Hotels for D.C.??

[Ann.without.an.e]

We want to be within walking distance of the metro?  Right?  The prices out of the city are soooooo tempting but I feel like we will regret it.  I keep hearing parking is a nightmare and super expensive.

 

Am I correct in this thinking?

 

Thanks ya'll :)

[ChocolateReignRemix]

We want to be within walking distance of the metro? Right? The prices out of the city are soooooo tempting but I feel like we will regret it. I keep hearing parking is a nightmare and super expensive.

 

Am I correct in this thinking?

 

Thanks ya'll :)

You can find hotels near metro lines out in the surrounding towns. We usually stay in the Bethesda area.

[Beth S]

I've taken 2 super-thrifty trips to DC, with one teen child each time.  For us, learning to navigate the subway was just a delightful part of the trip.  We needed the thrifty motel, and stayed out on the edge of the Greenbelt.

With the 2nd trip, we figured out how to combine the bus & metro to save time & walking.

 

Also, it was much cheaper for us to fly into Baltimore, take the commuter train or bus into DC.

It saved the rental car expense, but (since we live out in the country) gave my kids the skills to navigate mass transit in cities they may visit in the future.  They all work on the same basic premise.

 

I considered the walking also as good exercise & a great way to really experience the city.  YMMV, of course!

[Alessandra]

I like hotels right in the middle of the city we are visiting in. Just the atmosphere. Cost being a factor, we tend to take shorter vacations, but nice hotels. Ymmv. I do try to visit outside the main tourist times for a decent rate.

 

That said, we have had great stays at the Phoenix Park, across fron Union Station and an easy walk to the Capitol. We also love the Mayflower, on Connecticut Avenue, metro station on same block.

 

I love being able to, say, go shopping, drop my purchases off at the hotel, then go to a museum, come back to the hotel, and walk someplace for dinner. If we get tired, a taxi back to the hotel is not exorbitant.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Alessandra

[zoobie]

We stayed in Old Towne Alexandria near a Metro stop. It's a really nice area to walk around and explore. Parking at the hotel was still $$, but better than fighting for spaces in DC. We drove in when we looked at the monuments at night.

Edited April 4, 2016 by zoobie

[TechWife]

We always stay in Arlington, about a block away from a Metro stop. We never have taken a car into DC.

[SebastianCat]

We have stayed in Alexandia at a hotel which had a free shuttle to the King Street metro station. Using the Metro was part of the adventure, and very easy to use.

[Susan C.]

We've stayed in Manassas and Falls Church, drove in from Manassas, used metro from Falls Church. My dad knew many that traveled there for govt work, they all stayed in Falls Church... and that was decades ago. He said DC was too expensive.

[Gobblygook]

We recently stayed in Herndon (about 30 minutes out in light traffic) and drove in and out of DC during off-peak hours. We were there for my DH"s work and didn't have a choice as to where to stay, but it worked out just fine! 

[Kassia]

We stayed at the Embassy Suites Chevy Chase Pavilion - it's right on top of the metro so you don't even have to leave your hotel.  Super convenient.  They had a fantastic breakfast and then snacks later in the day.  We never needed our car while we were there.  We got a weekly metro pass for each of us (six in our family).  

 

Erica

[mom2att]

We want to be within walking distance of the metro?  Right?  The prices out of the city are soooooo tempting but I feel like we will regret it.  I keep hearing parking is a nightmare and super expensive.

 

Am I correct in this thinking?

 

Thanks ya'll :)

 

We've taken two summer trips to DC. Both times we got a house well outside the city through VRBO and drove in every day. We did have to be creative about when we arrived and left the city (coming in around 10 am and staying through the dinner hour, even into the evening worked well), but when we did that traffic was not an issue. Nor was parking--we just picked a lot nearby and parked there, then made sure we had the car out by the time the lot closed. It was around $20/day, but daily metro passes would have been at least that for our family of five.

 

We like living space to spread out when we travel, and that's just out of the question cost-wise when touring a big city, at least for us.

Edited April 4, 2016 by mom2att

[HeWillSoar]

I think if I stayed there again I'd stay outside the area close to a metro line.   Last time we stayed about a couple blocks from the White House and while that was kind of cool, it added a lot to the walking.  We went to the White House just once and every other day we were walking way past that to get to everything else. 

[redsquirrel]

I have stayed at the Washington Hilton and the Adams Inn, a B&B. Both were centrally located and very convenient to everything.  The Hilton has a beautiful outside pool and was just great.

 

However, I was never footing the bill for either of them, and I made a point of not knowing the price. I assume it would have made me faint.

 

But the Hilton was a great hotel. My toddler got sick when I was there and they were super nice and so helpful. I was freaking out because my kid puked on the bed (it turned out just to be the heat and strange food) and the head of housekeeping came and reassured me that it wasn't a big deal. I had sort of freaked out because my KID HAD PUKED IN A HOTEL, lol. She was very kind and sort of gave me a reality check.  She was all, there are hundreds and hundreds of people in this hotel so at least one person pukes every day. We don't care about a little baby puke. I only get worried when we have to deal with a body.

 

 

[TCB]

If you're looking for super cheap, we recently stayed in a Red Roof Inn in Rockville. It was about $60 a night, clean and had a pleasant grass/tree area outside our room. It was within walking distance of Shady Grove metro station. They even had a shuttle that went to the station in the morning. No charge to park at hotel and we went into the center each day on the metro. I really liked it, and would stay there again.

[ThisIsTheDay]

Look at Holiday Inn at Rosslyn/Key Bridge. We stayed there last summer, just under $100/night, free parking, a block from the Rosslyn Metro Station. (Btw, the station has one of the longest escalator rides in the world!)  I requested a view of the city; our regular double room even had a teeny balcony.

 

Also, the Crystal City Marriott has great weekend rates and is a super nice hotel, really, really nice.  (This is different than the Crystal Gateway Marriott, which is a block or two away.)  Crystal City Marriott has a Metro station in the basement.  They do charge extra for parking, $25 or $30/day. I'm looking at the website right now under their "deals" page, and I'm not seeing anything that looks like a deal to me right now though.

[Rachel]

We are staying in Ashburn, it's not super convenient for the Metro, but it is near where my husband has work meetings. It was a 25 minute drive to the Metro then a 45 minute ride to The Smithsonian stop. I would have liked to stay a stop or two closer, but the price was right for the hotel (his company is paying). I will say the Metro is super easy to navigate but by the time you pay $5 to park and $5ish per person for each direction to ride, you may as well pay the downtown hotel parking rate if that is primarily where you will be headed.

[Farrar]

Some of the places people are mentioning - like Ashburn and Herndon and Rockville (shudder... sorry... I hate when I have to go to Rockville for some reason) are only marginally DC area in my mind, at least for tourist purposes. You'll spend all your time getting in and back. But staying in Rosslyn or Crystal City or Chevy Chase... that's easy. In other words, not all suburbs are equal. And when you look at the map of the metro, it's not to scale. Some of the stops on the Orange line are all bunched together while some of the stops along the Red line are super far apart. Basically, look at a real map to help make your decision.

[3andme]

There is a time share property called the Wyndham Old Town Alexandria that's right next to a subway station. They have 1 and 2 bedroom suites which are nice for families. Sometimes you can find good rates on these from time share owners who rent out their weeks on ebay, redweek, flipkey, vrbo. Flipkey vrbo, airbnb, and Homeaway also have other vacation rentals. You might find something more central than Alexandria. 

[Amira]

Just for reference, I have lived near both the East Falls Church Metro and the Crystal City Metro. You can zip into L'Enfant Plaza in 10 minutes from Crystal City. When I am in East Falls Church, I plan on its taking at least 40 minutes for me to get to my destination in downtown DC (and longer to the many other interesting places in the city). If I were here as a tourist, I'd stay in Crystal City, and there are a few relatively affordable places there.

[kewb]

We have stayed at the Embassy Suites-Chevy Chase Pavillion or the Hyatt Regency-Bethesda.

[lmrich]

We stayed at The Embassy Suites (I think it was...) in Alexandria. It was great. The Metro was right outside, you could take a trolley into Old Towne. The hotel had a great happy hour with $5 appetizers, free snacks and free drinks - even free Shirly Temples for the kids. It also had free breakfast. The Metro was easy to navigate and quick. 

 

I have stayed right in the action twice before, and for the price difference and the hotel size and amenities I would stay in Alexandria again. 

[MelAR05]

Take a look at Americana Hotel in Crystal City. It's cheap but in a good safe location and walking distance to the Crystal City Metro. http://mobile.americanahotel.com/

 

With my husband's job we stayed across the street in an apartment but I always thought if we came to visit on our own that we would stay there.

[Jan in SC]

We stayed at The Embassy Suites (I think it was...) in Alexandria. It was great. The Metro was right outside, you could take a trolley into Old Towne. The hotel had a great happy hour with $5 appetizers, free snacks and free drinks - even free Shirly Temples for the kids. It also had free breakfast. The Metro was easy to navigate and quick.

 

I have stayed right in the action twice before, and for the price difference and the hotel size and amenities I would stay in Alexandria again.

We also stayed there and loved it.

[*lifeoftheparty*]

.

Edited February 13, 2017 by *lifeoftheparty*

[mom31257]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn @ Key Bridge. It was great and very close to a Metro Station. You could also walk across Key Bridge into Georgetown. 

 

 

[edithcrawley]

We stayed at the Capitol Skyline Hotel: http://www.capitolskyline.com/IIRC, it was about 140 a night or so.

 

It is at the corner of SW Capitol and I Street---5 blocks from a metro station or 8 blocks from the National Mall (closest to American Indian Museum and Air and Space).

 

We never went to the Metro stop near the hotel, as we normally just walked into the mall and it was quicker to walk the extra few blocks than it was to go to the metro, pay, wait for a train, etc.

 

According to my parents (who used to live in DC), the area around the Capitol Skyline was super sketchy in the 80s, but I felt perfectly safe walking around by myself in the early evenings about 2 or 3 years ago when we were there. 

[Momling]

Seconding The Americana. It's a bit dated, but safe, inexpensive and close to the metro.

[Stacia]

The Arlington &/or Rosslyn areas are great. Close to metro stops & not a long metro ride into DC. Also, lots of restaurants & other things tend to be near the hotels.

 

(ETA: Don't know if it's in your price range but the Residence Inn Arlington/Courthouse is awesome.)

Edited April 10, 2016 by Stacia