Has anyone stayed in the Howard JohnsonPlaza hotel and suites on 1430 Rhode Island Avenue,if so would you recommend it. Thanks Jan

If you are talking about the one right across the street from the Watergate, it's a descent enough one, I stayed their a few years ago. It's not far from the GW subway and the neighborhood is good to fairly safe. PS: The Watergate, on the bottom floor, has a small grocery store. The HJ had a small frig in the standard room I stayed in.

I don't think this is near the Watergate. 1430 Rhode Island Ave is just west of Logan Circle. It's not a bad place, about a 10 minute walk to the Dupont Circle Metro stop.

Rhode Island Ave goes through some rough parts of DC. I don't know exactly where the HJ is along Rhode Island Ave, but a good rule of thumb in DC is to try to stay west of 16th street (street numbers in the 1600's and higher). The neighborhoods are generally safer for walking around at night.

That hotel is in an acceptable area of DC. The only problem is that it is not near a metro. The closest metro is a good jog from there. I have never been in the hotel.

I don't know that hotel specifically but I would not call that an acceptable area of DC to stay in if I had a choice. I would not stay there. I live in DC and there are a lot more violent and crimes involving guns in that area that I would find acceptable, and not only at 3 am. YOu can read neighborhood crime reports in the Intowner newspaper, some are on www.intowner.com from latest issue -- addresses around 1400-1600 blocks are in that area (which is between 14th and 15th St).

The HoJos across from the Watergate has gotten incredible expensive: $25,000 to $30,000, just for a room!

Explanation: George Washington University bought the hotel a couple of years ago and converted it into a dorm.

The Rhode Island Ave area where HoJos is located isn't too bad. But it's surrounded mainly by office buildings, so there aren't really a lot of people around at night.