Apartment Rentals DC
Aug 26th, 2014, 08:04 PM
#1
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Apartment Rentals DC
We are now going to DC with another couple next April or May for 4 days. We want to stay in the Penn Quarter for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is one member easily tires and most sights we want to see are in that area, so a place nearby is important. Airbnb has a limited selection, has anyone had luck with other services?
Thank you in advance.
Thank you in advance.
Aug 26th, 2014, 08:10 PM
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I suggest you post your question on the Washington D.C. forum of Trip Advisor. There is a frequent contributor on that forum named 'victoriam" who is quite knowledgeable about the vacation rental market in D.C.
Aug 27th, 2014, 04:28 AM
#4
Most residential places in Penn Quarter are in new luxury buildings -- I'd be surprised to find much in the way of short term rentals there.
I just looked at the listings for VRBO in Penn Quarter and they are both sparse and misrepresented. One is an obvious error (Maine Ave near waterfront) and the others are in one refurbed building a 15 minute walk north of Chinatown. You might get away with calling that Convention Center but it's definitely not PQ, especially for the purposes the OP describes.
I just looked at the listings for VRBO in Penn Quarter and they are both sparse and misrepresented. One is an obvious error (Maine Ave near waterfront) and the others are in one refurbed building a 15 minute walk north of Chinatown. You might get away with calling that Convention Center but it's definitely not PQ, especially for the purposes the OP describes.
Aug 27th, 2014, 05:26 AM
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Thanks OBX.
Yes, the listings in Airbnb seem to be in new luxury buildings and that is fine. The problem is that one person seems to be the agent for most of them and she requires the strictest cancellation policy and we don't want to get insurance for a short and nearby trip.
Like most things the simpler the concept, the more complicated the process.
Yes, the listings in Airbnb seem to be in new luxury buildings and that is fine. The problem is that one person seems to be the agent for most of them and she requires the strictest cancellation policy and we don't want to get insurance for a short and nearby trip.
Like most things the simpler the concept, the more complicated the process.
Aug 30th, 2014, 02:56 PM
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That's a very expensive area, most locals can't afford to live there, so I would be surprised if there are tons of places being rented to tourists.
Since there are so few, you can understand why someone can set the terms they want. I think you are not making practical decisions, trip insurance for a few days won't be that expensive. Sounds like you think you may cancel, why don't you just stay in a hotel? There are plenty of them and you won't have these problems. Aren't you going to be out and about doing things, and eating out anyway? Then you wn't have cancellation problems so much.
Since there are so few, you can understand why someone can set the terms they want. I think you are not making practical decisions, trip insurance for a few days won't be that expensive. Sounds like you think you may cancel, why don't you just stay in a hotel? There are plenty of them and you won't have these problems. Aren't you going to be out and about doing things, and eating out anyway? Then you wn't have cancellation problems so much.
Aug 30th, 2014, 06:35 PM
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We are considering different possibilities. There are a few elderly people in the family, so one never knows when an emergency may arise. Originally we thought we stay in the Dupont Circle area because it is cheaper, but as noted above one of the travelers has trouble with ambulation.
Sep 1st, 2014, 03:47 AM
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IMDonehere, sorry if I sidetracked your apt search in DC!
You've probably already thought about this, but due to the nature of "business" in DC there are a lot of short term corporate apartment rentals there. One property I know of, The Landsburgh, does them directly, and they are located right at 6th and Pennsylvania NW. But there are also a number of agencies that handle short term business rentals as well, and if you search for short term corporate apartment rentals in DC you'll come up with a fairly long list. The only kick is, whether their concept of short term is the same as yours.
You probably already know this too, but just about all of the metro stations in DC have elevators & escalators, so you could stay outside of the East End (or Penn Qtr as they're calling it now) & still have pretty good accessibility to the Mall via metro. Dupont Circle, as you mentioned, is nice, but there are lots of apartment buildings farther up Connecticut toward the Woodley Park & Cleveland Park metros, also over in the West End near Foggy Bottom metro, going up 14th Street near the U Street and Columbia Heights stations, and in Capitol Hill/Southeast around Eastern Market. All of those areas are very nice (though U St & Columbia Heights might be a bit more oriented to the under 40 crowd). I especially like Cleveland Park, though it's not downtown. Even down around the Nats ballpark in Southeast (Capital Riverfront) around the M Street metro is really developing nicely.
You might also be able to convince your party that there are a couple of hotels that would be worth considering, like the W at 15th & F, which has a rooftop deck with a view of the White House. Somebody also mentioned hotels that used to be apartment buildings - Washington Plaza is one of them, technically in the East End, but all the way up at 14th & Mass. They do have some suites, though I don't know if they're especially unusual.
You've probably already thought about this, but due to the nature of "business" in DC there are a lot of short term corporate apartment rentals there. One property I know of, The Landsburgh, does them directly, and they are located right at 6th and Pennsylvania NW. But there are also a number of agencies that handle short term business rentals as well, and if you search for short term corporate apartment rentals in DC you'll come up with a fairly long list. The only kick is, whether their concept of short term is the same as yours.
You probably already know this too, but just about all of the metro stations in DC have elevators & escalators, so you could stay outside of the East End (or Penn Qtr as they're calling it now) & still have pretty good accessibility to the Mall via metro. Dupont Circle, as you mentioned, is nice, but there are lots of apartment buildings farther up Connecticut toward the Woodley Park & Cleveland Park metros, also over in the West End near Foggy Bottom metro, going up 14th Street near the U Street and Columbia Heights stations, and in Capitol Hill/Southeast around Eastern Market. All of those areas are very nice (though U St & Columbia Heights might be a bit more oriented to the under 40 crowd). I especially like Cleveland Park, though it's not downtown. Even down around the Nats ballpark in Southeast (Capital Riverfront) around the M Street metro is really developing nicely.
You might also be able to convince your party that there are a couple of hotels that would be worth considering, like the W at 15th & F, which has a rooftop deck with a view of the White House. Somebody also mentioned hotels that used to be apartment buildings - Washington Plaza is one of them, technically in the East End, but all the way up at 14th & Mass. They do have some suites, though I don't know if they're especially unusual.
