Hotel Advice
 

We will be traveling to D.C. in February. I have found the following hotels/rates: Quality Hotels and Suites Downtown, 16th street/$89 per night; Holiday Inn Capitol @ Smithsonian, 550 C Street/$115 per night; Capitol Hilton, 16th and K Streets/$139 per night; Radison Barcelo, 2121 P Street; $159 per night; and Jurys-Doyle Hotel on Dupont Circle, 1500 New Hampshire Avenue/$120 per night. <BR> <BR>Our main focus will be the Mall, White House, Capitol, etc... Which of these hotels would you recommend for convenience and safety. I am sure we will take the Metro and will be out at night. <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance for all your help!

JL, <BR> <BR>My family and I stayed at St. James Suties this past summer for 7 days. One block from GWU metro stop. Nice rooms. We never felt nervous about walking from metro stop at nite.

JL, you'll get better response if you repost with "DC" in the header so people who are just viewing the general US board won't have to look at the posting only to realize it's not something for them! <BR> <BR>I live in DC and would chosoe the Jurys/Doyle. Great location at Dupont Circle.

The Jurys-Doyle location is terrific, right on Dupont Circle very close to the metro, with tons of restaurants and shops nearby and a bar/lounge at street level. However, I have not been inside so I can't vouch for the rooms, although I do know it was renovated recently. <BR> <BR>The Capitol Hilton is very popular with large groups/conventions and also has a good location downtown (very close to the White House). <BR> <BR>The Radison on P Street is a good location too, but I have heard mixed things about the rooms -- there are a couple of trip reports posted here that mention the Radisson if you do a search. <BR> <BR>Of the places you've listed, I personally would not choose the Holiday Inn.

I would recommend Jury's Doyle or the Radisson for the locations; they are right near the Dupont Circle metro and plenty of coffee shops, movies, bookstores and restaurants so you will not have to go far at night. The others are all safe, but the Holiday Inn Capitol isn't near anything at night; true, it's right near a metro stop but why bother when you can walk to your hotel if one of the others. I don't know anything about the Quality on 16th and have never heard of anyone staying there, it's near Scott Circle and isn't that close to a metro stop in comparison so I would nott choose that location for convenience (nor the Capitol Hilton) as there isn't any metro stop on 16th; I don't think there are a good choice of restaurants nearby, either. Neither one is that far, maybe 4-5 blocks, but when it's cold, why bother with that if you can stay closer (I also prefer the restaurant and other choices closer to Dupont Circle). I don't know the inside rooms of these, the Doyle was recently remodeled so is probably okay, it was rather shabby-looking before and still is not glamorous, at least the outside, but has a great location. I have only heard pretty good things about the Radisson; if $40 a night is not a big deal I would probably choose the Radisson; if it is, I'd choose Jurys.