Washington DC- Dupont Cir?
 

My husband is going to Washington DC on business the first week in April. We are in the process of looking for hotel accomodations & were wondering what the traffic is like. He will need to head to Chantilly, Virginia and Linthicum & Silver Springs, Maryland during the week. I would like to be near public transportation so he can have the car. If we settled near Dupont Circle will he have a problem with traffic? Can anyone recommend hotels that are reasonable but nice? His company gives us a budget and any money left over can be used to dine at nicer restaurants. Thanks

Unfortunately, you're going to have a problem with traffic no matter where you stay -- it's pretty consistently heavy no matter where you stay. To give you an example, I live 35 mi from DC and drive into the city every day for work -- I have to leave my house no later than 6:20 a.m. to get in by 7:30 a.m. Even leaving 15 minutes later could add on significant travel time. Your husband's commute will depend largely on the time of day he is travelling as well as the direction in which he is going.

Dupont area is pretty congested with traffic since you have the convergence of some major roads (Massachusetts and Connecticut). I would check out routes that your husband plans on taking to his destinations (via mapquest) and determine your location that way. The metro system here is very efficient and you will have many options for relying on public transportation. If your husband thinks he will be travelling on both 66 and 50, I would actually recommend you stay near the Rosslyn metro just over the bridge from DC -- easy access to the highways for him and a metro for you. Beware, though -- 66 is HOV only at certain times of the day and in certain directions (eastbound in the a.m. is HOV and westbound in the p.m. is HOV).

Actually, Dupont isn't a bad idea. Metro Center might be even better, assuming the DH's work picks up the hefty hotel parking fees.

Either would work great for you and your husband probably can take the Red Line on the Silver Spring trip. Getting to the Beltway is slow from there (and most places in the city).

Depending on where in Silver Spring and Linthicum he needs to be, there's a good chance he could use public transport. Red Line feeds downtown SS and the MARC Penn Line goes very near Linthicum.

The big problem here is the variety of job locations. Rosslyn might work for Chantilly, but certainly isn't the best for either Silver Spring or Linthicum -- you don't gain that much to justify staying out of the city.

Dupont has more to do at night, but Metro Ceter has the Red Line, plus easier access to 66 for Chantilly and Route 50 (Linthicum).

Your husband will hit a lot of traffic regardless of where you are, since he'll be going into both VA and MD, even though he will have a reverse commute. My sister used to commute to Reston from DC and finally had to move out of the city because the drive took so long. FYI-the drive out in the morning is usually quicker than the drive back in at night. So if he'll be working late, it won't be quite as bad.

I actually think it would make more sense to stay near the Beltway, and you take the Subway in for touristing. I would think Bethesda would be a good choice, since it is near the Beltway and about half-way between Chantilly and Linthicum

If you decide to stay in the Dupont Circle area, I can recommend the Churchill Hotel. It's about 5 blocks from the Metro and is a beautiful, historical hotel and I've seen the rates as low as $79, but not sure what they will be in April. Try www.thechurchillhotel.com

Agree with Ann41,

Dupont Circle or Downtown would be a great location since everyone else will be driving into the city when your husband makes his trips out of the city. The reverse will be also be to his benefit in the afternoons when everyone else will be driving out of the city.

Since you will be here strictly for pleasure while your husband is working, Dupont is a perfect choice, IMO.

Enjoy your stay.

I like the Mayflower Hotel in DC (it's now owned by Marriott/Renaissance - but it's historical and in a good location (walkable to Dupont if you like) and in a fairly safe area nearby shopping. They offer valet parking. It all depends on what YOU want to do while your husband is working. Metro is nearby and you can get to anywhere in town via metro. If you decide to stay in Dupont circle, you will find many "young" people around - Dupont is also known as an area where many gay people have settled. It is the new "trendy" place (aka Georgetown - but not as upscale)

As a DC resident (living in the city), I would 2nd the recommendation for staying somewhere from which your husband can easily get to the beltway. Even though he will be going "against" rush hour, many of the best routes in to the city are one way (the wrong way) for him, and even if they were the right way it can still take a good 30 minutes to get across the city from Dupont in the best traffic. I would try the Friendship Heights (just on the DC/MD border) Embassy Suites. It is right on top of a metro, in a busy shopping restaurant area , and right on Wisconsin Avenue (a straight shot to the beltway). Have fun!

The Juries Hotel is nice. They have two locations, a full size hotel on the circle and a Boutique hotel a few blocks away near the embassies. The latter is cheaper and very well appointed, cozy. The larger is nice with with restaurants in it. This is more convenient to walking to restaurants.

And if you aren't familiar with DC traffic and traveling, getting to those locations from the city could be REALLY complicated, while being near the Beltway would be much simpler driving around.

sparks, as someone with a good deal of experience commuting to both Chantilly and Silver Spring (no "s" on the end) from DC, and even commuting from Silver Spring to Chantilly for too long a period, I've got to tell you that I can't disagree more strongly with the advice your husband is getting from a couple of people above to use the Beltway.

The Capital Beltway is a disaster, an outmoded creation currently carrying a load far, far above its reasonable capacity, a ring of pure torment to the driver, and the worst part of it is the stretch between Bethesda and Silver Spring. It is a parking lot nearly all the time, in both directions. Don't stay in Bethesda and send him off to Silver Spring and even worse, Linthicum from there. He will hate the experience.

I am not saying that it is a picnic to get out of DC to these places, but when you're going against the commute rush, it is not so bad. And it's not complicated. Constitution Ave, a big street on one side of the Mall,becomes Route 66 which he can take all the way to out to Chantilly. HOV will not be an issue at the times and in the directions he is going, which are opposite to the commute rush. I actually found this a relatively pleasant commute, faster than the drive out to Reston because 66 to Chantilly avoids the congested Tysons Corner area which you must pass on your way to get to Reston. Either 16th Street or Georgia Avenue, major thoroughfares, are a straight shot from downtown DC out to Silver Spring. New York Ave. from downtown is also a major artery and becomes Highway 50, and will take him easily out of town on the way to Linthicum. (Do not, however, stay at any of the many motels on New York Ave. This is an OK area to drive through on big, busy New York Ave. but otherwise too scary a high-crime area, regrettably for the many fine folks who live there.)

Yes, it may take 30 minutes to get out of town from downtown or Dupont. Sometimes, more often than I care to remember, it took me two hours to get from Silver Spring to Bethesda on the Beltway, or an hour just to get from Bethesda to where the Beltway met 66 so I could turn toward Chantilly.

You have gotten some excellent hotel recommendations in Dupont and downtown above, although I don't think I've seen the Radisson Barcelo near Dupont mentioned, and many who have posted here seem to be very pleased with it as a relatively value-priced choice. Be aware the Mayflower will be very expensive, in another league from the others mentioned, unless you can possibly get it on Priceline. Since it sounds like you are on a fixed per diem regardless of what you spend for lodging and parking, I would give serious consideration to Priceline.

The problem for you is that your husband will really need a car. If his business is in downtown Silver Spring, there is a good chance he could use Metro for that, but he probably should have a car for Linthicum and without question for Chantilly. And even if you save a lot on Priceline, parking fees at DC hotels are very high and can eat up your savings.

For travelers who want to be convenient to Metro and but also need to have a car, and want to save some money, it's hard to beat Rosslyn which was recommended by one poster above. This is because many travelers, both vacation and business, are not too aware of it, which brings hotel prices down, and it has moderate hotels a block from Metro which have free parking.

Rosslyn is the neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia directly across the Potomac from the Georgetown and Foggy Botton/West End neighborhoods of DC. It is actually an office district, where the buildings closest to downtown D.C. which are more than half the height of the U.S. Capitol, and so were illegal to build in DC itself, got built. As such, it has little to interest the visitor and is pretty dead at night, although also relatively safe. But the very next stop on Metro, after a brief ride under the Potomac, is the first of the chain of DC's tourist interest Metro stops, so you can get to the big sights quickly (much more quickly than from the Metro stations in Maryland, which are on the other side of town from most of the spots of visitor interest.)And you can walk across the Potomac on the Key Bridge from these hotels(it's a heavily traveled pedestrian route) and be in the heart of Georgetown.

From here, your husband would have an especially easy drive out straight out 66, which is just a couple of blocks away, to Chantilly. If he goes to Silver Spring and Linthicum from Rosslyn, he should still cut across the city and take Georgia, 16th or New York Ave. towards Maryland, rather than trying to go out to the Beltway and around. He can go across the Key Bridge and from there it's not miuch different than going to Maryland from from Dupont, which is just a few moments away.

The hotels I'm referring to with the quick Metro access and the free parking are the Holiday Inn Key Bridge and the Best Western Key Bridge. These are, at best, nothing special, although the Holiday Inn has a three-meal-a-day restaurant on top with fabulous views of Gergetown, the Potomac, the Watergate, Kennedy Center and the Monuments, and probably some of the rooms just below it have similar views. Some people are delighted to find these hotels and consider them an excellent value, allowing them to spend parking fee money and travel time, in particular, in other ways. Other people find them unacceptable. I'd recommend reading the wildly varying reviews of them on Tripadvisor.com and coming to your own conclusion about whether you would want to use them in your particular situation.

From either Dupont or Metro Center areas, wouldn't need the Beltway at all.

For Linthicum, it'd likely be easiest to head out Rt. 50 to the BW Parkway. For Silver Spring -- if the Red Line from Dupont or Metro Center doesn't work --then 16th St. is much easier and faster than Georgia Ave.

Because two of the destinations are in Md., Rosslyn doesn't seem like the way to go. If the company's paying, than paying for parking ought to be a non-issue.

Either area is downtown area is more convenient for you ... and your husband. And they're both more fun.

Repete, I agree with your routes and that the Beltway need not be used from DC. My disagreement was primarily with the two posters above who had urged sparks to make easy access to the Beltway, as it goes by Bethesda/Wisconsin Ave., her primary consideration in choosing a place to stay.

I read what sparks says about her husband's travel reimbursement differently from you. It sounds to me that rather than the company paying the expenses he incurs, they pay a fixed allowance, meaning that anything she and her husband save on hotel and parking is money in their pockets for other things, and that is important to her.

If this is so, free parking (and somewhat lower hotel rates) is a very valuable thing for sparks. In my experience, it is 5-10 min, from Rosslyn to Dupont or Downtown by car, and the drive to either Maryland location is only that much longer from Rosslyn, while on the other hand the drive to Chantilly is that much shorter. So if he goes to each of the three locations one day, two will cancel out timewise and so for the week we might be talking saving $150-200 or even more parking and hotel expense for no more than 15 or 20 minutes total additional time on the road.

I agree with you about where I'd stay other things being equal, and I would recommend staying in Rosslyn rather than Dupont or Downtown only to save money. But if I am right about the travel allowance, it might be the choice sparks would want to make in this particular situation.

Gotcha. Makes sense to me.

I think you aren't looking at it from a non-DC resident's perspective. Sure, I could get to Silver Spring from Rosslyn, but I would hate to have to guide someone across the river, through the city, up 16th street, across East-West Highway, and up Georgia Ave. I'm confused just writing down the most direct route.

The same with getting to Lithincum from Roslyn (or DC) that matter. It means navigating a number of city streets and turn-off to take New York Ave to 50. That seems awfully complicated for someone who has never been to our city.

Thanks for all the advise. I am still pretty confused. Maybe this info. will help. My husband's company is cheap! Enough said. I also like really nice hotels. He is flying down Monday morning & I am coming in Wednesday evening. We were thinking of doing 2 different hotels. One less expensive one near Chantilly for Monday & Tuesday & then changing to a nicer one closer to Maryland when I come in to town.I really liked the idea of using Priceline & am considering it. The Dupont Circle got my attention because of the metro being convenient * being able to walk to nice restaurants. The only drawbacks were the traffic problem & the expense. Does this help the debate? :) Thanks a bunch!

Mike, this is just a matter of personal differences. For me,it's just not all that confusing. I would never stay out in the suburbs, taking my wife who wants to sightseeing the city out there with me, just because I thought it would be hard to find the way out of town. I've often visited big cities which are new to me and never found finding one of the major routes outward to be something I had to worry a lot about. But I'm sure I have my own phobias which might be strange to you.

There are some locations in town I've found it confusing to get to, particularly when there are short, one way streets and hills involved (around Mount Pleasant, for instance,) but finding one of the three or four biggest major thoroughfares out of the city, if one has a good map or Mapquest.com, just doesn't seem like that much of a challenge to me.

And you are confused about the way to downtown Silver Spring. As repete points out, one street, 16th, all the way from the White House to the heart of Silver Spring, no turns on any other streets necessary. Why make it difficult?

But people are highly individual, and sparks' husband may be as extra nervous about big city driving as you are. Many people seem to be. If so, it's a good reason to stay near an Interstate. She should ask him how he feels about it! You and I shouldn't assume he's like us. If this will make getting to his business meetings unnecessarily stressful for him, I'd quickly agree that's not a good thing.

The problem is that sparks now makes clear to us that she likes a really nice hotel--which I think makes her undertandably unenthusiastic about Rosslyn. But similarly, there's not much all that nice in the corridor from downtown D.C. to Linithicum. Probably the best choice is the Greenbelt Marriott, which is next to both the Greenbelt Metro station, the Beltway, and Highway 50. I have stayed there, and it is typical of your better, fairly new, very nice Marriott. But there is nothing else besides those transportation routes nearby.

Unless the prospect of finding his way out of town is really a stress producer to your husband, sparks, based on what youre telling us now, I'd be inclined to advise you to go the Priceline route so you have the chance of getting a memorable hotel in downtown, Dupont or West End DC at a big discount. If your husband is going to do the Chantilly part staying out there without you, then that can really cut down on hotel and parking expense for the trip. And also, depending on where in Silver Spring he will be going, there is an excellent chance Metro there from downtown D.C. will be very convenient. If you give me an idea of the Silver Spring location, I can probably help advise you on that.

Don't know the appeal of DuPont Circle that most people have at these threads. The West End of D.C., just before you get to Georgetown is a nice area to walk around in with easy access to the G.W. subway stop. If you do stay here, just a note, there is a small grocery store inside the Watergate Hotel. When the Howard Johnson was still the HoJo (we stayed there) and not dorms of Georgetown we found that out. I'd also suggest the Rosslyn Holiday Inn. Only stayed there 2 days but I liked the hotel, was on the top floor and watched the planes take off/land from National Airport, lots of restaurants were around and the blue line Rosslyn station was very close by (only 3 blocks). I'm not a big D.C. fan, I'd rather stay in the immediate suburbs across the river from D.C.

JB, I understand your general point and a lot will depend on how confortable he is driving through a city he doesn't know. 16th Street doesn't take you the heart of downtown Silver Spring, you have to make a turn at Colesville and then possibly again on Georgia. 16th Street gets you to residential SS, not commercial SS.

As for why DuPont is popular, Stephanie, it is becuase there is nightlife and "life" there. There are beautiful hotels in the West End and it's a nice neighborhood, but it is dead at night and has little streetlife. The Watergate is a healthy walk from the West End.

My husband is pretty comfortable driving in an unknown city. We are originally from Chicago & he drives in heavy trafic every day going from Ft Worth to Dallas. I figure he can find the office he needs to get to or the guys at the office can give him more specific directions. I am going to start the bidding process for the Dupont Circle area. Now we are trying to decide which airport to arrive at. Is there public transportation from Dulles to the DC area? I might need to use it to get to the hotel when I arrive. Thanks for all your help.

Reagan National is by far your best bet: about 15 minutes to downtown and there's is a metro stop right at the station. BWI and Dulles are both about an hour. If plane fare to Reagan does not exceed plane fare to BWI or Dulles by more than $50, then it is money very well spent.

There IS public transportation from Dulles to DC, but if it was me I would just spring for a taxi or a shuttle service.

Mike, you do need to know that your objective as you leave D.C. on 16th St.is Route 29--Colesville Rd. thru Silver Spring and, as you emerge from DC on 16th, follow the big sign which directs much of the flow of traffic to a jog to the right on that route. Not a big deal. Then the intersection of Georgia and Colesville is the principal downtown intersection. Whether you would need to turn on Georgia depends on the specific address.

I very much disagree that the West End is dead at night and has no street life. I've had the occosite experience. Many excellent restaurants and hotels in this area. Somewhat more adult and upscale compared with Dupont's identification with youth and gay cultures. And the Watergate is definitely part of this neighborhood, if at the edge of it. I join Stephanie above in very much recommending it to sparks.

sparks, Reagan National is by far the most convenient airport if you will be staying in DC. Of course, if your husband will still be in Chantilly when you arrive, you might want to consider Dulles, which is next to Chantilly. If you are going to have a car in DC, your husband should drive it in from Chantilly/Dulles as the other alternatives are expensive or time consuming or both.

JB, that's what's great about these forums because you can get people who have varying persepctives.

I work in the West End and find there is little to do here after 6pm, and not even much during the day. There are many very nice hotels, for sure, but if one doesn't want to dine in an expensive hotel restaurant, there are few options in this area. There are few options for a light breakfast or lunch, and no bars or lounges beyond those in hotels.

The Watergate is easily a 15 minute walk from the heart of the West End, and all you really get is a small, dismal Safeway. It is, however, the only real market in that neighborhood since so few people actually live in the area.

Hmmm... Dupont isn't *upscale* enough? $875,000 for a 3 bdroom rowhouse isn't enough? ...;)

I recommend the Churchill Hotel. Right on the cusp of Dupont - your husband could drive out, and commute againts traffic that is coming into DC. You would be near the metro. Safe area. Lots of restaurants in the area. Affordable.

The Churchill wants $189 a night. Not what I consider affordable unless i bid on Priceline.

$ 875,000 for a Dupont town house is accurate. Heck, I have a customer whose Logan Circle (one step lower than Dupont) town house goes for $ 850,000. Crazy. When is this house inflation going to end?

$875,000 is CHEAP...try a 2.5 MILLION plcae over here in Arlington..but the water meters still work!

Thanks for all the help. We decided to stay in the Dupont area because we really enjoy walking to restaurants & just plain walking around & exploring. I found a great rate for the Omni Shoreham so that is where we will stay. Hubby will just have to drive in traffic.

Very handy. From the Omni Shoreham you can just hop on the Metro at Woodley Park and be at Dupont Circle in no time. There are a few interesting restaurants right on Connecticut near the Woodley Park station, too. Several have charming sidewlk cafes, which there mostly isn't room for down at the Dupont area; if the weather stays nice, they might be open then.

The Omni has lovely grounds in the back, and the nearby Marriott Wardman Park has landscaping with chery trees and thousands of bulbs that were in full bloom last year when we visited in mid-April.

Nice neighborhood, good hotel. Hubby will get to know Connecticut Ave. well.

For Silver Spring, it's up Conn and right on East-West Highway if he's headed to downtown SS. (But Metro might still be an option -- it's a long Red Line ride, tho.

For Linthicum, he's likely looking at up Conn to the Beltway, then 95.

Good choice, sparks. The Shoreham will definitely meet your desire for a "destination" type hotel. It's been one of the top hotels in DC for a long time. Among other things, it's where Harry Truman used to slip away to play poker with his buddies, even while President.

May I guess that you took our advice and tried Priceline? I noticed on Betterbidding.com (my preferred Priceline resorce site) that most people who were making successful bids on Dupont Circle/Woodley Park were getting the Shoreham.

But--disagree strongly with repete's directions for your husband to get to both Silver Spring and Linthicum. He should not get familiar with Connecticut Ave., which will take him West at an angle when instead he wants to angle East for both. He should not use the horrible and infamous Beltway. That is the long way around in either case.

If his destination is in downtown Silver Spring within walking distance of the Metro station there, I really recommend he use Metro even though, strangely, he will start off going south towards downtown, not north into Maryland, before ending up in Silver Spring. The Red Line, which runs through the Woodley Park station, starts in one Maryland suburb, does a loop through downtown and then ends in a different Maryland suburb. But being on the Red Line, he will have one train service between Woodley Park and Silver Spring, and I really think he will find his trip probably faster and definitely more relaxing if he uses Metro. Maybe you can ride as far as downtown with him. He'll be going not only to Dupont Circle but through the closest stations for the National Gallery of Art, the Capitol, and Union Station.

If he doesn't use Metro, instead of using Connecticut which heads out in the ten o'clock direction while Siver Spring is at one o'clock, he should go east on Calvert (the street the Shoreham is actually on) to Columbia Rd. north to 16th St. He should ask for directions at the hotel to 16th St. heading out of town, it's less than a mile away. Then he just stays on 16th all the way out of DC. As soon as he enters Maryland, he should follow the big sign to a right jog to Route 29 - Colesville Rd. Silver Spring. He will be in downtown Silver Spring within four or five blocks.

To Linthicum, again he should not take Connecticut towards 10 o'clock when his objective should be 2 o'clock to get to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Again he should take Calvert, this time over to U St. where he should go east, merging into Florida Ave. and eventually northwest on New York Ave. He should ask directions at the hotel to New York Ave. heading out of town, or get a good map if he is more comfortable with that (as I am.) Once he gets on New York Ave., again he just stays on it all the way out of the city. It becomes U.S. 50 and will lead him directly to the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, the best and pleasantest (it's run by the National Park Service!) way towards Linthicum.

sparks,
If your hubby gets lost, perhaps he can call JBC411. You'll note that both of his/her alternatives include the wildcard of ``ask for directions'' or ``get a good map.''

While Conn. does veer slightly north-northwest (not west), it's far easier for a unfamiliar driver and traffic moves much better. Hubby can basically get on Conn. at the hotel and make only one turn -- at East-West to reach downtown Silver Spring.

Using JBC's route, he first must wind his way to 16th, where he gets the pleasure of driving on one of the worst roads in NW DC. What's not under construction is potholed and easily snaarled. The Columbia Road intersection can tie up at the slightest mishap.

As for Linthicum, again taking Conn. to the Beltway eliminates the need of winding your way through a variety of strange city streets. He hops on Connecticut and gambles on the Beltway, where the odds of congestion are similar to the B-W Parkway.

The alternative is even crazier. JBC complains about the Connecticut route going ``west,'' but consider that the alternative route runs southeasterly through the various city streets. Calvert actually turns into 17th or 18th NW before it hits U, then Florida. New York Ave. can get horrible.

I do agree that if Metro works for SS, he should take it. I think I was the first to suggest that to the OP.

Anonymous, why should a tourist take such complicated--albeit, maybe quicker--routes when there are reasonable routes that are much more direct.

Your routes are probably faster but are complicated to figure out if you've never driven through the city.

Hi Mike, looks like those driving directions were so complicated you couldn't even figure out who gave them -- it wasn't me!

Never thought I'd encounter so many map-averse people on a travel site.

When this issue came up earlier, sparks said her husband was not one to be daunted by big city driving, and if so, he is probably map literate. Or, he can follow driving directions from mapquest.com which most business travelers I know seek when they are heading for an area with which they are unfamiliar. I would be very surprised if it would direct him out Connecticut to go to Silver Spring or Linthicum.

Given what she had said about him, I just wanted to be sure that he was aware that he was being given a very roundabout route suitable for those who can operate only on the simplest verbal directions. Anyone used to using maps or Mapquest.com in big cities, or who can follow verbal directions which involve more than a couple of steps, and is not intimidated by the idea of making a couple or three turns on city streets, will seek an alternative to northwest-heading Connecticut to get to destinations which are northeast of DC.

Yes, I know 16th is patched up from potholes, but it has never taken me an hour to go three miles on it, as it has on the Beltway when a lane or two are taken for repairs or an accident. And I have been tied up in slow-moving traffic on Florida Ave. and New York Ave. but also on Connecticut and the East-West too. You can get bogged down in traffic anywhere in the DC area, so might as well at least try to minimize mileage and avoid heading in a different direction entirely from where you want to go. And take public transportation if you can.

Sorry, Anon., I was so stunned by the crazy directions I must have gotten flustered. <g>

Mapquest's computer-generated, untouched- by-human-brain results routes certainly aren't the standard I'd cite to illustrate quality.

They regularly are wrong and they often use street/road designations that don't follow the common and/or posted names on signage. Is it Md. 355, the Rockville Pike, the Frederick Road? Until recently Mapquest was calling it Wisconsin Ave. deep into Rockville.

No doubt some routing possibilities make more sense for residents than strangers and there's no way Mapquest takes that into account and makes that distinction.

BTW, here are the directions from the Omni Shoreham website to BWI, which is basically Linthicum:

Proceed through the airport and follow the signs for I-95 South. Take 495 West towards Silver Spring to Exit 33 (Connecticut Avenue South) towards Washington, DC. Proceed South on Connecticut Avenue for approximately five miles. The National Zoo will be on your left. Proceed another five blocks and make a right onto Calvert Street. The Omni Shoreham Hotel will on your left at 2500 Calvert Street, NW.

So perhaps he should ask at the hotel ...

repete, the situation and the audience always affects ones choices in giving directions.

If I were writing directions which needed to fit in a couple of sentences on my hotels web site, to an unknown audience which probably includes many people who are frightened and overwhelmed by big city driving, I'd probably do the same thing the hotel has--take people the long way around in order to be able to give them directions which are short and easy to follow.

But here we're neither limited to one paragraph or an unknown audience. We're advising sparks' husband, whom she has described as an experienced business traveler who is unintimidated by finding his way in big cities. To a person like that would I give the directions I would like to get myself from BWI or Linthicum to Calvert and Connecticut: Take the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and 50/New York Ave. Consult a map between New York Ave. and the hotel, there will be some turns.

If you had just given some sort of qualifier to sparks like "This may not be the shortest or quickest route, but it's the easiest to explain" I would never have spoken up. I've given directions like that often, when it seemed appropriate given the situation and the audience. But you and MikeT should not assume that everyone finds city driving as difficult as the two of you seem to. Some of us do, some of us don't.

You should realize that many visitors are going to be much more confident and competent in finding their way around any town with maps and Mapquest than many locals are with whatever limited means they are competent to use. An experienced business traveler, pressed for time to make business meetings, should not be given directions which take him or her a roundabout route for simplicity's sake, without some clarification that that's what they're getting.

I would not want to be given such a route without warning. Let the consumer of the information know whether they're getting the simplest to explain instead of the shortest and quickest route, and let them decide which they want. sparks' husband may not need or want a route "dumbed down" for simplicity, and deserved to know there are better alternatives for more competent city drivers.

repete, you can quibble with Mapquest all you want--and sometimes you'll be right. But clearly, from its longevity and success, millions of business and other serious travelers rely on it daily to find the absolutely fastest route, and return to it again and again because thet have found it overall remarkably accurate in doing that. You didn't tell us if you checked out the directions in question to find out whether Mapquest recommends the same routes I did. My guess is that you did take a peek. In case you really didn't go look--they do.