I helped my pastor and his wife book airline tickets to Quantico to see their son graduate from Marine Officer's Training School. They are so proud of him and were really looking forward to the trip. Monday she was diagnosed with bone cancer with a dire prognosis and is quickly becoming wheelchair-bound. They still want to make the trip. We want to treat them to an extra special hotel that is handicap accessible but not too far from Quantico. The only three to four star accomodation I can find on the web is in Washington DC. 25-30 miles away. Taking traffic into account is this too far away? It would also be helpful if there were a chair recliner in the room for her. Is it possible to find such accomodations? They are going next week, so I need to move fast. Someone mentioned that the Mandarin Oriental is offering buy one, get one night free. Would that be a good option?

Topping, hoping for some advice.

It's been five years since worked in that area so things could have changed.
The hotels outside the base are far from being extra special.

Garrisonville, about seven niles south was starting to grow at that time so you might try hotels, Garrisonville VA in your search engine. Other than that, consider Fredericksburg about a half hour south with less traffic than the DC area.

Maggi: What day of the week and what time is the ceremony? That will partly determine if they can get from D.C. area to Quantico, as that southbound drive on Hwy 395/95 depends on time of day re traffic. WIthout traffic, in midday (or in morning, as they woudl be driving away from DC and in other direction from traffic) it is about 35 min. to Quantico; w/traffic later in afternoon it is awful and not worth it.
What about Fredricksburg VA. area? That is a bit south of Quantico but I think it would work also. The nicer hotels there are smaller Inns though, and may not be handicapped accessible. Can anyone else help Maggi w/nicer Frericksburg area hotels?
Mandarin Oriental that you mentioned is a wonderful new hotel (down by the DC waterfront, I beleive); some colleagues of mine went there for drinks and looked at a room and said it was fabulous. If you tell us what time of day and what day of the week the ceremony is, we can help you from there. You'd likely have to call whatever hotels are recommended to find out about handicapped facility.

ttt

I did some looking (bacause I actually am planning a Fredricksburg weekend w/my husband soon) and I don't think anythignin Fredricksburg will fit your criteria of 3 to 4 stars and have the handicap accomodation you need. Best to try DC or even the side of Richmand towards Quantico if need be. AMndarin Oriental would be right on the Potomac River, easily accessible to the HWY to get out over the Potomac (the 14th St bridge). You'll have to find out their handicap status. One other thought is the Ritz Carlton at Pentagon City, or even better, the one at Tyson's COrner VA. The Pentagon City Ritz is very nice, attached to a nice big mall (w/Nordstroms, Macys, etc.); it is just over the Potomac River from DC in VA, easily accessible to 95S going to Qunatico. The one at Tyson's is about as far from Quantico, but it is around the beltway a bit, they woudl just get on the beltway and go roudn about 10 miles to catch 95S. About the same distance. Both are great and have EXCELLENT club levels if you can afford a room on that level (free exquisite breakfast, not a regular hotel breakfast, but neat things the chef makes up) and afternoon/evening appetizers, cocktails, wine- it is very worth it, great to relax in and the concierge's who are assigned to those clubs are at your service if you aare on those floors.
The Ritz are much more realible than mandarin Oriental IMO. Mandarin is brand new, and i heard today that their occupancy is low and they have let go 1/8 of their staff. Ritz has a proven track record- no worries there about getting the kinks out or service.
But, Maggi, we have not heard from you yet about day and time of drive to Quantico. Need that info to help more.

The Ritz is a great suggestion as it would give them a much more luxurious stay. However, if she's become quite wheelchair bound she might also tire quickly and prefer to be much closer to Quantico. There is a Ramada Inn in quantico that is wheelchair accessible and is possibily one of the few in the area that is.

I'm really just trying to offer lodging that would be close by in case the woman becomes tired and needs a rest.

Good luck with it and God bless them.

P.S. the news I heard about Mandarin Oriental letting go 1/8 of their staff was on WTOP, the all news radio station in D.C. area.

This is weird, I posted a reply last night and it has disappeared! Here we go again...Thanks for all your kind and helpful replies so far. The Ritz does sound like a better option in light of the cutbacks at the MO. I don't know yet what time the ceremonies are, but it's true that she might not be up to adding a possibly long drive onto her sitting through the festivities. She does tire very quickly these days. Thanks again!

You are incorrect. A friend of mine works at the Mandarin and they only laid off 40 staff (out of about 550) for the summer, only. They will hire them back in the fall. This isn't usual for DC in the summer. It just got news because the hotel is the newest and the best. It was just voted best luxury hotel in DC by the washingtonpost.com readers. Beat the Ritz and the Willard (2nd & 3rd, respectively).

I support emd's recommendation of the Ritz-Carltons in either Pentagon City (part of Arlington, Virginia) or Tysons Corner, Virginia, if it is important that the hotel be truly special. These are hotels which are in the class of the very best DC hotels, but the drive time to Quantico would almost certainly be less than any DC hotel, possibly substantially less. These would be the closest hotels in that top bracket class to Quantico that I can think of.

Of course, if it is more important that the hotel be very close to Quantico than that it be truly special and luxurious, I think there are a number of good middle bracket chain hotels that would be closer than these Ritz's.

Is she flying? Quite possibly, she would most appreciate the opportunity to rest just after and just before her flights, especially if she was not planning to make repeated trips between her hotel and Quantico. If her flights use Reagan National airport (DCA), the Pentagon City Ritz is nearby and would be particularly indicated. If she is using Dulles airport (IAD), you might want to consider the Westfields Marriott Resort in Chantilly. This rather secluded, old Virginia country estate style hotel is only ten minutes from the airport and is much more luxurious than the average Marriott. It seems to be comparatively little known, but has truly spectacular public areas, very plush rooms and is one of the most special upscale accommodations in the Washington area. As the crow flies, it is farther from Quantico than the other places being discussed, but since you could drive to Quantico from there totally on highways (it's very near an I-66 onramp) without getting very close to DC, actual travel time might be comparable or better.

Johncharles and everyone else, thank you for your replies. I'm sure this will be useful information for someone else with a similar dilemma.

Unfortunately, our dear friend passed away three weeks ago. She was a young (45) woman with an 8 year old at home. Thankfully, they were able to see their son graduate from officer's training in July. He is a fine young man and made them proud. She was very ill on the plane and I am grateful they were able to stay on base in the officer's quarters.