My son has an internship near there and he is finding it takes him a very long time to commute.
He/we are interested in a room he could stay in, at least several days a week. He doesn’t need to be there weekends.
If anyone knows of such a place, please PM me. He is a non-drinker, non-smoker, and doesn’t need to invite any guests there.
Thanks in advance
GMU and some of the other universities in the area rent dorm rooms in the summer. Fairfax and Reston are ideally only 28 minutes apart. Check the GMU housing site. Also I would suggest that he post a request with his college’s D.C. area alumni chapter.
^^^ I meant to say Reston is only about 10 miles from Fairfax, where GMU is.
https://www.google.com/#q=distance+fairfax+va+to+reston+va&spf=1495584337441
$266/week https://housing.gmu.edu/summer-mason/intern-housing
Thanks for the suggestion. He’s HOPING to find a place for less than $500 a month. I already pay for his school apartment, so I’m hoping he’s successful with that too. I think he’s going to try altering the times he arrives and departs, but if you’re from around here, you probably realize how bad traffic is around the beltway, no matter what time it is.
We stayed at a Residence Inn in Reston that was only about $35/day and included breakfast daily and dinner 5 nites/week with wine or beer. I think it had better rates if you stayed longer. There was a woman who lived there. It was a nice place and I thought the rates were quite reasonable. It had a washer/dryer as well and free parking. I think we had the AAA rate.
The cheapest daily rate I could find for,that residence inn now is $80…and that was a last minute weekend deal.
The regular price is over $100 a night.
I doubt even a AAA discount or long term stay will bring it down to $35 a night.
Dang, we couldn’t believe how reasonable it was. Maybe give them a call and check. Sometimes on the phone they are more helpful, especially if you’re staying awhile. We haven’t stayed there for some years, so prices may have gone up.
When was it that you got that $35 a day rate? I don’t think that’s possible today.
Your best bet is to look on Craigslist for people looking to rent rooms in their residences.
Rush hour traffic in NOVA can be pretty terrible. GMU to Reston may seem close on the map, but it could still be 30-45 min each way during rush hour.
Thanks. I did forward him a listing or two. He will likely continue to commute, but we would both be happier if he could spend a little less time on the road and a little less in tolls. It’s $7 a day just for tolls, and he will likely go through a tank of gas or more every week. If you count wear and tear on car, it adds up quickly.
I know we had the $35/nite rate for 3 adults in 2006; not sure if we’ve had it since then. It was a crazy cheap rate then.
Reston is a much hotter location with the extension of the metro there. Lots of new construction around the Wiehle metro station.
2006…11 years ago. I had a rental,car for $11 a day about then too.
Times have changed.
Every year the WaPo has features on the shortage of housing for summer interns. He will be lucky to find something under $800/mo, even that far out from downtown. $7 in tolls isn’t bad; DH’s commute into DC on public transit is $18/day including the garage at the Metro station. Commuting time and expenses are a real cost of working in the DC area (and any major metro area, frankly).
This is why S2 still lives at home (we are at the end of a Metro line in MD). A 1 BR apartment is $1500+/mo.
Airbnb
He is definitely getting a dose of what adulthood is like this summer.
Fortunately, he is pretty cost conscious. I offered to help him pay for a place, but he is doing the commute. He will let me help with gas and tools, which I’m fine with.
Last year my son interned in alexandria, thankfully they covered the cost of his extended stay - it would have cost over 7k for the 10 weeks. Now he’s looking for an apartment, we just went on zillow so he could see - even splitting rent he’ll be looking at a minimum of 1200/mo just for the rent.
OP here. Thanks for the suggestions everyone. My son reported today that his going and getting home times were just less than and a little over an hour… times he says he can live with. He is going to get there very early, and can leave by about 2. He had the option to work 9 hours a day and get a day off, but he realizes that would make his commute worse, because he would have to leave later. He’s also driving a little longer to avoid the tolls. I would pay for the tolls to save time, but at 21 I’m glad to see him weighing his options and making reasonable choices.
How does the cost of the extra gas to avoid the toll compare to the toll? People here would spend $5 extra on gas to avoid $3 toll. 
@BunsenBurner, I suspect he’s saving a little, but it’s not worth the effort, and I said that to him. I even told him I will Pay the tolls (7 bucks a day), but he feels like this is a better option, so I’m just going with it. In a week or so I may bring it up again.
There are alternate routes around the Dulles Toll Road. You can either go a bit north to Rt. 7 to get to Tysons Corner and the Beltway or the other direction to Leesburg. Or go a bit south to I-66 to the beltway.