Washington, D.C. Hotel (and other) Recommendations

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m pondering a brief little trip down to WDC at the end of this month. I’ve never been, I’ve got some vacation that I don’t know what to do with, so what the heck? Definite plans that I’ve got to hit are the Air & Space Museum, the Natural History Museum, and I suppose the National Archives, but I’m generally planning on being fairly touristy. I’ll be taking a train down from NYC.

With that in mind, does anyone have any ideas for a reasonably priced, decent hotel that’s convenient? It looks like the train station is pretty well situated, so that’s a good start.

Also, any general ideas for restaurants or sights to check out while I’m around would be appreciated. Thanks!

2

What would you consider to be “reasonably priced”?

The vast majority of your downtown options are going to be in the $300 and up range.

If that’s too steep luckily the subway system is outstanding. Consider looking at hotels just outside the city in Arlington, VA or Silver Spring, MD. Either direction is just a 10-15 minute Metro ride to downtown.

3

During a recent blackout I stayed a night at the Courtyard Washington which is just a couple blocks north of Union Station. Nice, new, and the Metro station is literally steps away from the hotel. I think it was about $150 a night, but of course hotel rates change faster than mountain weather.

4

We went to DC in the summer, and ended up renting out a place on VRBO because the hotel prices + nightly parking rates were astronomical ($400/night). Depending on how many nights you want to go, a privately rented studio might be your most economical choice.

As far as hotels go, both the Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott were very conveniently located. However, the farther out you go, the less expensive. As you’ve already said, the key is to find something close to a train line.

As far as sites go, you already listed the obvious ones. Here are others:

Holocaust Museum
Spy Museum
Newseum
Ford’s Theatre
Georgetown

FYI, there are tour buses (Greyline/Old Town Trolley) that have all day on/off privileges that visits all the major sites, including Arlington. I’d recommend that for getting around town.

Another thing we wanted to do, but didn’t because it was 105 degrees, is the Segway tour. There was a tour at night of the monuments that looked interesting.

5

Reasonably priced and a good location: The Hotel Harrington. You didn’t say how many will be going, but a room for one goes for $129 a night. The hotel is only a few blocks from the White House, the Mall, and Ford’s Theater.

It’s an old hotel (opened in 1914) and shows its age, but the rooms are well kept. It’s a bit far from any Metro stops (two blocks), but a perfect base for looking around DC.

6

We went to DC last month and stayed at the Woodley Park Guest House:

Great place, very friendly owners/staff, good price, located very close to a red line Metro stop. I would definitely stay there again, though it is not close to the city center if that’s important to you. It was a 20-25 minute trip downtown (including walking to the train station).

It’s also close to the Zoo, which is worth a visit.

For restaurants, our best meal was at Founding Farmers. Absolutely delicious.

7

I always give the same advice in these threads. Use Priceline.com. It never fails. Unless you are coming into D.C. on Inauguration Day, don’t ever pay rack rate (or whatever they offer on sites like Hotels.com). D.C. has so many freaking hotel rooms on a normal day companies will do anything to get someone to stay in theirs.

Here’s how you do it. Go to Biddingfortravel.com and see what the winning bids are for the location you want (more on that to come). Use their link to Priceline.com, choose your location, place your bid, and get your room. No, you don’t get to pick your hotel, but you usually get the same ones, and they are good. Washington DC Area - BiddingForTravel.com

I always stay in the Dupont Circle area - the rates are better than Capitol Hill, and the area is chock full of things to do and places to eat. It is also a couple of stops on the red line Metro from the National Archives stop, which is two blocks off the Mall.

If you bid for a 4* hotel around $85 will get you the Washington Hilton. It always used to be the Omni Shoreham, which I liked better, but now it always seems to be the Hilton. It is about five blocks from the Metro stop, which is it’s only drawback.

Right at the National Zoo Metro stop is the 3.5* Marriott Wardman Park. I like this one even a little better than the Hilton as it is one block to the Metro and two blocks to the zoo, which is free. You can walk to Dupont Circle or take the red line one stop for dinner. $80 usually gets you this hotel.

This way gets you a four star hotel for under $100 when the rack rate is around $500. The Wardman Park on a random night in September (midweek) is $499 on Hotels.com right now. Crazy!

Keep in mind that D.C. does have major events and conventions on a regular basis. Try to avoid those dates as then you really will have to pay those ridiculous rates, and you don’t want to be trying to see the museums when a million tourists are in town.

Trust me on this. Priceline.com. No, I have no affiliation with them, I just travel to D.C. a lot and it has never let me down.

8

The plan is for a couple of days–take the train down Thursday morning, stay Thursday and Friday night, take the train back on Saturday. Obviously I’d love to be in the heart of things, but if that means $300/night, I can learn the metro.

The Hotel Harrington doesn’t sound bad–I like old hotels with a bit of character.

9

When in D.C. the Metro is your best friend. It doesn’t take anything to learn how to use it either. Put five or ten bucks in the machine, get a fare card, and look at the map. Then you’re on your way.

IMO, you really don’t want to be right near the Mall or Capitol. All those buildings are filled with office workers who go home at night, so the dining and nightlife is much less interesting than in a neighborhood like Dupont Circle or Adams-Morgan or Georgetown.

10

If you are a nerd like me, you might want to check out Context Travel at http://www.contexttravel.com. They offer interesting walking tours in a number of cities. I’ve taken their tours in other cities and have enjoyed them, but have never taken them in DC.

I think the Nationals are on the road at the end of the month, but if not you might enjoy taking in a game.

As Lamar says, Dupont is a good option for staying in a part of town with a lot going on, but with lower prices than Capital Hill. The National Zoo is free and there are a lot of great bars and cafes near it if you want to combine a visit with a night out.

11

Wife and I went twice last year, stayed at the Courtyard Arlington-Rosslyn. It’s a 1/4-mile from the Rosslyn metro station.

I recommend the Old Town Trolley Tour. They have a couple of different routes, and the driver is extremely informative, providing a running description of everything he drives by.

Touristy? Check out a tour of the capitol building. Tickets are free IIRC, but you’ll need to reserve them in advance. You may also be able to arrange a tour of the white house and a pass to sit in on a session of congress, but if you’re going in a month it might already be too late; check with your congressman’s office for details.

12

We stayed at the Hotel Lombardy in Georgetown/Foggy Bottom last year. it’s just a couple of blocks from the metro station, and close to many tasty restaurants. I think we paid around $160 a night. Have fun!

13

The Tabard Inn has rooms starting at $165, though with no television. It’s sort of a neat place - great restaurant/bar on the first floor, and it’s near Dupont Circle. You can also get a room for $125 if you’re willing to share the bathroom. http://www.tabardinn.com

One thing you’ve absolutely got to do in DC is try Ethiopian food. We have a fairly large Ethiopian community here, and the food scene has benefited greatly from it. I’m partial to Meskerem (in Adams Morgan), but Dukem (on U Street) more often gets the nod for best in the city proper.

A few thoughts:

1.) I see that you’re in NYC. I prefer our Metro system to yours in many ways (cleaner, better architecture, stations are more sensibly designed) - but this isn’t a 24-hour-system. It stops running around midnight Sunday-Thursday, and around 3 AM on Friday and Saturday nights. If you’re out late, take note of the posted departure times for the last trains from your nearest station. Also, be aware that late-night connections can complicate things further; if you’re staying in Dupont Circle (Red Line), and you’re drinking on U Street (Green Line), you
might catch the last train to Chinatown (Red Line Transfer), but miss the last Red Line towards Shady Grove (which also stops at Dupont). That said, I haven’t had this happen that often, especially since the last train of the night is usually delayed. Besides:

2.) DC just isn’t that big, especially the bits you’re likely to be hanging out in; it’s only an hour’s leisurely walk from the Mall to Dupont Circle, for example. And the Dupont Circle/Adams Morgan/U Street nightlife strips are all within a 20-30 minute walk of one another. This is especially important when one recalls that the Adams Morgan strip is a decent walk from the Metro station, and Dupont and U Street are on different lines; it usually makes more sense to just walk between these three places than to wait for a train. (Though, honestly, you probably should avoid Adams Morgan; the Madam’s Organ blues bar is fun, but the place is mostly college kids).

3.) You know Gothamist, right? DC has our own version - DCist, run by the same company. www.dcist.com. They have pretty good nightly coverage of fun events, with end-of-week “About this Weekend” posts as well. It’s a fine resource if you want to take in some of our (genuinely excellent) local art and music.

4.) If you’re going to be here on Thursday and Friday during the day, consider taking in a lecture at one of our many fine think-tanks. :smiley: It’s great fun, a very Washingtonian experience, and there’s often free food and drink. www.linktank.com is a fine scheduling resource. I’m especially partial to lectures at conservative shops, like Heritage or AEI - always fun to hear the other side’s thoughts raw.

14

We stayed at the Washington Plaza hotel near dupont circle last summer. Cost roughly 140 dollars a night and the room was HUGE - 2 enormous double beds and an entrance lobby to the bathroom. It also had a pool. We just walked to all the tourist places from there.

15

The Tabard Inn is a good tip, it’s quirky, but in a good way. It feels like a throwback to an earlier era.

16

We stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites Arlington and it was fantastic. Big room, complimentary breakfast, and about two blocks from a Metro station.

17

I’m digging the think tank idea, though a bit disappointed that the Cato Institute doesn’t have anything planned.

As to Ethiopean food: I’m familiar with it, and love it. But it tends to be a family-style affair, and I’m traveling alone. Will this still work for me?

18

I second (third?) the Tabard Inn. We stayed there for eight nights in April and thoroughly enjoyed the place. Our room was one of the air-con, private-bath ones for US$195 (it’s slightly less for one person). We’d stay there again in a heartbeat.

19

If you want to, let us know and we’ll put on a Dopefest. We can all get together at some restaurant one evening.

20

If you want budget (and subway accessible) try the Highlander Motel in Arlington. It doesn’t look great from the outside, but the location is very good and it’s clean and safe (if a little old) and very cheap- less than $100. I used to live walking distance of it, and my folks stayed at it for a few days and found it adequate (if you’re not planning on spending a lot of time in the hotel room). There’s a shopping mall and a handful of restaurants (including an all-night pizza place next door, and a great Peruvian chicken place called El Pollo Rico) in walking distance. With a 5 minute walk to the Va Square Metro station, you can be at the Smithsonian museums (or the Capitol, White House, etc.) in 15-20 minutes, or the zoo in 25.