Old Town Alexandria Residence Inn
 

Is anyone familiar with the exact location of the Residence Inn property? Is it in the Old Town proper or is it just located in the general vicinity and called Old Town? Does that make sense? Some hotels here in California are said to be located in a particularly desireable area but locals know that is by zip code only and in fact the property is in a rather undesireable area.

We are thinking about staying at the property for 6 nights with a two year old and a 9 month old in tow. Would like to make sure the walk to dine, King Street Metro, etc. is safe (not only with respect to a seedy area but also safe in that it is not crossing a crazy overpass or anything?).

Thank you for any thoughts.

The hotel is on Duke Street at the western end of Old Town Proper. It is not a seedy or undesirable area. Duke is very heavily trafficked as are many of Old Town's streets since it's a fairly urban part of the world. But there are stop lights and pedestrian crossings. No strange overpasses or anything.

The walk to the bottom of King Street/Potomac River is about 20 minutes. Maybe slightly longer with two small children.

I think it's a fine location, although I wonder how convenient it is to dining. There aren't going to be restaurants right outside your door and it will require a walk. There is a trolley up and down King Street, which makes it easier to get to the "core" of Old Town.

The Residence Inn is near the big federal courthouse and the Patent and Trademark complex so it is probably more designed for business people, but seems like a good spot for kids.

MikeT, there are two RI's very close to one another in Old Town. The one closest to the courthouse and the P&T complex is RI Carlyle. It's west of the Whole Foods market. The RI Alexandria Old Town is half a block east of Whole Foods and fronts Duke St.

I've stayed in both and they're very nice places.

>>There aren't going to be restaurants right outside your door and it will require a walk. <<

Ish. There are easily 20 restaurants within a ten minute walk, including a couple of great ones, Majestic Cafe and Hank's Oyster Bar.

Oops, I didn't realize there were two. That one on Duke Street is more convenient.

Thank you all for your input!

One more question...how is the walk from the King Street metro stop to the hotel? Can we take the metro from the airport to the hotel? (We are traveling exceptionally light--as I am sending a box ahead with necessities--so will have both girls in strollers and carry on bags only)

The reason I ask is that I am trying to avoid taking the two year old's carseat and would thus like to avoid taking a cab if possible.

Ahhh darn never mind...just checked back on dates and hotel sold out. Back to the search! Thanks again.

Does it have to be a Residence Inn? The one a couple of blocks further west will still meet your needs tho the closer metro is likely to be the Eisenhower Ave. station. Also 3 RI's downtown, both are in good locations. Dupont Circle is very close to metro. The one on Vermont Ave is a little farther, maybe 2 and half blocks to metro.

Yes you can take the metro to any of these hotels from the airport, assuming you're talking about Reagan National. No for Dulles or BWI. Reagan is on the yellow/blue lines. It's a straight shot on the yellow line for Alexandria and on the blue line for McPherson Sq (closest to Vermont Ave RI). One change of station required for Dupont Circle.

<i>I am trying to avoid taking the two year old's carseat</i>

Where is the two-year old sitting on the plane?

MikeT, she will use our CARES harness that attaches to the seatbelt. This restrains her safely yet she has more room to play in the seat than being constrained in the carseat for the duration. We use it on planes and frequently on the train.

Thanks obxgirl. I am trying to avoid Dupont as the prices are a bit steep and we will have to park a rental car there for two nights (have to take littlest one up to Hopkins for medical appointments on two days). What about Rosslyn RI?

I liked that Old Town was close to the Whole Foods too to get milk, baby food, etc for the kids. Although I know the Tenleytown one is right at the Metro stop.

And yeah it needs to be a RI because my parents are coming too to watch the 2 y.o while we are at doctors appointments (whole purpose of the trip) and it is substantially cheaper to pay for a two bedroom at a RI than two seperate rooms. Homewood Suites (Hilton) doesn't have the two bedroom option.

I don't know if you are considering hotels other than the Residence Inn, but the Embassy Suites in Old Town Alexandria is also in the same area and close to Whole Foods, dining and transportation. I loved the location.

Alex and the two downtown DC RI's have as good or better access to groceries than Rosslyn. There is a Whole Foods on P Street kind of equidistant between Dupont and Vermont Ave as well as another grocery (Safeway) right off of Dupont Circle. Parking $ in Rossyln and Alexandria will rival but not exceed downtown parking.

I'm not sure there's an advantage to any since your ultimate destination is Johns Hopkines.

Have you looked at RI's in Baltimore?

So is Rosslyn RI a bad idea? Can't get a two bedroom at any of the downtown ones.

Nothing wrong with the RI in Rosslyn. It's close to the metro and there's a Safeway within a couple of minutes walk. As a place to stay it's got a bit less atmosphere than Alex or downtown. Take the blue line there from the airport.

MAybe check out the RI in Arlington/Pentagon city city?

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...pentagon-city/

Thank you all for your input and advice. We just got back last night and ended up staying at the RI Rosslyn and loved it. It was perfect for our needs for this trip. They ended up upgrading us to a two bedroom suite that suited the family perfectly. A plus was the car service they had that took DH out at 5 am to get baby ibuprofin. The fire station down the street even had an open house on Saturday so my mom could take our two year old while DH and I took the baby up to NYC by train for the conference (it made her trip!) Thank you again.