DC Hotel Help--Have searched this forum endlessly
 

I have read about all these hotels until my eyes hurt. Can someone please shed some light? I am planning a trip in July with my seven year old son to DC. We want to see the Natural History, Air & Space, Zoo, and do some type of tourmobile. We get up early and like to be back at the hotel by 7:00p range to go swimming in an OUTDOOR pool. We are from FL and indoor pools creep me out. I want to keep it under $200 a night, easy parking (I know I will have to pay, but I don't want to stress about availability). I would like to be close to a metro stop. I am completely clueless when it comes to what part of DC I should be looking at. Any help?? The L'enfant looks nice, but I read everything shuts down at the end of the business day. Does that mean it will be scary if we are walking back at night?

Sorry I can't give you specific suggestion, but Travelocity has an advanced search option that lets you check amenities desired, star rating - so you get a more manageable list of options rather than a million hotels. If you can't get a good response here, you might try that site.

holiday inn on the hill has a rooftop outdoor pool. this is near union station (you can walk to union station from the hotel) the mall is walkable but it is a little bit of a hike because you are at the far end near the capitol. google advance search: washington d.c. lodging, "outdoor pool"

L'Enfant isn't scary, just a little boring.

We've had friends who've stayed at the HI with the rooftoop pool and loved it. But I haven't seen it inside personally.

i second holiday inn on the hill. the neighborhood is fine, but if i were heading back there at night (and i have, we've stayed there for college reunions a lot) i'd take a taxi as opposed to walking.

Unfortunately for you, most of the better hotels will have indoor pools as winter guests demand them....if you can deal with a nice indoor pool then look at Key Bridge Holiday Inn in Arlington/Rosslyn. The metro is a block away and you take the world's longest escalator to get to it...the metro rides will be one of the highlights of the trip for a 7-yr old!

A minor clarification, the escalator tracy2cents mentions isn't even the longest in the washington metro system -- much less the world. Wheaton is easily the longest and is regarded as the longest in the Western hemisphere.

When are kids were younger, we stayed at the L'Enfant and it worked out perfectly. They used the outdoor pool during the hot part of the day and we did touring stuff in the morning and in the evening. The metro connects right under the hotel so that was never a problem wondering around in the evening. Yes, it is a little out of the way, but nothing to worry about. It was a nice hotel when I was there and we had a balcony with a nice view as just part of the "standard" room price.

If the pool is a priority, you might want to consider two hotels in Woodley Park, the Omni Shoreham and the Marriott Wardman Park, both of which have outdoor pools. I've never stayed in either, so you might want to check tripadvisor for reports on the rooms, etc. I used to belong to the Omni Shoreham's pool, but then they closed it to make it fancier to attract hotel guests, so I imagine it's really nice. The hotel and pool are situated above Rock Creek Park, so it's a lovely spot. It's been years since I've seen the Marriott's pool, but I thought it wasn't quite as nice. Many here will say this area is too remote from the tourist attractions. It's true that it's not within walking distance of any of your destinations other than the zoo, but both hotels are close to the Woodley Park metro stop (the Marriott is closer). Also, the Old Town Trolley picks up right nearby (or at least it used to). I don't know how the Trolley compares to the Tourmobile for your purposes. This is a primarily residential neighborhood, but with a number of restaurants and shops. If being within walking distance or a five minute cab ride of the monuments is a priority, these hotels would not fit the bill, but if retiring to a nice pool at the end of the day is a priority, you might want to take a look.

Thank you for all of your advice. It seems crazy that a pool in Washington is a priority, but I know it will help me keep my sanity if he can jump in after a day of sightseeing and I can kick back and breathe. I will investigate all of your suggestions. Is the "trolley" better than the tourmobile or are we talking apples and oranges? I want to be able to see some of the major monuments (get off and go look at them) without a ton of walking. My sons good behaviour skills has their limitations when he is hot and tired :)

My parents took the Old Town Trolley once and liked it, but I can't compare it to the Tourmobile, which no one I know has taken. The Washington Post has a page describing the various tour options (I'm going to chop this up because I don't know how to prevent a long url from making the post impossible to read -- you'll have to piece it together to get to the site):
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/travel/
visitorsguide/features/guidedtours.html

Also, check out this fodors thread about the two services:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/
threadselect.jsp?fid=1&tid=34593816

One thing to be careful about: Old Town Trolley packages are generally ``one continuous loop'' while Tourmobile is usually a full-day on-and-off without that restriction.

If you're concentrating on the mall/museums/mmemorials stretch, Tourmobile often works better. If you're looking into various neighborhoods, trolley covers more ground.

Folks here have had good and bad experiences on each service.

repete -- do you mean you can't get off and on the trolley? I'm almost certain my parents did that, and this is on the trolley's website:

*On and Off - Tour at your own pace!
As you tour the nation’s capital you will have the opportunity to get off the trolley and visit memorials, museums, and historical points of interest; as well as opportunities for shopping and dining throughout the city. When you're ready, just re-board and it's on with the tour. Trolleys will come by each stop at least every 30 minutes. Your Boarding Pass is your ticket to rejoin the tour at any designated stop.

My bias is in favor of Tourmobile, which is run by the U.S. Park Service. The Trolley is private and, while it goes more places, I'd rather not be riding somethnig with a Hooter's ad on it.

Doriana,
While it might not be enforced in the low/shoulder seasons -- once you have made ``one complete loop'' --YOU'RE DONE, SEE YA.

Go a little deeper on the web site -- customer service link:

http://www.historictours.com/customerservice/#PopUp

It's kind of sad and somewhat shady that they bury that info that deep, but they do.

It's not spelled out very well -- but they do enforce this-- unless the driver isn't paying attention.

With Tourmobile your ticket is less restricted, you have much more flexibility.

Thanks for the info repete. For what it costs, they ought to let you loop around all day if you want!

Lorrie, I feel your pain! Our family of 4 is going to DC in August and I have been trying to make a hotel decision. I am leaning towards the Radisson Barcelo Hotel Washington. It is in Dupont circle and has an outdoor pool. I got a $141 rate (stay together rate) that includes breakfast. The Embassy Suites has an outdoor pool and it sounds very nice, but most people complained about the long walk in the heat to the metro stop. Post if you find anything you like better. I would be interested! Breathe

breathe,
You might want to check with the Radisson to see if the pool will be in service for your trip in August. I, too, had decided on the Radisson for our trip at the end of this month because we liked the pool option. I then found out, by chance, that the hotel would be going under reconstruction and called the local number to see if the pool would be in service for my trip. They said that they had already been working on the pool and it would not be usable for some time. I, then, cancelled the reservation and booked the Holiday Inn in Rosslyn instead. I would call the local number for the hotel and check on the pool status because I found that the reservationists at the 800 number knew nothing about the construction. I hate to alarm you but better make sure if the pool is important to your trip. Good luck.

It is always a good idea to call the hotel direct as it is true the reps at the various hotels 800#'s no nothing about the condition of the hotels. Only the hotel staff does. One can sure avoid a lot of dissapointment by calling direct including asking questions about various rooms etc.
Happy travels everyone.

If you've searched past sites, I've mentioned this before but we've stayed at Loews L'Enfant Plaza and the Holiday Inn, Ave. C at the Smithsonian. The Loews was right behind the old Smithsonian building and the HI Ave C was right behind the Air and Space Museum. Both had roof top pools. The Loews was "higher scale" restaurant wise, the HI had a coffee shop and a reasonable, family orientated restaurant. Both had on site underground parking (for a fee). In the DC summer heat, minimizing the walking is good -- you can't get any closer than these two hotels. As previously said by repete, the L'Enfant area is not scarey at all, but there is nothing around. But with a seven year old, I doubt you're looking for any nightlife.