Because I booked a whim of a trip w/my D over fall break in October…
Trying to do a little snooping online to find decent hotel deals. Priorities are clean, safe, “near” a metro. Don’t mind outside of the city -in the suburbs. Will be flying into BMI and then taking transportation to hotel/DC - no car.
A little snooping has us noticing some good rates for :
Hyatt Regency Bethesda
Sheraton Suites Alexandria, Old Town
There will be 4 of us - me, D and 2 of her college friends (how lucky am I!! So fun!) It started out as just D and I think morning and the two added on - they are very sweet.
Anyway, The Hyatt sounds like the metro is right at the hotel. Wonderful. Also on the north side which may be more convenient for arrival and departure to BMI.
Sheraton Suites offers more room since it’s a suite and high ratings (Hotwire and TripAdvisor)
Thoughts? Other suggestions? I’d love to keep the nightly rate no more than $150ish.
My niece goes to school in DC (but she’ll be abroad this year so no visiting) but she uses and loves über in DC. It sounded like uber is plentiful, easy and inexpensive. She uses it all the time.
Crystal City Embassy Suites worked well for us. Close to the metro, free breakfast & night happy hour help the cause as well. Embassy Suites are a family favorite, two rooms, two TVs, fridge and microwave (usually).
See if you can get a good rate at the Embassy Suites Bethesda. Very nice hotel right at the Friendship Heights metro stop so super convenient to all the sites via subway as you won’t have a car. Very nice area, upscale with plenty of shopping, restaurants, etc. on the DC/MD border. The extra room space at Embassy Suites would be a plus, too.
Also, since there a 4 of you, you might want to check renting on airbnb.
Agree with the Friendship Heights suggestion. All rooms are suites; could all share one “cosy” suite or enjoy 2. Convenient to metro (don’t need to go outside), shopping and some restaurants.
The Hyatt Regency Bethesda is undergoing renovation, which is probably why you can get good rates right now. I was in that neighborhood about three weeks ago, and the main entrance to the hotel was closed due to construction. But the hotel was open for business – you just had to go into the building in a different way. You might want to find out what sort of renovation is planned for October. It might be more (or less) disruptive than what I saw in July.
I stayed at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda one night a couple of years ago (when the power was out at my house). It was a bit shabby – which is what you would expect since they knew that major renovations were planned, so it wouldn’t make sense to spend a lot of money on minor cosmetic problems (like the damaged wallpaper in my room). However, the hotel’s location (next to the Bethesda Metro station and within walking distance of a large number of restaurants) can’t be beat – provided that there are no Metro repairs in the area at the time.
The DC Metro system is undergoing extensive repairs, which involve shutting down segments of its rail lines or single-tracking in different places at different times. Here’s the schedule: http://www.wmata.com/rail/safetrack.cfm?
I think you’re OK if you stay in Bethesda in October. Bethesda is on the west side of the U-shaped Red Line. (The District is at the bottom of the U.) http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm? The line segment shutdown on the Red Line during part of October is on the east side of the U. It’s not likely to affect you much, although there may be some slowdowns. The single-tracking on the Orange Line in October probably won’t affect you at all.
Here are some Virginia ideas.
Arlington’s Courthouse area has several hotels -Marriott Residence Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Arlington Court Suites all just steps from the Metro - on the Orange/Silver line.
One stop away is the Rosslyn area where Orange/Silver intersect with Blue. You’ll find 2 Marriotts and Holiday Inn nearby.
Crystal City/Pentagon City is on the Yellow and Blue line with many hotels near each.
There’s a hotel in Arlington called the Americana that is extremely reasonable. Have stayed there before but it’s small so not always available. When my DIL’s mother goes to visit she always stays there. Within easy walk to subway. Uber is also very easy to use in DC and affordable.
We were in DC for spring break this year. We stayed at the Residence Inn Capital View. They are not right on the metro stop but they run a shuttle to the metro throughout the day. We never waited more than 10-15 minutes for the shuttle once we got off the metro.
The rooms were great, very nice and with a kitchen. We were usually SO done from a day of walking that we ate something simple in our rooms in the evening. They have a great hot breakfast that is way more than standard hotel breakfast fare.
I just checked our receipt and we paid $125.25 per night which IMO is a STEAL for any area.
Not that you asked, but I highly recommend taking a night tour of the monuments. It’s an efficient way to squeeze in seeing a lot of them and seeing them at night is extra special. But, maybe that’s a suggestion for your next thread.
A big plus would be to have restaurants near the hotel. At the end of a busy day, I’m just tired. All I want is a good meal within an easy stroll from my hotel.
In Crystal City (the district around tbe Pentagon & DCA Airport), there’s a concentration of business hotels, plus a restaurant district around 23rd St.
My last trip to DC, I stayed near Dupont Circle. I didn’t care for the night time clubbing scene seediness.
There are also a lot of good AirBnB options & restaurants in East Market, the gentrified fashionable residential neighborhood immediately east of the SCOTUS. There’s a Metro stop there.
Bethesda would be convenient for you because it is between BWI and DC. Once you get on the metro trains you can reach most of the main areas of attraction. Are you planning to visit the museums at the Smithsonian?
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions - I truly think I have not planned a trip without the aid of CC in years!
I’m going to make a list of all the suggested places tomorrow and try and look online and see what is available at what price. Since this was a spur of the moment decision we haven’t thought yet about how we will spend our 3 days - those decisions to come AFTER we book a place to stay! I’m sure the majority of our time will be spent in greater DC.
I completely agree with @doschicos on the night tour of the monuments!! I know you aren’t to that point yet, but I was chomping at the bit to suggest it too. We were there in June and did a night tour. A lot of the monuments aren’t near metro stops and it was so nice to just have somebody drive us right up to them and wait while we looked around and took pictures. Completely worth it!
We were there in June and did a night tour. A lot of the monuments aren’t near metro stops and it was so nice to just have somebody drive us right up to them and wait while we looked around and took pictures. Completely worth it!