Washington DC Hotel Question

[sharonmickey]

You guys have lots of great suggestions. Would you suggest staying outside the city even on weekends? I've been looking at St. Gregory's, L'Enfant, or Doubletree - does anyone know anything about any of them? I'd like something near the Metro or within walking distance of the Mall. I will be needing two rooms; one for DD and I, the other for her "friend".

 

[NotUrsula]

You guys have lots of great suggestions. Would you suggest staying outside the city even on weekends? I've been looking at St. Gregory's, L'Enfant, or Doubletree - does anyone know anything about any of them? I'd like something near the Metro or within walking distance of the Mall. I will be needing two rooms; one for DD and I, the other for her "friend".

If you can afford to stay in the District, do it. It's a much easier way to do things. Priceline is very effective, but as with many older central cities, there are PL hotels that will only offer one bed for two people in a room. If you are going for two rooms, it should serve you quite well as an option.

 

[sharonmickey]

Thanks NotUrsula. I'm going on a weekend which makes staying in DC much more affordable. If I was going during the week I would definitely stay in a suburb.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on what to do or where to stay?

 

[prncess674]

Thanks NotUrsula. I'm going on a weekend which makes staying in DC much more affordable. If I was going during the week I would definitely stay in a suburb.

Does anyone else have any suggestions on what to do or where to stay?

I would suggest looking at a map. Don't rule out everything that is in VA or MD. Just because a hotel is in DC doesn't make it convenient. Rosslyn, Courthouse, Pentagon City and Crystal City are very close and could be more convenient that some DC locations.

I would just avoid outer areas such as Vienna, Rockville, etc.

Here is a map of the metro. This map is not to scale. I am most familiar with North Arlington since I live there (Clarendon) the metro goes above ground after Ballston on the Orange line and after Crystal City Yellow/Blue line. Once the metro hits the above ground stops the stops are MUCH further apart and add significant time to the trip.

http://wmata.com/rail/docs/colormap_lettersize.pdf

 

[PlutoPony]

Consider how you'll get to a Metro station when choosing lodging.
If you're within walking distance, great.
If you're not and it's during the week, make sure your hotel has a shuttle or some way to get you to the Metro station. Parking at at metro lots is filled by commuters very early in the morning M-F (like 6am). Saturday / Sunday the lots are open and free, so at least in the outer burbs it's easy to drive there and park. Some of the closer in stations do not have parking lots at all, or they have a very limited number of spots, thus making parking problematic all the time. The Metro website give decent info on parking at each station.

 

[sharonmickey]

Thanks! You guys are the best!!!

Here's another question - I'm driving down from PA on Thursday after work, stopping in Strasburg to pick up DD's friend. It's about a five hour drive so I will not get there until late evening. Would I be better off staying near Strasburg or near a further Metro stop on Thursday? I could either drive into DC on Friday morning or park somewhere, leave the car and take the Metro in. What suggestions do you have? How do I know what hotels are within walking distance of the Metro?

What are some "can't be missed" things we should do? I've only been to DC once more than ten years ago with DD's fifth grade class . Going with 100 eleven-year-olds I was so busy counting kids I did not see much.

 

[Ava]

To the OP, how many rooms will you need? Perhaps choose a few hotels that look good to you (location, proximity to Metro, amenities, etc) and call them to discuss rates. They may give you a deal since you'll be booking multiple rooms.

 

[luvmy3jewels]

I'm taking my family to DC in a couple of weeks and we are planning on hitting the Smithsonian, the Washington Monument (pre-ordered tickets on-line), and the National Zoo. I'm also hoping to hit Mount Vernon on the way home.

I won two rooms for Sat - Mon at the Marriott Metro Center (3.5* convention center) off of Priceline for $60 per room/night. It looks like a nice hotel, but parking is valet and costs $35/night. The best thing about this hotel is that the metrocenter is right there.

One thing I'm hoping to do is watch "Night at the Museum" at the Air and Space Center's IMAX theater. We also want to go to the butterfly arboretum (can't remember which museum that is in).

If anyone has any food recommendations in the downtown area (reasonably priced and nothing too fancy or exotic since my kids are picky), I would appreciate it.

 

[mikehn]

I'm taking my family to DC in a couple of weeks and we are planning on hitting the Smithsonian, the Washington Monument (pre-ordered tickets on-line), and the National Zoo. I'm also hoping to hit Mount Vernon on the way home.

I won two rooms for Sat - Mon at the Marriott Metro Center (3.5* convention center) off of Priceline for $60 per room/night. It looks like a nice hotel, but parking is valet and costs $35/night. The best thing about this hotel is that the metrocenter is right there.

One thing I'm hoping to do is watch "Night at the Museum" at the Air and Space Center's IMAX theater. We also want to go to the butterfly arboretum (can't remember which museum that is in).

If anyone has any food recommendations in the downtown area (reasonably priced and nothing too fancy or exotic since my kids are picky), I would appreciate it.

There are plenty of fast food joints all over the area. There is a Five Guys burger and fries joint near your hotel. Your concierge can point you.

 

[mikehn]

Thanks! You guys are the best!!!

Here's another question - I'm driving down from PA on Thursday after work, stopping in Strasburg to pick up DD's friend. It's about a five hour drive so I will not get there until late evening. Would I be better off staying near Strasburg or near a further Metro stop on Thursday? I could either drive into DC on Friday morning or park somewhere, leave the car and take the Metro in. What suggestions do you have? How do I know what hotels are within walking distance of the Metro?

What are some "can't be missed" things we should do? I've only been to DC once more than ten years ago with DD's fifth grade class . Going with 100 eleven-year-olds I was so busy counting kids I did not see much.

An alternative is to stay in Rockville or Bethesda Thursday night (there are Metro stops in both Rockville and Bethesda), then take the Metro into DC on Friday. I would not recommend driving into DC.

 

[Janet100]

luvmy3jewels,
It is very expensive to eat in the food courts in the museums. There are lots of hot dog stands outside of the museums. The hot dog carts saved us some money. Also, if you are near the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center (It is very close to the National Museum of American History)], it has a very nice food court that seemed to be a little cheaper. It had a Subway counter. Lunch for 3 was less than $20.00 that day. Lunch for the 3 of us in a museum food court probably would have been more than $50.00.
Janet

 

[prncess674]

Two places that are sooo good, have fun local atmosphere and cheap eats are:

Ben's chili bowl (U Street stop on the Green/Yellow) line

Ray's Hell Burger (get off at Courthouse but return via Rosslyn on the Orange line. It is in the middle of a huge hill. That way you walk down hill both ways.)