Washington D.C. early May, which neighborhood for these needs?
 

Hi helpful Fodorites!
We'll be traveling with some friends, one of whom has some serious health issues and might not be able to walk too far at once. So, we'd like to stay at a hotel that's very near metro, restaurants, coffeeshops, maybe bookstore, anything else. Looking to spend in the range of $150 a night. He saw a couple possibilities in the G.W. University area, Hotel Lombardy and the G.W. Inn, but we're not too familiar with that area. Vaguely remember it being near the school and hospital but not a lot else, but aren't sure. Do you think that location/those hotels would be suitable? If not, any other recs? One fear reading reviews of Hotel Lombardy, is it sounds like it could be noisy and I'm a very light sleeper. I remember liking the Dupont Circle area, but would want to find something not too noisy.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Noise at the Lombardy should not be bad, especially if you ask for a room on one of the upper floors and facing the back, not Pennsylvania Ave. The GW Inn is closer to the GW Hospital and its ER commotion, but also more convenient to the Metro station.

Taxis are abundant and not very expensive, so use them door-to-door to save strength for all the walking you do inside museums.

Look at Stationmasters for an idea of the locations of Metro stations and the hotels, restaurants, etc., near them. Foggy Bottom and Farragut West are the ones in the area of the Lombardy.
http://stationmasters.com/System_Map/system_map.html

However, I think the Dupont and Chinatown/Penn Quarter areas have more density/variety of restaurants, shops, hotels, etc. than Farragut (mostly office buildings) and Foggy Bottom (the GW campus). But if price dictates the GW area, you'll be ok there too.

I agree. If the budget is set in stone, GW area is just fine.

If you can spend more, consider hotels near the Gallery Place or the Dupont metro stations using the Stationmasters link kayd gave above.

thank you, very helpful!

We are planning to go to DC and my brother is staying up above Dupont Circle so I am looking for a hotel there too. I have found that it's not easy to find lodgings in that area if you are on a tight budget.

The Savoy Suites seems to be the best choice for our group, but I am still mulling this over. We do like the kitchenettes and free parking for the days we will have a car. The big drawback is that you cannot walk to the Metro. To compensate, they have a free hotel shuttle to the Metro, the hospital and I think Georgetown U. Details on the website. Got them to lower their posted rate to closer to the Expedia rate, but I can cancel it.

YOu could also consider looking at hotels in Silver Spring, MD, as they might be as cheap as around GWU, and I'd rather be there myself. There is lots to do right around where the metro and hotels are in Silver Spring (movies, restaurants, the Fillmore), and it's a fairly short metro ride into central DC. There isn't any bookstore there, but there aren't very many bookstores anywhere any more, you know.

Silver Spring to visit DC?? I don't think so. I'd go with bardo's suggestions.

well, I agree that one might prefer Penn Qtr, etc., but the whole point was the OP couldn't afford that. There is nothing magical about being around GWU versus Silver Spring, I think it's a duller area myself, but that is obviously opinion. Where a city's boundary line is doesn't really matter in terms of what one wants.

Well, we stuck with the GW area and Hotel Lombardy, as found a 30% off rate on TripAdvisor. Will report back! Now, will start another thread for nighttime activity suggestions for couples in our fifties and sixties (will do a quick search, first).

Hotel Lombardy was lovely. Saw our Phillies lose (unfortunately have a feeling might be doing a lot of that this season!), but really enjoyed several hours next day at the Newseum, before we left.

Very much enjoyed dinner first night at Ezme (Turkish) in Dupont Circle. Second night stayed in Foggy Bottom and had dinner at a Peruvian restaurant, El Chalan, mixed reviews amongst the four of us on our food, but sure liked the Pisco Sours, which probably are what helped my husband and I enjoy the cheesy live guitar player, too, who played mostly very inauthentic music but one true lovely Spanish love song, upon request.

Thanks for reporting back. Glad u enjoyed your stay. Haven't been to Ezme, but have read good things about it. The Newseum is just fabulous.
Guess u needed to hang around until Sunday to c your Phillies win and your pitcher drill our latest star....

Glad everything worked out.

FWIW, I <b>love</b> El Chalan - one of the better cheap eats in the area...

Glad to hear the Hotel Lombardy still "has it." I stayed there when I first came to D.C. 25 yrs ago for work, and then ended up moving to the area (after meeting my husband who was a desk clerk at a hotel a blcok away from the Lombardy on Washington Circle, lol).

Is El Chalon downstairs from street level? If so, I've eaten there, also thought food was mixed but it is a cute place in an area where there is not a lot of options in that price range.

Even though we beat the Phillies, you have to admit that we have a very nice new sweet ballpark, right?

Yes, emd3, that was it, down from street level.

I do admit you have a nice new sweet ballpark :-) And yestravel, I think that Sun. may have been a rare opportunity, because I have to admit, you're looking much better than we are, these days! Ah well, every yr. can't be 2008.