Washington DC lodging
 

We're seniors planning 7 days in DC. We've been looking at loding on Roomora but are concerned about being sure our lodging is in a safe area. Can someone please help with the do's and don'ts and suggest areas with safety and convenience in mind.

I recommend Pentagon city MAll area: there is a Residence Inn and another of that type lodging (forgot the name but that one has complimentary van shuttle to mall and Reagan NAtional Airport).
Pentagon City MAll is upper class Nordstom's etc, nice food court and has a underground Metro rail stop right in the Mall, that will take you many places by rail, all close by. Very nice Mall, across the street Costco etc, nice neighborhood near Pentagon & Arlington Cemetary. In fact, you can see teh side of teh Pentagon that the 911 planes ran into, memorial short distancec on local roads....

1. Look for lodging near a Metro stop for ease in getting to/from city for sightseeing
2. 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)
3. If you stay in D.C. itself (there's lots of good choices for accomodations), just avoid anyplace with "NE" in its address.

try www.hotwire.com and www.priceline.com, "name your own price".

you can stay very inexpensively in a nice 4* hotel in a convenient area.

check www.betterbidding.com for the calendar of wins on above mentioned websites and also read FAQs to learn how to bid if you decide to do that.

At betterbidding,com you may be able to decipher the no name hotels on hotwire with their extensive hotel list.

We stayed at the Westin near the Pentagon City Mall in VA... we rented a car, and had no problems....

I would get a hotel within walking distance of any of the above recommended areas and forget about any car rental considerations or recommendations.

In DC, Downtown, Penn Quarter and Dupont Circle are good

you do NOT want a car in DC.
The buses are great, as is the metro, depending on where you are coming/going to. Plus I think seniors pay 50cents or so each bus ride. I was with my elderly mother and I remember some kind of discount.

Agree w/the above posts: Pentagon City, Crystal City, Rosslyn, Downtown, Georgetown; Dupont Circle has a young crowd - lots of fun! Ballston is abit further out and the area near the King's Steet Metro may not meet your comfy zone. It is safe as any but has less foot traffic/shops & restaurants open at night than the water end of King Street. You don't say if you are seniors my age, 60, or parents' age, 80&85. They prefer well lighted streets w/lots of people at night while I'm ok w/less.

Transportation is excellent, DC Circulator in town; http://www.dccirculator.com/cms/ and metro bus and subway in town & the suburbs while parking is expensive and/or nonexistent

Most hotels will have shuttle service to/from Reagan National. Here are some good links for info, call and the first should help you w/booking.

http://washington.org/

http://vrc.dc.gov/vrc/site/default.a...portal_link=hr

http://www.visitdc.com/

U definitely do not want a car in DC. There are senior fares (bus is $.65) For more info on buses and metro senior fares check out http://www.wmata.com/fares/metrobus.cfm

U might also consider staying in Chevy Chase. there is an Embassy Suites right at the RedLine metro.

Does the OP have a budget? When are they visiting? Makes a difference.

What Roomora?

Embassy suites at the Chevy Chase Pavillion is an excellent choice and it like Pentagon city is within a nice mall. The Metro is right there and the neighborhood is fairly nice on Wisconsin Avenue Northwest. I lieve near the Washington National Cathedral also on Wisconsin Ave NW--be sure to visit.

Jen