washington dc. info ?

[disneyred]

2 trips in the planning for a group of 2 famililies that have never been to washington D.C.. with kids ages 14-18..... which is the best hotels in terms of location to public transit have you stayed at......must have indoor pool.

they want to see museums... have good eats.......
which area of town is best ??

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

I lived in DC for over 10 years and in college worked as a hotel concierge at the Crowne Plaza on 14 st, NW.

There is only one hotel in DC (proper) with an indoor pool. That hotel is: loews l'enfant plaza. It is walking distance to the museums and in a decent neighborhood and is a very nice hotel. However, there will basically be no restaurants open in the immediate area after about 5 or 6 and not on the weekends except the McDonald's as it is surrounded by office buildings.

Bethesda, MD and Arlington, VA have some great hotel options with pools, just make sure that they are near the metro. They are rather spread out towns with just a few stops.

If you go to expedia.ca and put in that you want a pool you should get a list of hotels. in the area. If I have time later I will look too and post what I find that looks good transportation-wise.

 

[disneyred]

I lived in DC for over 10 years and in college worked as a hotel concierge at the Crowne Plaza on 14 st, NW.

There is only one hotel in DC (proper) with an indoor pool. That hotel is: loews l'enfant plaza. It is walking distance to the museums and in a decent neighborhood and is a very nice hotel. However, there will basically be no restaurants open in the immediate area after about 5 or 6 and not on the weekends except the McDonald's as it is surrounded by office buildings.

Bethesda, MD and Arlington, VA have some great hotel options with pools, just make sure that they are near the metro. They are rather spread out towns with just a few stops.

If you go to expedia.ca and put in that you want a pool you should get a list of hotels. in the area. If I have time later I will look too and post what I find that looks good transportation-wise.

thanks for your kind info.. i will wait to hear more from you !

 

[DisneyFreak06]

When I went, I stayed with special people, so I know nothing about hotels. But I DO know that the Smithsonian is free. So head to the "Mall" and go to any Smithsonian you want. They do accept donations. We did the Natural History and the Native American ones. There was also something on the Holocaust when we were there. That one made me cry.

The Smithsonian

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

So, as always things have changed in the past 5 years...

And there were others for VA and MD, but I picked the ones I liked best among the 3 locations...

Other indoor pool options in DC
1. JW Marriott - SUPER location! you can walk or ride the metro it is by the White House and there is some shopping and restaurants near by and it will all be open into the evening. walkable to the "mall"

2. Embassy Suites Washington Convention Center - not the best or the worst location. Near Chinatown and the metro, a bit of a hike to most of the museums. 10 min to the "mall"

3. Embassy Suites Dupont Circle - great location for restaurants, 5 block walk to the metro, safe neighborhood. You will have to ride the metro to get to the museums. 15 minutes to the "mall"

4. Grand Hyatt Washington - good location for the metro, OK for restaurants, safe. Walkable to the "mall"

VA option:
The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City - great for shopping and restaurants and the metro. 10-15 minute commute to the "mall"

MD option:
Hyatt Regency Bethesda - great food, near great shopping in Chevy Chase, very safe, at the metro. 30 minutes to the "mall"

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Also the smithsonian air and space museum out a dullas airport is worth a visit too. they recently got one of the space shuttles for display. Here's a link to some pics I took http://www.flickr.com/photos/11288498@N02/sets/72157629634901545/ the space shuttle in the pictures is the enterprse and was only used for testing it has been replaced by discovery. Also if it looks familar you may have seen it in Transformers 2 (the michael Bay films)

 

[disneyred]

I want to give a big thanks to 2gr8DisneyKids, DisneyFreak06, EastYorkDisneyFan and all others that have commented here... many thanks and I will look at the link for all the free museums...

another question that came up was.... how about the shopping ......where are the closest malls, outlets, etc.. where should the family go shopping ..as said by one of the wives .. this vacation trip won't be complete without shopping !!

 

[2gr8DisneyKids]

I want to give a big thanks to 2gr8DisneyKids, DisneyFreak06, EastYorkDisneyFan and all others that have commented here... many thanks and I will look at the link for all the free museums...

another question that came up was.... how about the shopping ......where are the closest malls, outlets, etc.. where should the family go shopping ..as said by one of the wives .. this vacation trip won't be complete without shopping !!

There is lots of upscale shopping and great food options at Chevy Chase Pavilion in Friendship Heights, DC (Friendship Heights metro station) Bloomingdales, Cheesecake
Factory, Maggianno's, Lord and Taylor, etc.

Tyson's Corner in VA is not to be missed! They are actually 2 malls about a 5 minute drive apart. Tyson's 1 is the bigger one with all the traditional US stores and Tyson's 2 is upscale (Nieman Marcus, etc.) And there is a multi-story Crate and Barrel across from Tyson's 1 as well. You will have to drive there. Basically any store that exists will be there between the two malls.

Montgomery Mall in Maryland is a bit smaller version of Tyson's and has most stores and good food. You will have to drive.

Pentagon City in Arlington (Pentagon City Metro station) has a Macy's, Gap, etc. We loved going there for many years, but then it became a tour bus stop for teenage trips as it is the closest real shopping mall to DC.