Taking my grand-dau.(age 21) to DC in June... of course she wants to see all the sites.
Sometime I "fade" in afternoon...It would be nice to stay in a hotel "near" Smithsonian. I could rest and she could spend the afternoon looking while I rest.. I only mention the Smithsonian because when I was there, 2 days did not cover it all. .but I did see all I was interested in.
Thanks in advance for any input.

I am interested in DC hotels too - was going to start a new thread, but my needs are similar to yours, so I thought I would just piggy-back

We will have a bit larger group - 5-8 people depending on who goes, and since my mom has an arthritic knee, we want someplace centrally-located so that she can go back to the hotel when her knee is done for the day without having to go far. Then the rest of us can continue sightseeing if we choose. We are planning to focus on The Smithsonian and National Mall sites as well.

Our trip is in August - I don't know if that means high season because schools are out or low season because it will be hot and everybody with any sense will have left town. I'm hoping to keep the lodging rate at around $150/night.

This website should be very helpful in determining which hotels are closest to the places you want to see:

http://www.stationmasters.com/

There are clusters of hotels near a number of downtown metro stations which would be a pretty short ride from the Smithsonian metro.

By Smithsonian, I assume you mean the Mall area which has, I agree with you, more than a person can cover in a couple of days, excluding the monuments, National Art Gallery, National Archives and a bunch of other places. But just for the record, there are other parts of the Smithsonian located throughout the city (National Portrait Gallery, American Art, Renwick, Postal Museum, National Zoo).

Sounds like a great trip to be taking with your granddaughter. Have fun! Do you have a budget in mind for your hotel?

Congress is not in session for much of August so you can sometimes get better deals on hotel rooms. It is, like you mentioned, very hot and humid. Check the website I linked above. $150 is doable but will take some looking to get it close to a metro so your mom can be accommodated with her knee. I assume you don't mean $150 to lodge all 5-8 of you, but per room?

Obxgirl - thanks for the link. My elderly father wants to go to DC later this year to see the White House so that website info will be very useful.

Thanks for the link. And yes, the $150 is per room

I think it is great when everyone chimes in
Web site is wonderful..
Was in DC few years ago with Elderhostel and stayed in Tacoma Park at College dorm.
Metro was very convenient for some of our excursions. Also did "twilight "tour of Monuments which was impressive...They made all the arrangements. I wonder if this is available by another source??
Added question--How do you get tickets to tour White House???
AUGUST hint--try to get early AM start, maybe into early afternoon...then back to hotel for shower and nap until evening..This worked for us in NYC in august...
I love this forum.....

We recommended the JW Marriott at the corner of 14th and E. A few blocks from the Mall, fairly close to a the Metro, and just a couple of blocks from the White House.

Our friends were there with two young kids and they thought the location worked well.

Hotels near the Mall and the Smithsonian: The Willard, the JW Marriott, the Mandarin Oriental, the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel, the W.

>>I wonder if this is available by another source??>Added question--How do you get tickets to tour White House???

Don't you own a Rand McNally US atlas or something for road maps? There's a detailed map of downtown DC in there. Other than that, you can easily buy a map at a bookstore (Streetwise brand or something).

I think the Marriott or L'Enfant Plaza would be your best bets for a hotel and they have good deals a lot of the time, I think. There is one Kimpton Monaco boutique hotel across from the Portrait Gallery that would work, also, and a Hilton Garden Inn near McPherson Square metro and the White House. I think there may be a couple other hotels around Verizon center and the Portrait Gallery, also.

I like the Streetwise maps in general since they are pretty easy to read AND they are laminated - no problem if you spill on it Not that I would ever spill on a map or anything, I'm just saying.

For the White House tour, when we went to DC on a previous trip, we got our tour tickets through our congressperson's office. It was really neat and I highly recommend it.