Maxine

I am considering going to Washington DC for a 4 day weekend. What are some recommended budget hotels in safe areas? We have not decided whether we should drive to DC, or take the Amtrak (I'm coming from NJ). Are there any hotels with free parking, or will we have to pay a fee to park our car? Is Georgetown a convenient place to stay (in terms of getting to the tourist sites)? I've been to Georgetown for dinner a few years ago and loved it there. Thanks for your advice!

Christina

I have never heard of any hotel in the city that offers free parking; I seriously doubt it, if they did, it wouldn't be free anyway, you'd pay for it in the rate as real estate and parking is very expensive in the city. I'm not sure of current daily garage rates as I haven't parked all day for a long time in the city, but I'd guess about $12-20. The few hotels with large parking lots I'm thinking of which possibly could have it "free" (but I don't think they do) are not budget hotels, anyway (ie, large hotels in Woodley Park like the Omni Shoreham). You can get free parking in the suburbs. I don't know what your idea of budget is, but if it's the Days Inn level, I might suggest the Quality Inn Courthouse (Arlington VA) as it has free parking but is also close to a metro station and that's very close to the city and there are restaurants and stuff around there, also. There is a real cheap-looking Days Inn motel on Route 50 at Fort Myers in Arlington that also has free parking, it is not far from the city by driving, but it's just on a major street and there's nothing around it and it's not close to a metro stop. I'm sure there are others in that type of bracket in the suburbs. Georgetown is not convenient for tourism as there is no metro stop there; it's a very expensive part of DC and you won't find any cheap hotels there, anyway, that I know of. You might get better suggestions if you specified what your range for a budget hotel is.

Maxine

Thanks Christina! My range would be under $100. Would you know of any good deals on hotels (current promotions, or 1/2 price cards, etc...)? Based on what I am reading, I think it would be best for us to take the Amtrak train over to DC because we wouldn't be able to drive anywhere anyway, since we are only sightseeing. I would be interested in staying within DC. But I am curious to know, how far is it to take the train from Arlington, VA, to go into the center of DC? Do you recommend any budget hotels in hip, fun areas? Thanks.

syd

We just stayed at the Embassy Suites in Alexandria and highly reccommend it. It is new and they have a Winter/Spring Family special for weekends up until the end of April for $129 a night. With the free drinks at the manager's reception, shuttle within a 2 mi radius, and free breakfast; I think it is very economical. They do charge $12 a night to park your car but the hotel is right accross the street from the Amtrack Station and the Metro station so we are thinking of taking the train next time also. I didn't feel we were too far out. Metro is very easy to use and quick. Good Luck and have fun.

Christina

Maxine, less than $100 in Washington is very difficult, even the budget chain hotels, like HOliday Inn, I think are routinely more like $125-150. These are my best suggestions to you at the lowest budget in decent locations: 1) the Quality Hotel Arlington Courthouse would be a good deal in the suburbs, it is only about 10 minutes from DC by metro, it's just across the river (there rates are $99-119). Within the city, you can find a place in your best if you're willing to go with a B&B (not one of those fancy B&B's either), the Kalorama Guest House has rooms between $65-105 for a double, even less if you will share a bath. It is nice for that level of place (www.bestinns.net/stateindex/dc.html will give you info). They have two facilities, both in pretty good popular areas of DC, but if you really want hip, pick the one on Mintwood Place in Adams-Morgan, it would be perfect. That is a very hip, fun area, plenty of good restaurants, bars, younger crowd and that is about the only "hotel" in that area. If you like its description, I'd pick it. Most other budget-y type hotels in DC run more like $125-150, as I said. You could also consider the Tabard Inn (www.tabardinn.com) with doubles $105-170, really a wide variety of rooms with varying quality, some do not have private baths at low inn. It's near Farrugut North metro and a fairly convenient location, but not really a hip fun area itself IMO, I'd go with Kalorama Guest House, but it's an option. Another budget place in Foggy Bottom is the GWU Inn (www.gwuinn.com), near GWU, of course. It is not glamorous, but perfectly ok and has rates of only $89 on a special spring weekend deal (F and Sat only thru March) and they do have a parking rate deal also, reduced from $15 to only $8 with that package (but I would take train if you stay in city). It's in Foggy Bottom which is a nice area, easy to get around and close to things for tourism; it won't be as fun and hip as Adams-Morgan, but it's not bad and has good metro connections. The other budget place that is in a funner hipper area (Dupont Circle) is the Carlyle Suites, their rates are only $109-129. You can get some budget choices on www.dcaccommodations.com, I think it's pretty good--you can view Carlyle Suites, the Quality Hotel Arlington and some others on there. Other than the ones I mentioned, other hotels are their site that are a little more like $125 but in good areas are the Normandy Inn (also near Dupont and Adams-Morgan) and Capitol Hill Suites.

Harriett

I got a rate of $129 (with AAA discount) for the Carlyle this coming weekend. We've also stayed at the St James Suites (walking distance to Georgetown) for the same price, but that rate wasn't available for this trip; the Metro is only a short couple of blocks away. BTW, the Carlyle accepts pets, something that I found very surprising! You might also want to check with hoteldiscounts.com when you have definite dates in mind; I've used them a couple of times and they come up with competitive rates, but you must pay in advance.

Beverly

Try River Inn in Foggy Bottom. They still quoted $99 weekend rate this past weekend and they have parking available. Last time I stayed there I was able to find street parking. It is near the metro, Kennedy Center, and walking distance to Georgetown. Also, Donatello's restaurant around the corner was very good. Just stayed in Georgetown Suites this weekend for $145/nt plus $15 parking/in&out all day. River Inn is furnished more traditionally, Georgetown Suites 70s contemporary. Both are suites with kitchens, clean, safe, friendly, and have complimentary continental breakfast. Georgetown was right off M Street for great shopping and restaurants in town. Loved it there, too. Cabs are easy to get here or if you like to walk, Foggy Bottom Metro is not too far I think. Watch the DC hotel ads in the Travel section of Sunday NY Times for weekend deals but watch out for the locations. The two above are safe bets. I was very comfortable staying there.