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

[dcfromva]

Are you familiar with the Extended Stay America hotel brand? I have never stayed at an Extended Stay, but there is one that is very close to the Franconia-Springfield Metro. ( 6800 Metropolitan Center Dr, Springfield, VA 22150 )
It takes 31 mins from Franconia station to L'ENfant plaza using the yellow rush+ line (this line only runs through rush hours, otherwise you have to transfer).

 

[shellyj]

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.

I did a quick expedia search and found a lot of Alexandria hotels for under $150 per night average for a Sat-Friday trip. Are you looking for a specific type of hotel or location? Are you planning to drive to and park at the Metro station each day? If you don't need to be in Alexandria for another reason, you might try looking out a little farther. Reston or Vienna, perhaps. If you're traveling on a weekend be sure to check rates at extended stay hotels. We have a lot of them around here and the weekend rates are lower since business travelers check out by Friday.

editted - I typed Arlington in one place where I meant Alexandria

 

[Ngwira]

Not sure if this will work for you but I was able to stay at the fairmont Georgetown for $149.00 per night last weekend. These fares are only available to fairmont presidents club members but it's free to join. Each month, normally at the beginning of the month, they'll send you a list of properties that are discounted that only members can book. The D.C. Location is frequently on this list.
It's a gorgeous property. Very close to everything. Very luxurious, but I didn't spend nearly what it would cost to book.

 

[Beer Me]

I've stayed at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn (near Arlington) for around $150. The metro station is very convenient. It's like two stops from the smithsonian station.

 

[Disneygrl71]

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/

We also stayed here last year and really liked it, nothing fancy .. but close to subway and cheap.

 

[baler31]

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.

This...

Hilton Springfield is $119 middle of August, short walk to Franconia metro station.
Also, Hilton Garden Inn Alexandria Old Town King St. Metro $143 should be 1-2 blocks to metro
Doubletree Silver Spring $119 2 blocks to metro

Use www.hiltonfamilymvp.com

 

[Dave Rolen]

I've been in the area from Southern Alexandria to DC.

I'd offer 3 options to get you away from the expensive areas.

1. As gillep mentioned, Franconia-Springfield Metro and take the hotel shuttle to the station. Easy Peasy.
2. Anywhere on 95 or HWY1 south to Lorton or the Fort Belvoir Area. I've stayed at half the hotels there probably and they're fine but anywhere you like in the great area I suppose.. and then.....
2A. Arrive to the mall early and park for free on Ohio Drive SW near the Lincoln Monument and West Potomac Park. That may be 2 hour parking though. It will also fill very early.
2B. Use www.spothero.com and find a great parking spot for about $20 per day within an easy walk to the mall area. I've done this a few times and it worked great. Again, arrive early, the parking attendants don't know you prepaid for parking and the lot could fill.
3. Get a hotel anywhere fairly close and Uber. Neither parking nor the metro are cheap for a family and the price offset would balance well enough to just uber it in. Uber works great in DC!

All in all, I've taken the metro some and driven some and I find that if you arrive early traffic is fine and having the car is much preferred and quicker than the metro.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Posted above about the Residence Inn Arlington Capital view for $99 a night.
We have returned from the trip and would advise not to use hotels at or near this location for DC touring as transport time is well beyond what we thought it would be. We wasted TOO much time.

It took an hour minimum to take the hotel shuttle to the metro, ride the train, and get off downtown. It took my wife over 2 hours to get to a stop via a train transfer Saturday morning. The surface distance was 5.3 miles, should have taken a cab instead.

We will look outside of the Arlington area for rooms for future trips.