Have a few days to sightsee after a workshop in mid-June, and need some suggestions for a hotel near a Metro stop for a woman traveling alone on a budget.

It would help if you provided specific dates and a price range for your budget. (Your idea of a "budget" may differ greatly from mine.)

For a woman on a budget: the HI Hostel of Washington DC.http://www.hiwashingtondc.org/transit.shtml
I linked the transit page.The price is as budget as you can get.

I don't think it makes much difference if you are alone or a woman or man if you have a hotel near a metro stop. It might if you didn't have one near a stop, but that's the key thing.

There aren't any great budget hotels in super locations in central Washington, so the budget in question really is very important. Maybe your idea of budget is $300 a night. rates in mid-June aren't cheap yet (they can be later in summer when no business is around).

You could try Priceline to get something cheap, that might work. The best I can think of that is cheap meaning around $150 (I think most midlevel or higher hotels are $250-400 in June) is the Days Inn on Connecticut Avenue. It is near a metro stop and a safe area. It's not right down near the Mall, but that's the best I can think of. Red Roof Inn may be around that price also, but I wouldn't recommend its location in Chinatown that much.

I think you need to mention your budget and exactly what days you mean. Because if you are staying on the weekend, the rates may be almost half as during the week, due to business travel. Then you could easily get something less than $200, I bet, if you stay Fri-Sat night, not Tues-Wed.

Check out the Americana in Arlington as well. That is where I am staying for ~$70 per night in August with decent reviews.

I am not familiar with the Red Roof Inn, but I would not avoid Chinatown -- that area is now the busiest dining/entertainment area of the city (award winning restaurants, Shakespeare Theatre, Verizon Center, two Smithsonians plus a handful of pay-to-visit museums). Maybe avoid it if you want a less lively location, but it is absolutely as safe as anywhere else.

I could be mistaken but I believe the Red Roof Inn is now this Fairfield Inn & Suites (Marriott property)

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...n-dc-downtown/

Sorry I was not more specific! For a Sat-Tues in June with a budget in the $200 and under range. I agree that the proximity of a metro station is important to me..not adverse to spending time on public transit to get to sights in exchange for a better hotel for the money. Thank you for your suggestions so far!

What actual dates??

Looks like June 25-June 29.

The Days Inn mentioned above has rooms starting at $140 for the dates you mentions (which is a Saturday - Wednesday)

http://www.daysinn.com/DaysInn/control/index?variant=

You could always book and keep looking. I checked Marriott, Kimpton, and Hotels.com but didn't see anything else in that price range in DC.

Do you have anything good-bad-indifferent to say about the HI Hostel? If I wanted to sleep within 10 blocks of the White House, this is where I'd be. http://www.hiwashingtondc.org/rates.shtml

$200 and under for DC in June can be a stretch.

The standard chain hotels up and down the price spectrum in Crystal City in Arlington should have pretty good rates over the weekend. Easy metro access, maybe 10-12 min on the train to downtown.

There is a Hampton Inn at the top of King Street in Alexandria that is showing rates of $139 a night which is a very good price. That place is spitting distance to a metro and Alex, while not downtown, is a great neighborhood with lots of nightlife. You'd feel fine there. 20 min to downtown.

Also, check the Hyatt in Rosslyn which is walking distance across the river from Georgetown. l'd bet you can get a room there under $200 and it's practically on top of a metro station.

Of Alex, CC, and Rosslyn, Alex is the most pleasant. Others are safe places to stay, just not very interesting.

Grab something and then keep looking in your price range downtown.

I recently booked the Washington DC Capital Hilton, for June 2011, 2 blks from White House and close to Metro etc. reasonably safe for single woman for $150. a night thru their website "Best Rates"

My preferred area is Arlington/Pentagon City.

If you can afford it, stay at the Pentagon City Ritz Carlton with a Metro stop connected with the hotel via Pentagon City Mall

I live in the DC area and am just not crazy about Chinatown, sorry. There are lots of rowdy young people in that area and there has been various crimes in that metro station and the general area around it, more than other areas, particularly later at night. It's just not an area I personally would recommend unless you are pretty young and find that street activity enticing. I don't like going there at night, even though I would not call it super dangerous. But I would not choose it given all the alternatives. And I don't agree that it is just as safe as all other locations in DC and I don't think DC crime stats nor metro crime/incident stats would say this area is just as safe as the safest areas of DC. I am not comfortable at that metro location late at night (and I mean past 9 pm or so) and I'm often going there alone (older, single woman).

The very fact that it is a target for kids to hang out at night because it is a busy entertainment area is part of the problem. It's worse on nights where something is going on at the Verizon Center. And it is a popular area for younger kids (teens, 20s) would just like to hang out on the streets, they are not going to the theater or awarding winning restaurants.

In particular, there might be problems with guys on the street around 6th and H near the liquor store or the homeless shelter on I St or around the Burger King around Sidney Harman. The Kimpton hotel over there and the museums aren't so bad (nor Sidney Harman Hall), but right around the metro station on 7th and north of it, around Gallery Place, etc., is a zoo at night IMO and there can be just harassment by some of the street people or fights breaking out, vandalism or robberies/mugging, especially real late, I guess. I have to use the metro station sometimes (the entrance around 7th and H), and I don't like it at nights, especially on weekends. There are lots of rowdy people around there. A man was stabbed at that metro station entrance or near it just last month, I believe, in some fight with teenagers and it wasn't even that late at night (around 9pm).

I don't know what the Red Roof Inn is now or not, but I still wouldn't stay there myself, there are zillions of better locations IMO.

I don't know much about the HI hostel, I think it's fine, but that the OP isn't really looking quite for that level. If you wanted just really cheap, Hotel Harrington is around $150 probably and in a safe location I would prefer to Chinatown (around the E St Cinema and I guess Metro Center). I haven't been in it, I knew someone who stayed there and said it was "okay" as long as you don't expect a lot. I think the OP may be looking for something a bit better, not sure.

I have been wondering about that lately with respect to the Penn Quarter/Chinatown area. I don't go there on the weekends but have gotten the impression that teenagers hang out there which would have it associated problems b/c so many of them are degenerates.

1JAR...how did you book that rate at the Capital Hill Hilton? When I go to their website it shows $359 and up for mid-June! Just curious how you arrived at that $150 rate for mid-June?

PatN...I looked at it this am and it shows Hilton Reservations "Best Rate" at $299.

You could try AAA if you have it...one of my friends says US Open is in town during some part of June so maybe hotels are getting full....

The Hyatt in Arlington is across the street from the metro station and I think they have rooms available for less than $200 a night during that time period.

I agree with kayd about the Chinatown area -- that is one of the busiest and "hottest" areas in DC. Cristina's description is overly exaggerated other than it is crowded and can get very crowded when there is a big event at the Verizon Center. There was a news catching story a year or so ago about trouble on the metro. But there was a crime at L'enfant Plaza metro also last year. There is much going on in that area and lots of places to eat. I go to the movies at the theaters there, eat out there, go to the museums & theaters and have never had a problem or witnessed one. Unless u don't want some place where there is activity going on, I would definitely consider the Chinatown area.

U might also try looking at Bethesda or Chevy Chase, MD -- several hotels there and the Redline metro is accessible from them.