main sites will be the mall and the mint. I am looking for accommodations that are under $150 with free parking at the hotel. Suggestions. The maximum time we would like to spend on the Metro is 30 minutes.

 

[kymom99]

Did you look at TripAdvisor or something like that? I don't think you will find anything that inexpensive.

 

[NinaBella]

Is anyone in your group eligible to book a room at one of the military bases? When we stopoed by D.C. for a couple days we stayed at Andrews AFB. Summer (June - August) is hard to get a room on a military base as Space-A because it is a high PCS time of year, but worth a shot if eligible. But to fit our family of 4 (two adult sons did not go) we had to book two rooms. So each room $60 a night, so we paid $120 a night for DH and DS to be in one room, DD and I in the other. This was not the family rooms, just standard one queen bed room. My kids are teens and not rowdy so we can get buy booking a non-family room.

Personally, I don't think I would want to go much cheaper than $150 a night because that might put you in a sketchy neighborhood. When my husband worked at the Pentagon, he lived in Springfield, VA near a metro station, have you checked Springfield or farther out but with metro station access (or decent driving distance).

 

[TwoMisfits]

reading the forums I seemed to have no luck. We are going in mid to late August of this year. We will be driving to the area. We would like to stay in Alexandria and take the metro into the mall area. Our main sites will be the mall and the mint. I am looking for accommodations that are under $150 with free parking at the hotel. Suggestions. The maximum time we would like to spend on the Metro is 30 minutes.

That's rough - you may need to trade off time on the Metro (or use your car to drive in to DC and pay the parking) if you want under $150/night total (inclusive of fees) during the high summer season. You may want to find a Fairfax County hotel with a slightly longer Metro ride (near Springfield, Vienna, Tysons) to get more value for your money. Those hotels won't charge parking...

Although I did just find a stupid good deal at the Hampton Inn Alexandria South for Aug 20-27 at $97/night + taxes (if you prebuy - it's $106 if you don't) if you are a Hilton member and have 4 folks or less...http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/ho...-alexandria-pentagon-south-AXEVAHX/index.html

 

[dreiwhit]

How about staying further out? Back in 2005-2006, I was going up to Fairfax, Virginia quite often on business. We would stay at the Residence Inn, and drive to the Vienna-Fairfax Metro station just a few miles east of our hotel.

 

[lilkitty819]

Hotels in DC and vicinity are always cheapest on Friday and Saturday, when the government workers go home for the weekend. During the week you will pay top dollars. I would suggest doing DC for the weekend and think about going to Baltimore for the rest of the week, there is plenty to do down at the Inner Harbor and the surrounding area.

 

[kydisneyfans]

We are staying at the Residence Inn Capital View in Arlington, VA from March 9-12 for $99 a night. It was a prepay special on the SW airlines/booking.com website. That includes free breakfast. We are flying in, so no idea what parking costs.

When researching the trip, we found the closer to our dates of travel, the prices dropped pretty dramatically on the hotel, and increased for the flight.

I would look at one of the hotel consolidator like Trivago and go from there.

 

[katie111]

Check out last minute travel club. You have to join but you can usually find a code somewhere on the web to get a free membership. If you ask on the Tripadvisor boards in the DC forum, someone can usually give you one. Two years ago we got a room at the Omni hotel, right down the street from the zoo, for around $125 a night. It was during the week. I definitely booked within 2 months or less of our trip. It was a gorgeous hotel in a great location. Had an awesome outdoor pool that was great in the summer heat.

 

[CalDisneyMomof2]

Are you a Marriott or AAA member? Becoming a Marriott member is free. I'm seeing directly on their website the Courtyard Alexandria Old Town/Southwest for less than $133 a night inclusive of tax for Marriott members or just a few dollars more for AAA members. It includes parking.

 

[sheetz]

The Americana Hotel in Crystal City is a low budget hotel with free parking and within walking distance of the metro station.
http://www.americanahotel.com/

 

[mom to minnie&mickey]

We are driving in from Canada staying June 23-26. We booked Best Western Iwo Jima in Rosslyn. It is a 5 minute walk to Rosslyn Metro or about a 25 minute walk to Arlington Cemetery.
It was under $100 per night with free parking but no breakfast. It is part motel style and part hotel style. We will spend all day in Washington from early a.m to late p.m so do not want to pay top dollar just to sleep. It is clean and in a very safe area with an indoor swimming pool.

 

[erin_s]

We stayed in this airbnb for our trip to D.C. last summer. It was great! We got a metro pass for the week. Nothing was more than 30 minutes away on the metro.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6690856?guests=1&adults=1&children=0&infants=0&s=AcGjTPv1

 

[Eureka]

Is anyone in your group eligible to book a room at one of the military bases? When we stopoed by D.C. for a couple days we stayed at Andrews AFB. Summer (June - August) is hard to get a room on a military base as Space-A because it is a high PCS time of year, but worth a shot if eligible. But to fit our family of 4 (two adult sons did not go) we had to book two rooms. So each room $60 a night, so we paid $120 a night for DH and DS to be in one room, DD and I in the other. This was not the family rooms, just standard one queen bed room. My kids are teens and not rowdy so we can get buy booking a non-family room.

Personally, I don't think I would want to go much cheaper than $150 a night because that might put you in a sketchy neighborhood. When my husband worked at the Pentagon, he lived in Springfield, VA near a metro station, have you checked Springfield or farther out but with metro station access (or decent driving distance).

Andrews is pretty far out on the metro. It may take more than 30 min if you stay near there. But that's how it works here, the further out you are, the cheaper the hotels (and houses, for that matter), but longer travel time.

 

[NinaBella]

Andrews is pretty far out on the metro. It may take more than 30 min if you stay near there. But that's how it works here, the further out you are, the cheaper the hotels (and houses, for that matter), but longer travel time.

We didn't have any issues with the commute, but we also had a car. My husband also worked at the Pentagon for several years so he was already familiar with the area. Like I said, he lived in Springfield, VA and took the metro to the Pentagon to work. We also had a car on our trip. We just drove to the metro, parked, and hopped on the train. But we also live in Tampa now so the 32 mile commute from our house to the military base can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to 1.5 hours (longer if there are accidents, not uncommon) so we are use to adding in commuting time. A 30 minute commute sounds minimal to us. Maybe to others that seems like a long commute?

 

[bravestmerida]

Are you willing to bid or not know until you book? There are sites that list potential hotels from priceline and hotwire based on amenities. On hotwire I found a 2 queen room at a 3 star hotel including free parking for $149 per night after taxes. Dates I used were 8/16-8/19, so mid-week to weekend.

 

[kniquy]

I'm not sure if this will fit your budget but have you looked at VRBO or homeaway? these are not hotel rentals, but homes or condos. This is similar to airbnb where you are renting someones home/rental property. Usually less expensive than hotels and you get more space and parking might be included. I have used it for other areas of the country and have always had good luck.

 

[Eureka]

We didn't have any issues with the commute, but we also had a car. My husband also worked at the Pentagon for several years so he was already familiar with the area. Like I said, he lived in Springfield, VA and took the metro to the Pentagon to work. We also had a car on our trip. We just drove to the metro, parked, and hopped on the train. But we also live in Tampa now so the 32 mile commute from our house to the military base can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to 1.5 hours (longer if there are accidents, not uncommon) so we are use to adding in commuting time. A 30 minute commute sounds minimal to us. Maybe to others that seems like a long commute?

Yeah, for me 30 min is nothing, but I didn't know where you were from. I think some people expect to hop on the Metro and be there in 10 min.

 

[Bren's Mom]

SpringHill Suites Old Town Alexandria/Southwest comes close to your budget. I'd sign up for the Marriott Rewards (free) and watch their emails, etc. for deals.

 

[MKCP5]

I always do really well for hotels with travelzoo.com Haven't had a bad one yet and a great value every time

 

[gillep]

I would check near the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station. I lived there for a few years and was always able to find hotels in that price range when we had visitors that we couldn't fit in our town house. I believe they used to stay near the Springfield Town Center.