Hello DC Experts - We are planning a 5 day DC trip in June - two adults, 2 kids between 10 and 14. Will use Priceline to book - I was thinking it would probably be more economical (think parking charge!)to stay in one of the suburban hotels and take the Metro in to see the sights - we'd probably use the Metro anyway if we stayed within the city. We'd also have a better chance of having a pool to dip in. Does this make sense? And which of the PRiceline areas do you recommend - Arlington and/or Crystal City and/or Alexandria Pentagon - or other? Thanks for your tips!!

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You may be right about a pool, but the different suburban areas are, well, different from each other, and the parking at the Metro may or may not be readily available -- I don't know how you can control for this with Priceline. I'd avoid Crystal City no matter what. Rosslyn/Courthouse and Alexandria-King St. are two quite acceptable possibilities.

If you can at all afford to, you'll have a much better time staying in the city. The best "Priceline" area in the city to try for is "Dupont Circle". There are many post on this board from people getting prime hotel locations in Dupont for under $100/night. There is a reason these hotels cost more than suburban locations - location, location, location.

We did a D.C. trip in June several years ago and had a good time.
We stayed in Arlinngton and used the Metro for everthing except a day trip to Harpers Ferry.
A car is just not needed and may slow you down(IMO).
You can buy a week pass on the metro,I think it was around $18.00 ea.
Cant remember our hotel but It was about a block from the metro station and
an easy walk,
Our hotel had a good size room with balcony, pool the kids loved. It was around $80 a nite

If you're close to the Metro, you're close to everything. If your kids were a little older, where they'd be wanting to explore on their own, I'd recommend something like Dupont too, or if they were younger, where you might need to make some trips back to the room during the day, I'd suggest closer to town. I like the Rosslyn area, have stayed several times at QualityInn IwoJima, but I find Crystal City about the same. Alexandria/King St is nice, expecially for nighttime strolling. We also purchased the 7 day "short trip" pass, which was good during all Metro hours, but only covered the first $1.70 (?) of the fare during peak times; you'd have to pay cash for any additional fare, if any (we never had to). The visitor pass is not valid before 9:30 on weekdays.