Washington DC Hotel Recommendations
 

Arrival May 12th
Departure May 17th

Looking for a reasonable hotel $200-$300

We do have a car

Who/how many are we?

A car is useless in center city DC (you will have to find a garage to put it in) - but OK to take trips out of the city.

As NYtraveler says, you won't be using your car in D.C. Most hotels charge a parking fee, so you'll have to factor that into your budget. You will want to find a hotel close to a Metro station.

Areas to look at in DC: Downtown, Dupont Circle, Penn Quarter
Areas to look at in Arlington, VA: Rosslyn, Crystal City

There is an echo in here . . .

We often stay at the Embassy Suites in Alexandria. Right across the street from the Metro and walking distance to Old Town Alexandria

Look for lodging near a Metro stop for ease in getting to/from city for sightseeing
Popular areas which are outside of, but near D.C., are Arlington, Virginia (look for hotels near the Metro stops of Crystal City, Rosslyn or Ballston for example) and Alexandria, Virginia (look for accomodations near the King Street Metro)
If you stay in D.C. itself (there's lots of good choices for accomodations), just avoid anyplace with "NE" in its address.
Hope this helps

That car will cost a fortune to garage in DC, your best bet is somewhere in the suburbs and you probalby have to pay even there if they are close in. I know it costs $24 a day at the Embassy SUites in Bethesda. I know you are probably thinking of something more deluxe, but the Courtyard Marriott in Silver Spring is near cinema/restaurants and the metro stop, and it's next to a public parking garage so that's only about $8 a day for parking. Of course, since your range is $200-300 a day, that leaves plenty for parking. I think the Hilton in Silver Spring charges $15/day.

Hotels downtown DC charge more like $40 a day parking, I think.

The Dupont Hotel charges (as I recall) $25 for parking, but that's still a lot to pay for a car that isn't going to be used!

May is tricky in DC. Places I normally stay in the $200ish range downtown are quoting nearly double or more for that week of May.

I booked the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria for under $300. I saw that they have a rate as low as $195 a night if you're booking 6 nights. That is a steal. It's not downtown DC but Alexandria, especially in the location of the Monaco, has a lot to offer in terms of restaurants and ambiance.

Hotel parking downtown will run $30-$40 a day. If you're not going to need your car and are staying downtown or in Virginia close to downtown, park in the economy lot at Reagan National. That will run you $12/day. That's about as cheap as you can go, short of free. You can metro to and from the airport.

The Dupont Hotel charges $32 a day for parking. The rooms are more like $400-600 a day, anyway, in May so the OP couldn't stay there.