Hi everyone,

I am looking for cheap overnight parking that is close to a metrorail station. My hotel is Sheraton National at Arlington and has very $$$$ valet parking that I want to avoid. I am traveling with 2 young children. I tried to figure out Metrorail site but it is still unclear which station has overnight parking...help leaving 6/27/07

The problem is that the Sheraton National isn't near a Metro station and the nearby Metro stations--Pentagon City and Crystal City--don't have overnight parking. With two kids, I wouldn't want tne hassle of tromping all over with my lugage and kids just to save a few bucks.

There is some street parking near the hotel.

Any street parking is probably limited and/or metered during the day. A person new to DC is well advised to stay out of the street spaces on main roads. If you use them, read the signs very carefully. You do not want to get towed!

I think there's only a couple metro stations in the entire system that allow overnight parking, so if they aren't near you, it doesn't matter. There are various private lots that may be close to a metro station, but what's your idea of cheap? I'm not clear what you are intending to do or how that would help because your hotel isn't near a metro station, as Mike says.

What exactly are you planning to do on the metro, and how? It appears your hotel has free shuttle service to lots of locations, like the airport and the mall, and Crystal City. YOu could park at the airport, actually, at least they do have overnight parking and it's not too expensive at all (maybe $10 a day). Your hotel is probably closest to the Pentagon City metro stop, and there is a large mall there with parking. I think they allow overnight, but you'd have to check. That's more than the airport, $16 for 24 hrs. The airport may be as cheap as you get around there, but it isn't going to be convenient to park away from your hotel with two young children.

How much exactly is the parking at the Sheraton? If it's less than $20 a day, I'd do that. Some hotels have valet parking but that doesn't mean it's some ritzy thing, they just have limited space and need parkers to get the cars in and out.

I just called the Sheraton and they said it was only $16 a day there, just like the mall. That isn't that expensive in a big city, I think you are maybe expecting too much.

I suppose you could park in the garage at nearby Fashion Center which has a Metro stop. I do not know how much it would cost for you to park there for 24 hours, hopwever.

There are a couple of shopping centers (strip mall type) down Columbia Pike from your hotel but I don't know how safe or advisable it would be to leave your car there overnight.

If you just want free parking and are not set on your hotel, you should try the Comfort Inn Balliston in Arlington. I've stayed there twice and its close to a metro with free parking, but last week I stayed in Alexandria and I paid $15.00 for parking.

Perhaps it wasn't clear, but I said in my post that it was $16 to park for 24 hrs in the Pentagon City Fashion Centre lot. So that's no different than the hotel itself, and a lot less convenient. I think the OP just doesn't realize what parking costs in a big city and must be calling $16 as $$$$, which it isn't in DC.