HELP – Advice Please, Washington DC trip

Parent Cafe
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<p>I need advice. D will be attending a ballet summer program at the Universal Ballet Academy (formerly known as the Kirov Academy). It is located at 4301 Harewood Road NE. The female summer students will stay in the dorms at Trinity College. D and I will be arriving on Friday evening with program check-in Sunday morning. </p>

<p>I am a Hilton Honors member and would like to use points to help cover the cost of the hotel. The closest Hilton-chain-hotels are 1- Hampton Inn at 599 Massachusetts Ave, 2- Homewood Suites at 1475 Mass Ave, 3- Hilton Washington at 1919 Connecticut Ave, 4- Hilton Garden Inn – Franklin Square and 5- The Capital Hilton. This is NOT going to be an educational-type trip. I am mainly looking for the easiest and safest means of getting D checked in and squared away for the program. Would you suggest I rent a car or take a taxi from the airport (Reagan National) to the hotel and from the hotel to the dorm and ballet academy? Will driving and parking be an enormous problem in DC? Are taxis plentiful and reasonable?</p>

<p>The program ends on a Sunday at 6:00pm and I’m planning a 8:00pm departure. I was told it only takes 15 minutes from the UBA studios to Reagan National – is this true?</p>

<p>Thank you all in advance for your help.</p>

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<p>I’m not familiar with the UBA, but I have stayed many times at the Hilton on Conn Ave (also known as the Hinckley Hilton, because that’s where Reagan was shot by Hinckley). It has plentiful parking, a nice location, and decent rooms. I have not stayed in any of the others.</p>

<p>Reagan is very close to the city and taxis are fast and reasonable. If you have a lot of baggage, you might find it easier to rent a car, but otherwise you will find a taxi very easy and far cheaper than the cost of a rental car, taxes, and parking fees. Reagan Airport should be about 20 minutes from anywhere in NE on a Sunday evening.</p>

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<p>D.C. has a very unusual zone system for taxi fares, that can make it among the cheapest systems anywhere, as long as you know the rules.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.dcpages.com/Travel/Reviews/taxi.shtml[/url]”>http://www.dcpages.com/Travel/Reviews/taxi.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Not sure if you are looking for the closest of those Hiltons to Trinity, but if my memory serves (2) (3) and (5) are in NW and so not so close; not sure re the other two. However, agree that taxis are a good option and any of the hotels could work. Don’t know where Franklin Square is, but other than that the 599 Mass Ave should be closer to NE.
You can probably mapquest them all and find the closest, if you like.
Have fun.</p>

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<p>Franklin Park (I didn’t know they had squared it) is at 13 and K NW.</p>

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<p>Your hotel will actually have a shuttle to and from Reagan. Also, the D.C. metro system is safe and reasonably efficient - you can actually just google Washington Metro, go to the site, and use the trip planner function to map everything out. But there are plenty of taxis and you’ll be able to grab them easily. Renting a car might be the last choice.</p>

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<p>I lived in DC for 10 years, and have lived there during recent summers. Driving and parking in DC is a nightmare. Parking is expensive and difficult to find. </p>

<p>Roads are confusing because traffic is horrific and the place is filled with tourists and with foreigners who work in embassies and seem to be following the odd driving rules of their home countries. Driving the beltway and bother main arteries is like swimming with the sharks. There also are many confusing streets including streets downtown that are one way only during rush hours.</p>

<p>Taxis are easy to get. The subway also is safe and easy to use. </p>

<p>“I was told it only takes 15 minutes from the UBA studios to Reagan National – is this true?”</p>

<p>I used to live in NE DC and I think that probably if one is very lucky, it would take 20 minutes. That, however, would not include time getting lost – which is very easy to do.</p>

<p>I think that the Capitol Hilton would be the one closest to where your daughter will be staying.</p>

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<p>I’d agree with the taxi option. If you’re planning on using public transportation, a good website to use is commuterpage.com. It can map out the easiest route for you.</p>

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<p>I went to DC over spring break. There is a lot of traffic and almost impossible to find parking. It’s especially confusing not being from there. All of the taxi drivers I saw were from other countries, but most seemed to know where to go.</p>

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<p>We just went and took the subway, after about ten minutes, my Ds had it all figured out…worked really well. We also walked alot, and I mean ALOT…we had a blast…be sure and bring un umbrella!!!</p>

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<p>Thank you, I appreciate the advice and helpful hints. My CC extended family is wonderful. :)</p>

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<p>One thing I’d recommend is asking the cabbies if they know where the location is before stepping inside the cab. Many are foreigners and new to the area. Good luck with the trip!</p>

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<p>Take the Metro (Blue Line). The Metro is safe. Street parking can be very difficult to find during business hours downtown, then once you find a spot you can only stay for two hrs. The only fully functional city agency is the parking regulators : )Garages are very expensive. Bring a street map.</p>

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<p>lol, sad but true!</p>