Nice hotel near Washington, DC

I just finished reading the other thread on Washington and got lots of great ideas for our upcoming trip to Washington, dc. We are headed there in October for a National Guard event that DH is participating in. I have been looking at hotels for a few weeks now and it can become very confusing. I did find one that looks to be in a good location and family friendly. I was hoping to find someone that may know more about this hotel and let me know if it is a good choice or not. It is the Hilton Alexandria Old Town. It is across the street from the Metro and has a rate of $225.00 a night. Are there any other suggestions from those who live in the area or travel there often? We are looking to be close to Washington, dc or have easy transportation to get there without having to drive and we are hoping to find something for $300.00 a night or under. We would be willing to pay a little more for safty and convienence. Thanks so much!

I'm pretty much a case of a blind person leading the blind but I'm planning on visiting Washington DC in July.

I consolidated a lot of stuff that I've found and became really satisfied with the idea of staying in Alexandria Virginia instead of Washington DC. They have several Hampton Inns that seem quite nice...one in Old Town and another near the King Street Metro station. The one in Old Town is not right next to the Metro but it DOES have a complementary shuttle that takes you to it. The prices seem to range about $129-179. Be sure if you're searching you ask for the Military rate. If you're military in any form, active duty, guard OR federal service...sometimes you can get a better deal but be sure to bring your ID. (note...check BOTH rates)

We're looking at going to the Smithsonian and I'm a "nervous nelly". It sounds sooooo silly but I've never been up North before. I have no clue how to get around so I want to stay close to the Metro.

thrillme,

I know how you feel. This would be the furthest north we have been as well and we feel totally naive about the whole thing. I spent a couple of hours researching hotels last night and I did find a few good options that appear to be safe and family friendly, which is our main concern. We also really want to be close to transportation, Metro.

The Hilton Alexandria Old Town is directly across the street from the Kings st. metro station. I also found two other hotels in/near Crystal City. Hilton Arlington is right on the Ballston Metro station, its just steps from the lobby and is only 5 blocks from Arlington National Cemetery which is one of the places we'd like to visit. I think we could probably walk to that. This hotel is also connected to a mall by a skywalk which seems like it would be a great place for meals. I think this one was $207.00 a night. I need to call around and check on military rates. The other hotel that seemed nice was the Hyatt Regency Crystal City. These three all look good on paper, but I would love to hear from someone who knows the area or who has stayed in any of these hotels. Another great option was Grand Hyatt Washingon which I beleive is connected to a metro station, but the rooms are all booked for our time period.

Good luck in your search for a nice hotel, thrillme. And send me a PM when you return from your trip to let me know how it went.

Good luck to you too. I'll let you know how everything goes when we get back. We'll be taking a nice two week trip in July.

Hey thrillme, I am back! :thumbsup:

Okay guys, if I had to pick a "generic safe place" that is "near/in the city", old town is pretty darn good. As I put in the other thread, I would either stay there or in Downtown DC.

Best endorsement I can give, I was not a "clubber" as a youth (look at me I am a mere 37 years old :old: ) I would much rather go to places to hang out and eat, and yes drink. That is Old Town. Dare I say it, because it is very old and very well kept, it is where all the.....ugh....yuppies would go. Did I just call my old self a yuppie?:secret:

I moved to the "ex-urbs" of Leesburg when I bought my Single Family back in 2003 (closer to West Va than DC). Since then, I have not been to Old Town but very rarely. But since it hardly changed during the 15 years I went there as a youth (he he), I feel very good in saying, you picked a good place.

And being near a Metro will help you more than you can realize when travelling to Downton DC.

Feel free to PM if you have any specific questions or want more details. :mickey:

Oh yeah, and from the Metro walk down King St (towards the water). There is a "hole in the wall" on the right hand side called Hard Times Cafe. This place rocks if you like chili.

Dry Texas 3-way with sour cream. Ummm....:cloud9:

Glad they put one 5 minutes from my office. :thumbsup:

I have found that, especially in DC, your best bet is to priceline it. I got the JW Marriott for 2 nights at $85.00. October is off season too, so that gives you a better chance of getting something REALLY nice. Good luck to you.

We travel to D.C. fairly often for weekend trips. We like to park our car at the hotel and use the Metro for most of our transportation needs. We often stay in Crystal City at one of the 2 Mariotts or the Embassy Suites. The Marriot is directly above the Metro Station and an underground mall, very convenient! Nice pool and great breakfast too. Weekend rates are usually under $200, more like $150. They run weekend specials a lot of the time. It's a quick drive to old Town Alexandria from here too. Also the Embassy Suites in downtown is very nice, more expensive though. The museums are awesome, I especially love the newest Smithsonian Museum, Museum of The Native American, it was the best I've ever been to. We also like seeing the memorials, the Washington Monument, the Mint, etc. I'm sure you'll ahve a great time.

I chaperoned my son's school trip in April. We went to the DC area and New York. (NY is just a bigger New Orleans to me) I definitely enjoyed DC better. The monuments and museums are tremendous. I would recommend seeing the monuments twice. Once in the daytime for picture taking and once at night to see them illuminated. Tourguides are great because they give interesting tidbits of information like the pool directly in front of the Lincoln Memorial is the pool that Jenny and Forest ran through in Forest Gump. But, I would say that Arlington Cemetary had the most profound affect on me. The cemetary and views from it are unbelievably beautiful and the cermony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is most touching.

:wishes: for a safe trip!

The Hilton in OldTown is nice and very convenient to the Metro. Old Towns on King Street is beautiful, lot of quaint restaurants and shops. Old Town does have its not so nice areas as well though, so stick to the beaten path. The Hilton is in a good area and within a walk to the metro. Metro is very safe and will take you anywhere in DC, MD and VA.

I would also suggest finding a hotel in DC. There are some really beautiful ones in that price range and you wouldn't have to travel that far on the Metro to get to downtown, monuments, and museums.

I can highly recommend the Holiday Inn Capitol. It is, literally, a two or three minute walk to both the Air & Space museum and a Metro stop.

It is very conveniently located near all the musuems. The area is a business area, so it's safe, but very quiet at night (that's a plus for us). There was a McDonald's, a Quiznos, a Starbucks, a deli and a CVS in the same block as the hotel.

We loved our stay there and found it was well worth the money (about $200.00/night) for the convenience.

We recently took a trip and stayed at the Omni Shorham. Very nice, historic hotel with a great pool. The trolley stop is right across the street and there is a metro stop just down the street. Lots of restaurants nearby too. The room was really big and the beds were comfy.

Don't be nervous about getting around D.C. It's probably one of the easiest cities to get around due to the metro being so wonderful. I am terrified of public transportation, but they make it so easy, and it's so clean. Frankly, I always feel like I'm on a Disney ride when I use the metro :)

We spent out first 3 wedding anniversaries and one weekend trip in DC. We have stayed at the following hotels:
-Hyatt of Capitol Hill (you can see the Capitol building from some of the rooms.)
-Holiday Inn on the Hill
-Holiday Inn Capitol (right behind the Air and Space Museum and probably the best choice if you are going to visit the museums a lot. About 1 block away from a Metro stop. Within walking distance of Union Station.)

I highly recommend staying in DC rather than VA. The best way to get deals is to book the internet only rates more than a week in advance of your trip.

We usually drive in, park in front of the train station (free) or in the train station (relatively inexpensive) and walk or taxi to wherever we're going. There are some fabulous restaurants in Georgetown, and the monuments are beautiful at night. The sad thing about the Smithsonian is that the coolest museum, National History, is being refurbished and is not opening until 2008.

We were in D.C. last week and stayed at the Best Western Georgetown Suites. We had a room with a bedroom with king sized bed. There was a separate living room with a convertible sofa. There were tv's in both room. The room had a small fridge and a microwave.

There was a daily continental breakfast that included instant hot cereal, cold cereals, fruit, hard boiled eggs, toast, english muffins, bagels, muffins, and danish. There was coffee, tea, a few juices, and milk.

The hotel was within walking distance to both the Foggy Bottom and the Dupont Circle metro stations. There were dozens of restaurants walking distance from the hotel and we had a nice morning walk to the White House. By shopping around and watching the rates we were able to get it for an average on $200 night including taxes. We had originally booked it for hundreds more, but by watching the Best Western site we were able to cancel and rebook and save $600 for the same nights.

We stayed in the JW Marriot which was very nice. it was on Pennsylvania Avenue, and was so close to everything. We were in walking distance to the Capitol, the White House, the Old Post Office, the FBI Building, & the National Archives. It was a very fun trip.

Another vote for Crystal City - especially the Marriott. The underground mall and metro access are really convenient. But the other hotels in the area have free shuttles that will take you to the metro stop as well.

I've stayed right in DC hotels, too and they were nice, but the rooms were much smaller and more expensive with less amenities.

Right across from the Hilton is the Embassy Suites which has bigger rooms and a good free breakfast included. If you are on orders, you should be able to get either hotel at government/military rate which is normally around $150.

If it is just you and DH, you may also look at Morrison House which is in Old Town Alexandria, but is a little (pleasant) walk from the Metro. They also offer government rates on availability.

We always stay in the Loew's Hotel. It is right in the National Mall area so you are one block from most of the Smithsonians. It has a small mall one floor under the lobby and has a metro on the floor under the mall. It a beuatiful 4 star hotel in a great location with a Metro. We pay around $280 a night in Oct. We wouldn't stay anywhere else.

We recently went to Washington and stayed in Georgetown at Georgetown Suites. It was perfect for us with a toddler. full kitchen, private bedroom, 800 sq ft to roam. It was a little out of the hustle & bustle of the heart of Washington (which we wanted), but still had all the transportation available to us. Although, we found the whole bus/metro system confusing and were lost much of the time. We saw some fantastic things, but I doubt we'll return until the baby is in high school. Enjoy!