We're doing a family trip to DC and want to see the usual monuments and museums. We will be using the metro and I wanted opinions on the most convenient area to stay. I'm thinking the DuPont Circle area. The last time I was in DC was five years ago to attend a meeting at the Smithsonian so I stayed at the L' Enfant. I liked it but as I recall, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that's about all that hotel was close to.
Thanks for you help.

My family (2 adults, children 6 and 12) enjoyed the Penn Square area; specifically we stayed at Hotel Monaco. This location is convenient to Metro, some excellent restaurants, museums, and the Mall (walking distance). Dupont Circle area was our second choice, and I really preferred Penn Square when we compared the two areas. I was raised in the D.C. suburbs and have to say I enjoyed my visit much more as a tourist than as a resident of the area.

Last June, we stayed in Alexanderia at the Embassy Suites. It is just across the street from the Metro Station and close enough to "old town" to be very enjoyable.

Metro ride to the Mall was about a 20 min trip.

We stayed at Jury's Washington Hotel on Dupont Circle in October and we were very pleased with it. It was central to the metro and a nice area for walking. There's a restaurant and a bar in the hotel, a big pharmacy nearby, a great bookstore/restaurant (Kravitz?) out the back door and the ever-present Starbucks. That's pretty much all I needed. The room was reasonably sized and clean as was the bathroom and the amenties were very nice. I think we paid $179 a night.

http://www.juryswashingtondc.com/washington_hotel.htm

There's an Embassy Suites near Dupont, which I think is a good option for families (there are actually 3 or 4 Embassy Suites which could work for you, but I think that's probably the best location of them).