Traveling with 10 yr and 15 yr olds. Second trip to Washington DC. First trip stayed at Embassy Suites Embassy Row. Hotel was fine but not near metro or restaurants. How is Crystal City Embassy Suites? Kids really enjoy an indoor pool. Will be travelling over Xmas vacation. Love the Metro system! Any discussion or experiences would be appreciated. Any Dupont Circle hotels that would fit our bill? or Georgetown?

We've stayed at the Crystal City ES, and were disappointed at the hike to the Metro; they even offered a shuttle. Dupont Circle and Georgetown offer much more of interest (shoping, restaurants) than CS, which has improved over the years but is still principally an office park. IIRC, the pool at the ES in CS was very small.

Thank you for such a quick reply. The web sites state it is a one to two block walk to Metro Station. At the Embassy Suites/Embassy Row it was a good 4 to 5 block walk. Was there any restaurants within walking distance? We got a great rate of 89.00 per night which made it attractive to us vs. 190.00 at the ES/Embassy Row.

I believe the Embassy Suites in Alexandria is right across the street from a metro stop. I haven't stayed there but others on this forum have mentioned it favorably.

I think the Dupont Circle area is a great location to stay for a trip to Washington DC.

I stayed at the Radisson Barcelo which was very close to the Dupont Circle metro station. I thought the location was perfect. How many of you are there altogether? If 3, a room there should be easily big enough for you. The hotel is reported to have the largest hotel rooms in DC although I can't vouch for the actual truth of that.

If you stay in Georgetown, you may find that you are a fair walk to a metro station so you want to check the exact location of a hotel in this area carefully.

Another possibility -- the Embassy Suites Chevy Chase is right on top of the Red Line. It's a much nicer area than Crystal City.

Shopping and dining are close. It's not Dupont or Georgetown, but a lovely area and a relatively quick trip into downtown.

The Radisson Barcelo is now a different hotel with new owners and has been (is still being?) renovated. It is new called something else (The Dupont Hotel???).

At any rate, even a Dupont hotel 4-5 blocks from the Metro is infinately more convenient than one that is one block from the King street Metro in Alexandria. But I suggest you look at one of the dozen Dupont hotels with 1-3 blocks of the Dupont Metro.

We just returned from DC today and we stayed at the Marriott Crystal City and it was perfect. We stayed Thursday - Sunday for $139.00 a night including a really nice breakfast for all four of us. They have an indoor pool although they will NOT let anyone under 18 in the hot tub. The hotel sits atop the Crystal City Mall (a commuters mall where shops generally close at 6pm) but that has some places to open until 9pm. Better yet, it also sits atop the Metro stop of the same name on the red line. No need to venture outside to catch the train. They do have jr. suites but you may do better getting two rooms if space is a concern. I, too, usually like to stay at an ES but it just wouldn't have worked for us this time. Too far from the Metro. Hope this helps.

If you want to stay at an ES on the Red Line, you ought to consider the Chevy Chase Pavilion ES. The hotel is directly above the station.

http://www.embassysuitesdcmetro.com/.../services.html

The area is far nicer than Crystal City. Better dining and more upscale shopping, i.e. Nieman-Marcus, Tiffany, and it's in a real neighborhood, where going outside (even in December) is a pleasure and need not to be avoided. If you want things to do before or after touring, it's a much nicer option than Crystal City, which is charm-challenged.

Crystal City, BTW, is on the yellow and blue lines not the red.