Purpletulip

I will be traveling with my 6 years old son to DC during his spring break. I booked a room at Renaissance Washington DC on priceline.com. We will be arriving at Dulles airport at midnight. What is the safest and economic way to get to the hotel at this time of the day? Also any advice regarding the hotel and surroundings is welcome.

TIA.

artsbabe

At midnight, I would take a taxi. Not particularly economical, but you don't have many options that late at night.

sf7307

Taxi will cost $60-70.

MikeT

There are two Renaissance hotels (one at 9th Street near Chinatown and one near DuPont Circle/Foggy Bottom). Both are perfectly fine and safe.

As others have said, at midnight your only option is a cab.

Purpletulip

Thank you.

I read somewhere that in DC it is better to get a quote before you step into a cab. is it true, or can we just go by the meter?

sf7307

The taxi to Dulles is metered. Within the District, it used to be by Zone, but I believe it has switched to metered taxis everywhere now.

Purpletulip

That's great. We will just go to the taxi line to catch a cab then. Thanks so much for the information.

HKP

Check with the hotel on the off-chance that there's a hotel limo/shuttle service that might be serving more than one hotel but would stop at the Renaissance.

MikeT

None of the downtown hotels are going to have a shuttle service to Dulles.

The taxis at Dulles are highly regulated and you will even be given some info predicting your fare. It's metered and pretty simple. Once you get into DC (taxis are a little confusing around here since they are regulated by different bodies depending on where you are), the taxis are all now metered which takes the guessing game out of it.

ET

If you don't mind possibly making a couple of stops, the most economical transportation will be the SuperShuttle. DD lives in DC and takes it all the time.

Here is a web site for them.

http://tinyurl.com/cone7q

HKP

Was just going to post that there IS a SuperShuttle to/from Dulles, est. $38. (but that's probably per person, so be careful about that... check it out), but ET beat me to it.

HKP

I consider a 6-yr-old a person, but maybe SuperShuttle doesn't.

sf7307

I just got an estimate of $29.00 plus $10 for the second person (over 3 years old).

Purpletulip

Cool, I am going to check it out. Thanks! I just love this board!

Purpletulip

I read on the Supershuttle website. The $29 fare is for shared van service. Does it mean at midnight me and my hungry and tired and sleepy and grumpy 6 yr old have to wait around for them to fill the van, or other people have to wait for us? How frequent is the service?

sf7307

Purple, SuperShuttle IS a shared van service. They have private vans, presumably much more expensive, but that would be silly compared to taking a taxi (unless you have too many people for a taxi).

Sorry, I don't know how long you have to wait. I won't take SuperShuttle since the time it took me an hour and a half to get from LAX to a hotel less than 10 miles away.

Purpletulip

sf7307, I live in LA. What you said cracks me up- sorry!~ It is always easier to just get a rental car in LA!

Oh well, my son probably prefers taxi, since in LA he doesn't get to ride taxi too often.

sf7307

Purple, the only reason I did it was because I was there for just the afternoon (from SF) visiting a friend who was in from NY. Otherwise, I usually drive!

ET

Not sure about a midnight arrival, but during the day they always have several vans lined up and fill them pretty quickly. They do make an attempt to fill vans with people trying to go to the same area. However, if you are concerned, you can always take the more expensive taxi.

HKP

Talk to the Shuttle people about that late arrival -- yours won't be the only flight but there aren't very many at that hour, which could limit the number of passengers in the van. Ask them if they'll still pick up that late (or later if plane is delayed) and ask them if there are usually many other passengers at midnight.