D.C. safe and not safe areas hotels?
 

Hi, I'll be visiting D.C. for a few days in March. I'm still trying to decide between law schools and will be taking this opportunity to explore the area around Georgetown and GWU. Can someone tell me which areas of D.C. are the safest to the not so safe? I've heard both schools aren't in the best areas, for example, but I really have no idea.

Also, what is the best place to get deals on hotels? I'm a college student on a budget and not very picky. I mean roaches would be nice to avoid, but other than that... ;-)

Thanks!
:-)

It really depends on what you are comfortable with, and what your background is. If you come from a very quiet, rural area, the whole city is probably more intense than you are used to.

That said, both Georgetown and GWU are in very safe areas. Occasional street crimes occur in these areas (maybe a bit more often at GWU) but both areas are safe by any urban standard.

Both areas are really pretty safe, they are in the city but both in pretty good areas. I would feel safe walking around either, day or night. The Georgetown area has more to do and see, especially at night but is probably a little pricier.

Thank you so much. :-)

I'm not a rural girl, just ignorant of D.C. :-) I hail from Cleveland, and had heard of various areas in D.C. that were supposedly safer than others.

If I were to go exploring beyond these areas, any suggestions about places to avoid?

:-)

Thanks so much again!

Georgetown law school is NOT on the main campus in Georgetown, it is on the border of Northwest and Northeast Washington near Union Station. (Some of the main DC and federal courts are there.) Northeast DC and that part of Northwest has some very dodgy neighborhoods. However, you can get to the law school by walking from the metro at Union Station, so you don't need to stay near the school. GW is in the Foggy Bottom area, which is generally safe, interesting that you heard it was not in a safe area.

I would suggest you stay in Foggy Bottom area as there is more to see and do during the day and night (although Georgetown law is not far from the Capitol, but definitely not as safe at night.) I would use priceline or hotwire and use Foggy Bottom as your area and you should come up with good prices, esp on weekends as the area is more of a business area. You might also contact GW to ask if they have a place to put up potential students.

If you go end up going to Georgetown (which is the superior school to GW, no offense intended to GW) you could live in other parts of DC or the suburbs and get to classes by subway easily.

You might want to check out Dupont Circle as a place to stay. The red line of the metro goes from Dupont Circle to Union Station without a transfer so you could use that to get to G'town law school and you could walk to GW's law school. If you stay in the Foggy Bottom area, you'll have to transfer metro lines at Metro Center, not undoable but I prefer to skip it if I can. As Cicerone said, the G'town law school in not on the main campus. There's lots of places to eat in the Dupont Circle area and lots of folks on the street at night.