Oh, no. That’s definitely not what I meant. That’s a very nice location – I stayed at the Renaissance a block away a few months ago (our daughter is in DC, so we’ve been visiting a lot in the past four years, and always looking for good deals). But there are a couple of real ratty places further up New York Avenue, NE.
BTW, if you walk down 9th Street between F and G Streets, try Ella’s Wood Fired Pizza. We stumbled on it when we were visiting the spy museum, and took a chance. The food was incredible and now I see it’s been named one of the best pizzas in DC.
One way to find out what hotels are near Metro stops is to download Google Earth (earth.google.com) and then select Transit–Local Rails and Lodging in the Layers window
The Ballston area of Arlington is not much farther out on the Orange Line, and I think cheaper than Rosslyn while still minutes from DC. But Lute Skywatcher’s suggestion of Rosslyn may be your overall best bet for location: not only is it on the Orange Line, if you want to visit Georgetown, and you will – and remember, the Metro doesn’t go to Georgetown – then a quick hop across the Key Bridge, which gets a lot of pedestrian traffic, will land you right in the heart of Georgetown. Near in the infamous Exorcist stairs. Mwahahahaha…
I enjoyed it; it was a bit disneyish, but there’s a lot of fascinating stuff there.
A real shame. But they do have some dishes without either (their small plates and salads are great, too). The pizzas are small, so you could order one for yourself.
Do you mean Crystal City??? That’s the area nearish the Pentagon. Lots of hotels, many of which connect directly to the “Crystal City Underground” (network of passages connecting numerous office/hotel buildings to shops, eateries, and the Metro). Couple of different Marriott locations there, for example.
There are a number of hotels within walking distance of the Rosslyn and Ballston metro stations (both Arlington VA, on blue/orange lines - Rosslyn, and orange line - Ballston). Further out in VA there aren’t too many places within walking distance.
There are numerous places that have shuttle buses to the Metro however. Courtyard by Marriott, on Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria does, I think. There’s a Days Inn ON van Dorn Street, also in Alexandria, that as far as I know has such a shuttle. That sort of thing opens up a lot more hotel choices, some of which may be more affordable than “walk to the Metro” places.
Reality Chuck, you must not have read the “picky eaters” thread. I checked the menu, and there is nothing Rick would eat there. I know, I know, but he has other wonderful qualities.
I’ve travelled to DC several times for work in the past year and the two I’d recommend that are both reasonable and near the metro are:
-QUALITY INN COURTHOUSE in Arlington- if you’re driving this hotel has free parking, whichi is a plus. I paid $100 per night plus tax (not expensive for D.C.). The property’s older (Brady Bunch era) but the rooms are very large (no bells/whistles/eunuchs but clean/safe/big) and it’s a one block walk (uphill to and downhill from) the nearest metro station.
-RED ROOF INN DOWTOWN/CHINATOWN- the room was more expensive (139+tax [conference rate] + $15 per night for parking) and it was much smaller than the Arlington room. It’s certainly not a luxury hotel but neither is it a fleabag at all, and the extra 50 room/15 parking puts you in downtown D.C. (specifically in Chinatown) about three easy blocks from the metro.
My favorite hotel was the Holiday Inn Downtown. I paid $165/night but that was a special conference rate- ordinarily it’s well over $200, which is why I don’t mention it as the first. Parking was I believe $12/night. It’s got a rooftop pool and is about four blocks from the McPherson Square Metro, and I LOVED the room (plus they had free wireless), but as I mentioned it’s pricier.
The rates vary quite a bit, but Club Quarters has availability through hotels.com at rates ranging from $103 to a little over $200 a night, so this may not work for you, depending on your dates.
It’s downtown, though, a couple of Metro stops from the International Spy Museum and Chinatown and in the other direction, the White House, Smithsonian, etc. The Metro has a stop one block away, you just exit the hotel, pass by Farragut Square and the Metro stop is right there.
The rooms are small, though they are very nice.
Just a thought. It may not work for you, certainly.
Oh, P.S. I don’t think you can get these rooms on your own. Your company has to have an affiliation with them or you have to go through an outfit that (sometimes) does, like the aforementioned web site.
I will put a plug in for the River Inn in the Foggy Bottom section of DC. Short walk to the George Washington U metro stop, short walk to the restaurants of Georgetown or Dupont Circle & the Kennedy Center. All the rooms are suites with a kitchen. I found it very convenient having a refrigerator & microwave handy. There is a grocery store in the Watergate Complex about a 1/4 mile away.
Thanks for all the suggestions. We checked them all out, and considered them carefully. Many of them didn’t have the dates we needed, unfortunately. We finally decided on the Phoenix Park Hotel, which has the virtues of being available, not too dear, and near enough to the Capital and Union Station to walk, but with a metro stop for going other places. Plus, it has a Irish pub. What more can you want?
I checked the menu, and there is nothing Rick would eat there. I know, I know, but he has other wonderful qualities. 
