Hi Everyone. I know. It has been almost a whole week with no posts. No, I haven't been out of town. But I am planning a trip that I would love some help with. Jon and I are planning on taking our oldest 3 kids to Washington, D.C. this fall. I am excited to show the kids where I lived when I was in law school and take them to my favorite places out there.
One thing I am struggling with however, is where to stay. I wondered if any of you have visited D. C. and have any recommendations. I want to stay close to a metro station either in a safe part of D.C. or one of the close areas in Virginia. Any suggestions?
It has been so long since I have been back to D.C. that I can't remember which areas are safe and which are not and which hotels are nice and which are not. I would really appreciate any suggestions anyone can give me.
14 comments:
Hi Stephanie, I would stay in the heart of the DC business district. I would recommend Sofitel since that is in between a hotel/apartment and is more convenient when you travel with family.
http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-3293-sofitel-washington-dc-lafayette-square/index.shtml
This location is central to all the great museums, attractions. I wouldn't stay in VA because you would lose commute time.
I went to grad school in DC and ended up staying. I think anywhere NW is very safe.
Alice
Tell me your budget! I am a DC hotel snob...and I can tell you many niiiiice ones with all the stuff you want...
Or some cheaper ones...no as niiiice, but safe and clean...
There are some nice hotels at the National Harbor in Maryland right on the Potomic River. There is a bus in walking distance that takes you to the Metro. It was a safe place to stay.
If you remember Adam Merrill from highschool and dance team, I'm his wife, and we live in the DC area. Feel free to email me at merrill.rm@gmail.com with any questions, I'd love to help you with planning your trip. When we first moved here we stayed in Arlington at the AKA Virginia Square. It was wonderful, we were close to the metro, and it was only about a 15-20 min ride downtown.
We took our four kids to D.C. three years ago. We stayed at the Capitol Hill Hyatt Regency. It was very nice. We also rented segues and had a great time on touring the sites on those. You might want to consider making a run (we made three) to Love Cafe (right across the street from Cakelove) for a sandwich and a piece of really delicious cake.
Have a great time!
I stayed at the Marriott in Foggy Bottom. It was about four or five blocks away from the Metro. It's actually near the place where the BYU student housing is. Super safe {I felt entirely comfortable there with my gal roommate I went with}. We got a great deal with the hotel, $75 a night and up to all Marriott Hotel standards. Definitely recommend it.
We went to DC last summer for 10 weeks and stayed at the Residence Inn in Old Town Alexandria, VA for 4 weeks (metro only blocks away) and the Residence Inn, Arlington Courthouse, VA (metro right outside hotel) for 6 weeks. Both were very nice!
Seriously?? Can you to tell me when you are in DC? Maybe it would be fun to meet up with you guys. It's only 4 hours away from us. We'd drive down. We {heart} DC.
Hi Stephanie -
I found your blog a couple of months ago and have been lurking since! Your story and faith is inspiring to me as a young LDS married girl whose big trials are still to come, I'm sure.
I'm originally from DC, and while my husband was in dental school in Ohio we traveled there a lot for conferences. You are probably interested in staying downtown, in which case a lot of the comments above are great. We actually always stayed at the Hyatt in Fair Oaks, for a few reasons. 1 - with above average Pricelining skills we could get it for around $35/night (it's a 4* hotel that's pretty true to it's rating). 2 - it has an awesome gym and pool. 3 - the rooms have a king size bed, a queen size pullout sofa bed, and room for a rollaway which is complimentary. 4 - it's about 4 minutes from the Vienna/Fairfax metro station, on the orange line. This metro station has a parking lot that's free on weekends and it's not too terrible to try to get a spot. It's about 20 minutes on the metro to the Smithsonian station.
Hope that helps!
-Leighanna
I live in Northern VA and pretty much anywhere in Northern VA is pretty safe, though Springfield would probably be my last choice of places to stay. Alexandria is a good place to stay as you can get close to the metro, but then you can also potentially have an easier time of getting to Mount Vernon or Old Town.
Hi Stephanie:
Love your blog! I took a week long trip to D.C. in July and had a great time. Part of what made the trip so enjoyable was the convenience and comfort of the hotel. We stayed at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Crystal City. The metro station was located directly underneath the hotel and there was also a shopping center under the hotel as well. It was a clean, safe area and the metro station felt very safe as well. It was a short 10 minute ride on the metro to get into D.C. and about 10-15 minutes to get to old town Alexandria. I've been to D.C. before, but this trip was by far the best. Good luck and hope you have a wonderful, safe trip!
We went on a Church tour several years ago and stayed at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Crystal City so I would agree with the above post! They were the best beds on the whole tour! Have a great time!
My husband and I visited Washington, DC in June 2009. I had been twice before, but it was my husband's first trip. I have an uncle who lives just outside of the city, so I don't have any recommendations for where to stay, but I wanted to tell you that I hope you have a wonderful time. It was one of our favorite vacations.
Steph,
I am a friend of your sister Lesli. I have read your blog on and off since the accident. I grew up in NoVa and had to weigh in on hotels.
Hyatt Fair Oaks is where we had my 20yr high school reunion. It is not as close as the previous poster mentioned. More like a 15 minute drive to the metro and a 40-60 minute metro ride into town depending upon where you want to end up and parking is a beast, but perhaps the hotel offers a shuttle, I don't know. It is a lovely hotel however and exceedingly near where I grew up.
I would third the posters who mentioned the Crystal City Gateway Marriott-- it is very convenient and close and, if you want to stay close to the hotel to eat, on the edge of a real walking neighborhood with yummy restaurants and a really homey feel--my sister lived there for several years and she, as a single woman, always felt safe and at home.
Barring that, I would stay in OldTown Alexandria--there are a couple of hotels there right in the middle of everything and you almost feel like George Washington could walk past you on the sidewalk.
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