Hi,
We will be in DC in July and are looking for the best, centrally located hotel. Our kids are teenagers and so they get bored in some of the business style hotels we usually frequent. Anything very funky and upscale?
Also, any tips on the best things to do with teenagers, besides the obvious, would be greatly appreciated!

I don't have kids, but I'm pretty sure that Hotel Monaco will fit the bill. It's centrally located, right near the Metro, beside the Spy Museum and the Museum of American Art. It's in the old post office building, and it's really nice. They also give you a goldfish upon check-in.

Hotel Monaco is a great location. The Penn Quarter is a fun area to wander, shop, eat, and drink.

They might enjoy bowling at Lucky Strike.

http://www.bowlluckystrike.com/

And they may also enjoy wandering around Eastern Market.

I'll 3rd the Monaco, including tales about its days as a Civil War hospital and tales it being haunted.

Thank you all for your advice. I will absolutely check out the Monaco!

I am in a similar situation to azh111. I'll be spending one week in DC with a 16 year old. We tend to like places where there's stuff going on at night (love NYC, stayed near Times Square in a small hotel, Radio City Apts, same in Paris, stayed in a small hotel near the St. Paul metro stop). I found both those places by reading through posts here (thank you!) I have been debating about which hotel for DC, between the Courtyard by Marriott/Navy Yard, L'Enfant Plaza, River Inn and Jurys Washington Hotel. Jury's and L'Enfant have about the same price for 7 nights in August ($140) but I'd have to pre-pay Jurys. I'm not sure how important a pool will be. Between the Courtyard & L'Enfant, which is the most "alive" in the evening? And between, say, Jurys & River Inn, which area is more fun? Another question I have is around internet access. Many of the sites talk about public area access, some say in room, and some say different things in different places I have e-mailed the hotels for clarification, but if anyone knows what's up with that, please clue me in.
We're not interested in staying outside the city as we like to have the option of coming back to the room during the day if we get wiped out. Right now I plan on day trips to Mt. Vernon, via the cruise; Old Alexandria and possibly Baltimore. The other days just checking out the D.C. sights (Spy Museum, modern art, etc.); hoping to get tix to Capitol Steps, etc.

Between the Courtyard & L'Enfant, which is the most "alive" in the evening? And between, say, Jurys & River Inn, which area is more fun?

As for Courtyard vs. L'Enfant: the answer is neither, although there will be plenty of baseball fans in the Marriott bar if there's a Nats' game.

That Marriott is brand-new, but there's little else there other than the new stadium. As for L'Enfant, there's another strong that details the area. Dominated by govt. offices and the sideways roll up at 5.

As for Jury's vs. River Inn. I'm partial to Jury's right in Dupont Circle, but River Inn is walkable to Georgetown. Both options are better than your first two.

Oops, meant there's another "string" that details the area. Nice hotel, but office-dominated location leaves a lot to be desired.

Jury's is in a great location a Dupont Circle. River Inn a bit less so, but it is close to Foggy Bottom/GWU metro and walking distance to Georgetown. Other advantage of River Inn is larger rooms and kitchen facilities.

Thanks repete & Seamus. I had read through a bunch of posts and was iffy on L'Enfant, but the pool was swaying me. I asked my daughter what was more important (our destination is a surprise to her...our annual vacations are usually a surprise until we've left the house) and she said the vibrancy in the evening was more important than a pool. Of course her first question was "will it be NC hot (we live in NC) or will it be Savannah hot (we once went in July to Savannah). My guess is that it's pretty much "NC hot" which is ok. In case you're wondering why we went to Savannah in July, my thinking was well, it can't be worse that NC. HA! I thought I knew what humiditiy was Live & learn. It was still a great trip.
In DC, I'll probably go with Jurys; it's the pre-payment that bothers me, even though I don't see any reason our plans would change. The Dupont Circle area certainly seems to be popular from a "city feel" standpoint and it's definitely the lowest price of the Dupont Circle area places.