Have only done fly in day trips the past few. I thought other's experience with good location lodging would be of benefit.

Where have people stayed, without their own transportation near Metro Stations??

Hotels via Priceline for Dupont Circle.

Are you looking for budget lodging, BudgetQueen? If so, a lot depends on the time of year and days of the week. Although we live close enough to do day trips to DC, we like to spend the night downtown and get our city fix once in a while. I usually search the downtown or Dupont Circle locations on Expedia and Travelocity, then I call the hotel directly. Two weekends ago, we got a room at a very nice hotel, the Grand Hyatt, for $89. I doubt if you could get a rate like that any other time of year.

If you can't find anything reasonable in DC, you can look at the surrounding areas in VA and MD. Just be sure to check out the reviews on TripAdvisor before you commit to anything.

Just noticed the title of your post. Well, yeah duh, I guess you are looking for budget accommodations.

Right IN town are the Red Roof Inn and the Harrington. I've stayed at the Roof and some friends stayed at Harrington last fall and reported that it was satisfactory.

I've stayed many times at hotels in the Rosslyn Metro station area of Arlington .. not too far a ride into town and big savings compared to DC.

Comfort Inns of both Landmark and VanDorn have free shuttle to Metro, bus service to Landmark runs later than the hotel shuttle, and it's walkable from CI VanDorn to the station.

Several hotels in Springfield have free shuttle to tht station.

Stayed once at a Days Inn Camp Springs but did not like it. Have also stayed at Red Roof in Alexandria and a Quality Inn on same road (US1) and used local bus to get to Huntington Station.

Find hotels close to Metro Stations by using the website http://stationmasters.com
(maybe it's a .org but I think it's a .com )

The Hyatt Arlington is not budget, but has rates as low as $69 weekends and is across the street from Rosslyn Metro.

We once rented a small Enterprise car from an off-airport location ("we'll pick you up!") just to stay at a hotel too far from a station to walk .. the car cost us $33 for 3 days and saved us a bundle in hotel charges. I'd rather be cheap and travel frequently then spend a lot and seldom travel.

I strongly suggest Tabard Inn.

http://www.tabardinn.com/index.htm

Rooms start at $113 and average $150 (each room is unique and is priced diferently).

The room price is the room price - it doesn't change by season or if there is a popular event in town.

It's a few blocks to Dupont Metro, has excellent food, is in a good area, and guests have free access to the YMCA (including olympic size pool) 1/2 block away.

Current reports on biddingfortravel.com indicate that bidders on Priceline are getting 4* hotels in DC for under $100. So IMHO it makes no sense to stay far out of town for the same price.

In the first reply above, yk suggested bidding for a hotel in the Dupont zone, but hotels in the other in-town Priceline zones will also provide easy access to attractions and Metro stations.