That's funny - - Meiwah was the place I went to last Xmas Day (the downtown location on NH Avenue - about 5 mins from the ES 22nd Street). It was very good (and I have high standards for Chinese food), so that's good to hear (I called the CC location, who confirmed they will be open.)

I am not a Cheescake Factory fan to put it mildly, so no loss there. So its still even money. (However, I will note that at least 3 other restaurants I contacted pretty near the hotel in Chevy Chase - - Clyde's, Maggianos, and Boogeymongers - - are all closed Xmas Day.)

Smithsonian's website says that they are open "every day of the year except 12/25" so that seems to suggest they will be open on that Monday.

The Smithsonian will be open Dec 26, ditto the National Gallery and monuments.

Good luck finding a restaurant open on the 25th. Not much is open. I'll bet the big hotels (Fairmont, WIllard, Four Seasons) will be serving but they'll be v. pricey and probably not the optimal environment for a 2 YO. Chinatown perhaps?

I googled and got this:

http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?m=9&pid=153

Picking from that list I am a big fan of Neisha Thai. I've eaten at the McLean and Falls Church versions but can't speak from personal experience regarding the place on Wisc. Ave.

jidug--I was thinking about the Monday thing and would guess that all restaurants in CC will be open because people will be up there to shop; downtown might be really quiet because of the federal holiday so that is something to think about. I had forgotten about Clyde's which has reopened after a renovation--that's an okay place to take a 2-year old, as well. The other thing that occurred to me about Christmas Day is that you are so close to Bethesda and there are literally dozens of restaurant there now (I am right that you'll have a car)--parking on the street on that day will be no problem. Just a thought.

Mary

Mary:

You are correct that I'll have a car. I used to stay in Bethesda for years (Marriott Suites) but just started needing a change of scenery after a while. At this point it looks like ES Chevy Chase will win out - - probably would be six-of-one, half-dozen-of-the-other between there and downtown, but its a change of scenery, and the difference in travel times on the Metro is probably mitigated by the fact that in CC don't need to walk far to the Metro, whereas I estimate its about 10-15 mins from ES Downtown to Dupont Red Line or Foggy Bottom/GWU stop on Blue/Orange.

Sort of funny - restaurants that I wouldn't think twice about taking a 1 year old can be a different story when you hit 2 (even for a kid who generally does not embody dreadful sterotypes about terrible 2s.) I've found that Capital City Brewing Co. (right next to Union Station) is often a very good option for all parties involved (and a nice looking renovated space to boot.)

have fun--age IS a different story!

Since you have a car, other decent places that are kid-friendly and not far from the hotel are Two Amys (great pizza) which is a right onto Macomb just off Wisconsin in Cleveland Park--(as you are heading to the Cathedral); just beyond Macomb and still on Wisconsin is Cafe Deluxe--solid food and a good kids menu--there is also a Cafe Deluxe in Bethesda; oh and Bethesda is smoke-free now which is nice in places that have a bar, too.

Enjoy!

Mary

Mary:

How is parking around Cleveland Park? (even if its a garage).

Also (and this may actually be my last q.)...is there a grocery store or CVS close by the ES CC for a few basic provisions (milk, diapers, replacement crayons......all of which are for me, of course.)

Thanks.

Finding parking around Cleveland Park is TOUGH (but not impossible). This is especially true if there is a popular movie screening at the Uptown theater.

There are no garages in the area. Your best bet is to look on the street at least 2 blocks east of Connecticut Ave. or take Metro. Here's a map of the area.

http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../clevelnd.html

There are probably 1/2 dozen places within a few blocks of ES Chevy Chase for basic supplies - relax.

If you're still seeing this, don't worry about where to get the basics as Bardo says, there are dozens of places and just up Western, take a right on Connecticut at the circle in the next block is a Safeway and a CVS.

Forget Cleveland Park, King Kong is playing, there is no place to park and also not very many kid-friendly restaurants. You'll do better on Wisconsin and in Bethesda.

Have fun,

Mary

I too debated between the Doubletree hotel you mention and the Embassy Suites. We chose the Doubletree, with the rationalization that with a full kitchen we could cook any meal we wanted. Huge mistake!

The "full kitchen" does not include an oven! We weren't able to cook many of the foods we bought (ready-to-bake cookies, cinnamon rolls, lasagna). After cooking breakfast the first morning, a horrible odor remained that was clearly a result of cooking bacon. We were barely able to stay in the room, and did not cook another meal.

There are very few options for grabbing breakfast. The maps show several options but the only ones we found were at the Watergate (breakfast would have been almost $100) and a kiosk that had a few pastries.

Most of the people working at the hotel were friendly but one front desk clerk was rude, and he was there most of the time during our stay.


As you can probably tell, we did not have a good experience at the Doubletree. If I had it to do over again, I would without a doubt choose the Embassy Suites Downtown.

The Doubletree is on the edge of a college campus (George Washington University), which means there are dozens of reasonably priced places to get breakfast that won't cost $100.

Jidug, I suggest you take MikeT with you on your vacation so he can point out the "dozens" of places to have breakfast in the area, since our hotel clerk only knew of the Watergate. We went to several locations listed in our guidebook, butnt. Ironically, the guidebook we took touted it's "up to date phone #s and addresses" but was basically worthless. We were looking for a sit-down place where the kids could get pancakes and eggs and we could drink coffee out of a real cup.

"We were looking for a sit-down place where the kids could get pancakes and eggs and we could drink coffee out of a real cup."

Ah, there's the problem. No one in the city eats a breakfast like that. :)

Within a four block radius of the Doubletree, there is a Starbucks, two other coffee places, a couple of delis, some other sit down restaurants. None of those places would cost you $100.

I'm being a little facetious, but this raises an interesting point. Breakfast seems to be the meal that toursits find the most challenging in big cities. Unlike on the highway or Disneyworld or in the Suburbs, it is much more difficult to find a breakfast place with reasonably priced eggs, pancakes, and coffee in a cup. That's not how people in big cities eat breakfast. They grab a coffee as they walk to work, the stop at a deli and get an egg sandwich, they stop at Au Bon Pain and get a bagel or something.

If you need something more substantial, than a place like Embassy Suites makes sense.

Agree with Mike regarding breakfast - I live in Boston area and while there are pancakes and coffee type places in suburbs, finding such a place at a reasonable price in the city of Boston is tough. One of the reasons that place with breakfast included is important to our family when we travel.

Especially in places where tourists end up. I can think of one place near DuPont Circle that would probably qualify, but that's about it. The kinds of places with reasonable, sit-down meals for breakfast are not going to be in tourist hubs, but instead in blue-collar and working-class neighborhoods where tourists usually don't end up.

For instance, there is a 24-hour diner right outside my building in Arlington, but it's not where many tourists are going to end up.

Breakfast in downtown DC seems to be either coffee-and-roll-on-the-run or power breakfast in the elegant hotels, with not much in between. One excpetion is Trio (has been open long hours at 17th & Q for decades) in the Dupont Circle area.

True. The other exception is the Corner Bakery chain (all over downtown - check their website for locations). You can get bacon, eggs, french toast, etc.

I wound up staying at the Embassy Suites Downtown for the week. All in all, pretty satisfied. Breakfast lines could get too long (and why, why, why do people let their kids eat in a public atrium in their pajamas? My standards are low but that just strikes me as an example of "slouching to Gommorrah. Get dressed -- ain't your house), but the food was good and plentiful and the 2 year old loved the waterfall and koi fish pond. Location was great - maybe 7 minute walk to Foggy Bottom metro and maybe 10 to Dupont, give or take. Plenty of good places to eat very close by that were reasonable (Mewah and Grillfish are right around the corner. Cosi and Au Bon Pain right up M Street. Kramerbooks is no more than 5-10 minute walk and has one of the best brunches in the city.)

Good gym and indoor pool was fine (didn't use it but all the kids liked it.) Decent Italian restaurant in hotel (Panevino) and the managers cocktail hour was efficiently run with relatively decent beer, wine, and liquor.

Only other complaints I had were a lack of sufficient luggage carts and they were changing vendors on pay-per-view (new flat screen HDTVs in room) and with the holiday week they never got it in place, which was annoying on nights we got back early and just wanted to crash and watch a flick. Otherwise, no complaints, would def. stay again and reccomend to others.

...also, noting the comments on challenges of getting a cheap full breakfast in a big city I add the following comments.

1) Here in NYC, even in pricey midtown, you can't go 2 blocks without finding a decent coffee shop that won't charge you more than $3.00 for eggs, coffee and potoatoes. Similar in downtown Philly, but I agree not the case in DC or Boston.

2) I agree that for most of us city folk that first meal is more often than not coffee/tea and a bagel or muffin. When traveling with a kid, different story.

3) In downtown DC, there are a plethora of Cosi's, Corner Bakerys, Au Bon Pain (or fast food chains like McDonald's/Burger Kings) that seem to offer a decent number of breakfast options (Cosi's egg sandwiches are quite good, actually.) Also on M street lots of hot breakfast buffets (Korean Deli style) very cheap (i.e. Jack's) If all other things are equal, if I can get breakfast included in the rate at the hotel, that's great because it saves me time, but otherwise, if Cosi or Au Bon Pain or Einstein Bagels/Corner Bakery is within walking distance, I'm covered (with a kid, Starbuck's doesn't do it b/c there are pretty much no hot food options there.)

jdug, I would kill for more of those diners in DC. One of the things I love about NYC is all the little diners where you get good food plus interestingi atmosphere at good prices.