We are coming to DC in September and wondering if the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill is a good loction. We can get a very good senior rate which is half the normal price. Thanks for any help

The Capitol Hill Hyatt is a good location for the Capitol, Union Station, National Gallery, and the eastern part of the mall (Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, etc.) It's a doable but fairly long hike to the area around the White House, the Vietnam and Lincoln memorials, etc. The closest metro station is at Union Station - about 3 blocks. The hotel itself is okay buy nothing really special.

Plummie is right about the location. I've stayed (and attended conferences) at that Hyatt and it is a nice one in a reasonably good area.

catsy
If you can get a really good rate (under $100 a nite) then I would say go for it. The hotel is in a good location and you can take the subway to other parts of town to see the Smithsonians, zoo, etc. From the Hyatt you can make your way easily to the Capitol, the Supreme Court, Library of Congress. Then you can tackle the other side, Natl Gallery of Art and on and on. As your hotel search showed, Washington is not a inexpensive town and I much prefer to recommend downtown convenient hotels to people. This is one of the better ones, along with the JWMarriott, and the Capitol Hill Holiday Inn. I don't recommend Georgetown or Foggy Bottom cause it's more dinner places. Another thing, do NOT stay in the NE portion of Washington, it's not safe.

Another good area for visitors to stay is around Dupont Circle, a mixed office-commercial-residential area. Though farther from the mall and major museums, it has a metro stop for easy access to the sights and is alive in the eveinings with many choices for dining from cheap to elegant.

Thanks for posting your responses. A friend and I are staying there this weekend. We were able to get a great rate. I'll let you know how it was.

How was it? I'm staying there in August. I'm taking the train down from Maine (I tried rephrasing this 3 times so it wouldn't rhyme, but no luck)with my children and I booked this because it was so convenient to Union Station and I got a great rate. I'm glad to hear it's in a good area.

We had a wonderful time at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. It was close enough to walk to the National Art Gallery,the Museum of Natural History, the Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Union Station was very nice as well. We had gotten a great rate with expedia.com. We were looking for a nice quiet place to stay and this filled the bill for us.

FYI: to say that all of Northeast DC is unsafe is quite a sweeping statement. It's like any other part of DC--some areas are very nice, and others are pretty scary. But not all of it is dangerous.