Washington, DC Please help with hotel advice.

[Goofycampers]

We are planning a trip end of July and I have been looking for a hotel on my own (searching TripAdvisor) for weeks. I usually enjoy planning vacations but I have seriously never had this much trouble! Is it better to stay in the city even though prices are higher? Or would you go for a cheaper place in the suburbs and pay higher metro prices? Also I was considering the Homewood Suites downtown on Massachusetts Ave. They are offering a good rate during our dates. Anyone can comment on this hotel. Thanks!

 

[LAMountJoy]

We did DC two summers ago and I had the same dilemma as you.... we ended up staying in College Park, outside of the city. The hotel was nice, great pool, free parking and breakfast included. Plus much lower prices than in the city. But, the down side of the trip was the time spent traveling... our hotel had a shuttle to the metro station. That was nice, so long as it was on time, which it never was. Then we had to get the metro, which being out of the city, the times were more spread apart and tickets more costly. So after about 45 minutes of travel, we were really ready to hit the city! However, if some of your stops include early morning tickets (Washington Monument, Holocaust Museum, Engraving & Printing, etc) then you'll never get there in time. It is a toss up.... we might consider spending more on a city hotel the next time we do it. Besides, the museums are all free!

 

[mhsjax]

We are planning a trip end of July and I have been looking for a hotel on my own (searching TripAdvisor) for weeks. I usually enjoy planning vacations but I have seriously never had this much trouble! Is it better to stay in the city even though prices are higher? Or would you go for a cheaper place in the suburbs and pay higher metro prices? Also I was considering the Homewood Suites downtown on Massachusetts Ave. They are offering a good rate during our dates. Anyone can comment on this hotel. Thanks!

We stayed in the "suburbs" HATED IT. We had to walk a fairly good distance to get to the metro. DC is hard walking, the sidewalks are so uneven, we all tripped several times a day. I swear that the old saying about walking to school uphill both ways had to come out of DC. Also it will be hot. I would stay as close to the sites that you want to see. That is about all the info I have for you, we cut our trip short by 5 days. It was a over run with girl scouts, over 200,000 of them according to the news.

 

[NotUrsula]

I find that it is fine to stay outside the District as long as you are not FAR outside the District; my personal boundary when the family is with me is the Metro's Zone 1, because when you get outside of it with a family, the higher metro fares can nearly cancel out the cost savings.

If I stay in the suburbs I usually prefer to stick to either Pentagon City or Crystal City because they also have good airport access.

For good info re: what is near what metro station, try www.stationmasters.com

 

[shortbun]

I don't know about Homewood Suites. I pick a hotel in D.C. based on it's proximity to the Metro and the ease of getting to The Smithsonian and mall area. I like the Mayflower because a metro is literally in their basement. I stayed in Rockville, Maryland at a Doubletreee that had a metro in it's rear parking lot too. That was a good hotel and the metro was a safe one.

 

[Goofycampers]

Thanks for the info and NotUrsula thanks for the link. I'm not sure of the Homewood Suites location. I think I'm going to look a little more and will look at the Mayflower too. I did like the idea of a suite as we will have our 2 DSs with us. And the daily breakfast is always convenient.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

We just returned from there!
We stayed at Embassy Suites Alexandria which is DIRECTLY across from King Street Metro.
Free cooked to order breakfast and managers reception
Free trolly y that takes you thru Old Town Alexandria

There is lots of walking, but we bought 7 day unlimited metro passes that we could use anytime. IMHO this saved walking as we would hop on and off metro to get as close to where we wanted to be


Plan ahead is a huge help. For $1.50 per ticket I paid so we didn't have to wait in outside line at Archives. Ticket had time I chose on it. Also you can schedule Capital tour ahead.

have fum

 

[DISshopkeeper]

As long as you are CLOSE to a Metro stop, anywhere will do!! YMMV

 

[Flight]

Make sure you check if parking is free at the hotel. Some charge up to $22/day for parking.

 

[NotUrsula]

Make sure you check if parking is free at the hotel. Some charge up to $22/day for parking.

$22 is cheap in the District; closer to $40 is more the norm, actually.

 

[chisnpeke]

We just got home on Monday from D.C. We drove so I don't know if that made a difference but we stayed in Falls Church (about a 15 minute drive into the city). The parking situation is awful in the city. We bought one of the double deck bus tickets (expensive at $55 for 48 hours on three bus routes, hop on/off at your convenience). I think the biggest time sucker in D.C. is the time it takes to get places. What we ended up doing was parking at Arlington Cemetery and taking the bus from there. Cheaper parking than at Union Station.

We stayed at TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Falls Church. Nice location, cold self-serve breakfast, a small outdoor pool but the hotel was nice and had the BEST coffee I have ever had in my life. Maybe this is a coffee used for all Marriott branded hotels, but it was fantastic (made by Royal Cup Coffee).

It was HOT last Thursday when we were at Arlington. The rest of the days we were there were hot but we were mostly indoors.

You need a timed ticket to the Holocaust Museum. Missed out on doing this because we wanted to do Mt. Vernon and it was our last day. It's great that the museums are free. Just make sure that you factor in traveling time and how much there is to see in each museum/monument.

Have fun!!!

 

[chisnpeke]

$22 is cheap in the District; closer to $40 is more the norm, actually.

That's about what we paid ($40) at the hotel we stayed at in Chicago. People need to realize that hotel parking in big cities can be very expensive! Take that into consideration when deciding whether to stay in the suburbs.

 

[clori]

When I went I didn't mind staying out of the city but wanted a metro station that didn't require a shuttle to get to so we could go by our schedule. It also couldn't be a far walk to the metro do to my elderly parents. We stayed at Embassy Suites in Alexandria like a prior poster and also did the 7 day unlimited/any time pass. I probably spent more than I needed on the pass which I think was $47 but for us not having to worry about costs/times made it worth it. After we exited the turnstyle for our last ride at the airport we gave out tickets that had 2 days left on them to the metro person to share with some other people.

We flew so parking wasn't important but did love the convenience of taking the metro two stops to/from the hotel/airport. Our commute usually took about 20 minutes but other than one location we always had a direct commute without having to change trains. We also enjoyed the hotel amenities like cooked to order breakfast and nightly manager's reception which saved us some money and the kids loved the indoor pool.

 

[Nancy for Disney]

We just returned from there!
We stayed at Embassy Suites Alexandria which is DIRECTLY across from King Street Metro.
Free cooked to order breakfast and managers reception
Free trolly y that takes you thru Old Town Alexandria

There is lots of walking, but we bought 7 day unlimited metro passes that we could use anytime. IMHO this saved walking as we would hop on and off metro to get as close to where we wanted to be


Plan ahead is a huge help. For $1.50 per ticket I paid so we didn't have to wait in outside line at Archives. Ticket had time I chose on it. Also you can schedule Capital tour ahead.

have fum

We also stayed at Embassy Suites. I understand the rates have gone up but it is agreat location and Alexandria is wonderful.

 

[Flight]

Ugh, $40?!! Guess that is one of the reasons we do not stay downtown.

I was thinking of the Arlington and Alexandria area when mentioning the $22. There are hotels that offer free parking, but they are not very close to a Metro station.

Is this combination even possible?
* reasonable rate
* very close to a Metro station or downtown
* free parking

 

[Janepod]

Pick a downtown hotel. I always recommend the Hilton Garden Inn on 14th. If you are planning to do the White House tour (which you should) you won't be able to bring anything in with you (bags, cameras, etc.) If you pick a downtown hotel you can easily return to your hotel after the tour and get your stuff. It's also convenient to take a late afternoon break before you go out to dinner and evening activities. Maybe you end up spending a little more because of parking, but isn't your time worth something?

 

[moon]

We stayed at the Harrington Holtel, You can walk to a lot of places from this hotel

There's nothing fancy at this place; in fact, it's old and it shows. But the prices are great and it is clean and comfortable.

I'd love to stay there again

"The Hotel Harrington is located in the heart of Washington, D.C.'s world famous tourist district. Just ½ block from Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Capitol and the White House, you can easily walk to all the sights you would like to see. To expand your range, our superior subway system, Metro, is just two blocks away."

http://www.hotel-harrington.com/

ETA: Just checked about the parking. It is $16.00 per day. I think it's worth it just to not waste time commuting, JMO

 

[NotUrsula]

Ugh, $40?!! Guess that is one of the reasons we do not stay downtown.

I was thinking of the Arlington and Alexandria area when mentioning the $22. There are hotels that offer free parking, but they are not very close to a Metro station.

Is this combination even possible?
* reasonable rate
* very close to a Metro station or downtown
* free parking

Well, that would depend on what you mean by "reasonable". Free parking is normally NOT offered as a standard perk by hotels in DC and near-in suburbs such as Pentagon City or Alexandria. However, there are often weekend packages offered that include it as part of a special rate. The catch is that most of the time that rate is not nearly as good as the best one you could otherwise get.

I've never had to park in DC for more than one night, but I've been told that the best parking bargain is the long-term garage at Union Station; it is $22/day.

One other thing about DC and hotel rates: check the convention calendar. If there is a major gathering in town the rates will be through the roof even on weekends; if that is the case, re-think your dates.

 

[princesspiglet]

We just returned on Sunday from 3 days in Dc. We stayed at The Comfort Inn Ballston in Arlington. We were about 6 blocks away from the Ballston metro, but the hotel had a shuttle on the hour, every hour. Ballston was a a great neighborhood and we liked it, but the hotel is nothing fancy. It is your basic hotel, but it did offer a free continental breakfast and free parking and a rate of $99 per night! It was a 22 min metro ride from ballston to Capital South to tour the capital buiilding and about 18 mins to the Smithsonian stop. The longest stop was to WoodleyPark/Zoo, which took 45 mins and we had to transfer to another line. We didn't mind the metro at all. It was nice and cool and we usually slept!

 

[Goofycampers]

Thanks for all the help! I was able to get an amazing rate at the Mayflower Renaissance so I booked! I found a web site called mapsandhotels.com and I could see the locations near metros, etc. Parking is pricey but I think we'll try to park at union station. I'm super excited.