Washington DC Parking-Pennsylvania Ave

[DISNEYNY]

I hope it ok that I post this here. I put it on the Washington board and no one answered. I am a first time visitor to DC. We are staying at the Melrose Hotel- 2400 Pennsylvania Avenue and we are trying to avoid the $38.00 per night valet parking. Are there any public parking ramps nearby that we could use and how much would they cost? We will be in town for three nights arriving about 10 pm on a Tuesday and leaving about 8 pm on Friday. I know this is a pretty specific question, hopefully there are some DC experts out there. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Missytara]

You may have to buck it up and pay the valet parking fee, or park outside the city and take public transportation into the city. I. E., you could take one of the metro lines. From DE, we park in New Carrollton and take the train into the city.

First, it is the height of the tourist season for the area. Second, you will find limited parking the closer you get to the National Mall and attractions. It sounds like your hotel may be a few blocks from the most popular attractions.

Remember, most people will be staying an entire week, so they will probably already be there when you arrive on Tuesday and garages will be filled.

It looks like there are a few parking garages, such as Colonial, but it would most likely be a hike to get to the hotel with your luggage. And you may not be wanting to walk several blocks in DC that late at night. Just a precaution.

Also, I will warn you, living in DE near the resort beaches, many, many people own beach houses in DE from DC. They start leaving mid-afternoon Friday night up until early evening. The later you can leave, the better off you are, especially if you are heading towards the Bay Bridge to get home.

 

[DISNEYNY]

You might be right...just better to pay the valet. Also, thanks for the tip on leaving the city. We are headed for Philadelphia after DC....so will probably get stuck with all the traffic.

 

[Tina]

I hope it ok that I post this here. I put it on the Washington board and no one answered.

There's a Washington DC board here? I've been on the DIS for more than a decade and I had no idea. Why can't I find this?

 

[musical2]

There's a Washington DC board here? I've been on the DIS for more than a decade and I had no idea. Why can't I find this?

I think the OP is talking about another board entirely. Parking in DC is very expensive especially in this area of town (near Georgetown). However, you can find self parking near the hotel. I know that not too long ago there was $10 per day early bird parking at Central Parking Systems at 2401 Pennsylvania Avenue. But you had to get there early to get it. The entrance is really on L Street, somewhere around 2434 L Street. It is right around the street from the Melrose Hotel. Google it and you will see it is on the same block. You go past the hotel on Penn. Ave. and then make an extreme right turn at the intersection where Penn. Ave., 25th Street and L Street all come together.

 

[uva185]

The $38 is per night not per day. You you would be billed for 3 nights of parking. Many of the lots in DC are day lots.

Personally I would suck it up and pay for the valet but here is another option. Drop off everyone with their luggage at the hotel, then drive out to the airport (DCA) which is 5 minutes away and park in the economy lot there (overnight parking will not be any issue there) Take the subway (which is connected to the airport) back to the city. Then upon checkout do the reverse, that way you are not carrying your luggage around. Cost is $12 per 24 hours.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

In DC, $38.00 is a good price for Valet...NYC is $60 a day on average. I'd just pay it, then again, I prefer to valet then self park.

 

[Floridagal23]

There is NO parking right there - it's right on Penn ave in between the GWU area and Georgetown.

You can try parking at a GW owned parking lot, but I'm not sure they permit overnight parking. There are some other hotels in the area, but I can't imagine they'd be much cheaper for parking!

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

I'm by no means a DC expert, but we were first time visitors there the end of June. We stayed at Hotel Lombardy, which is at 2019 Pennsylvania Ave. I too had read that on street parking was possible, especially over a weekend, near the hotel for less than the valet. Let me just say that we could barely even get a spot on the curb to unload our luggage. It was a very congested street. At that point, I was just glad to give my keys to the valet! Really, we got a good enough rate on our hotel to compensate for paying for valet. Ours charged $34/night +tax, so it came to $38/night. We only took the car out when DH went to a conference in National Harbor and then on the day we went to Mt. Vernon. Other than that, we walked or took the metro.

 

[DISNEYNY]

We have decided to do the valet parking. We will be arriving late and will not want to go around a strange city looking for parking. I'm sure we will just want to get to our room.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Kaler131]

I understand your delema with paying $38.00 per night for parking! We stayed in the Dupont Circle area twice and we only paid $23.00 per night....but we were not that close to the mall area. But we were VERY close to the Metro stop!!

 

[Christine]

Parking at the airport (DCA) is a good option. You can also overnight park at Union Station for $15 for each 24-hour period. There's Metro there, of course, which makes in convenient.

A DIS member on the Community Board parked at Ballston Commons Mall for, I believe $8 for 24 hours and took the Metro in.