Washington DC - need Pricelne hotel area help
 

We are staying in DC from September 26th - 30th. I am planning on using Priceline for my hotel and need some help with choosing the best area.

We would like to stay inside the beltway so we can use the Metro. We will have a car with us, however, so we need a place with parking.

We plan on visiting these attractions (and probably just roaming around a bit):
Smithsonian
Air & Space Museum (probably the one at Dulles, which we can drive to)
National Geographic Museum
National Archives
Mount Vernon
A walking Ghost Tour
See the monuments / mall

We'd like to spend less than $100 per night and based on my previous experience with Priceline, that's around $175 per night retail price.

My Priceline area choices are:
Downtown DC
Arlington/Reagan Airport
Northwest DC
Alexandria/Springfield
Bethesda
DC Suburbs
Dulles

I'd appreciate any suggestions on the best area to search for these parameters.

Thanks in advance!

I would prefer Bethesda to Alexandria/Springfield. Alex. is fine, but I wouldn't want to stay in Springfield. What does the DC Suburbs include since Bethesda, Arlington, Alexandria and Dulles would all be DC suburbs. I would not stay out as far as Dulles. No public transportation that is relatively quick into the city. I guess since u will have a car u could drive to a metro and then metro it in, but that's time consuming.

The areas listed in the OP do not correspond to the areas shown on the Priceline bidding map. The Priceline areas include Alexandria/OldTown, Arlington, Convention Center/Capitol Hill area, Crystal City, Dupont Circle/ Woodley Park, and White House/Downtown. There is also an area called DC Suburbs/Northeast area.

Anonymous, that sure makes a lot more sense

Seems like a very important factor for you is what kind of parking is available for your car at what price. Would of course be more convenient (and probably more fun) to stay in town - but wow - parking (even if any attached to hotel) is bound to be expensive. On the other hand seems likely that suburban places would have lower priced hotel parking (who knows maybe there's a place with free parking).

You need to study Betterbidding and biddingfortravel to get your areas in line with Priceline's areas.

I got a terrific price at the JW Marriott in the White House Downtown area but the parking was $40 a night and not guaranteed -- that is, if you arrived too late, too bad. In this case, we took the train from Richmond.

In other cities, we have occasionally dropped one person off to check in while the other person drove the car to a remote lot -- airport or public. I can't conceive of any reason to want to drive around in Washington itself, so this may work for you.

I GOT MY BEST DEALS AT TYSON'S CORNERS. THAT MIDWAY TO DULLES AREA (AIR & SPACE.)THERE SHOULD BE A MTRO STOP CONVENIENT.
KRATOCHVILSBJ

Hi, I'm a local. If your desire is to stick with Metro, cross Dulles and Springfield off your list. Also Alexandria - I've only used Hotwire, but their should be some discrepancy (maybe int he hotel description?) between Alexandria as a whole and Crystal City/Pentagon City, which is only a couple stops from downtown. (BTW, that guy above me - there's nothing near Tyson's Corner)

Also, go here now:
http://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm
and stick with Red, Orange, Blue and Yellow lines. The faint gray line is the Beltway.

You probably want to stick Westish and Southish: Arlington, Downtown DC, Northwest DC, or Bethesda/Chevy Chase to conveniently get to Mount Vernon and the Udvar-Hazy Center. You'll get your best deals in Arlington and Northwest DC but you'll get your nicest hotels in Northwest DC and B-CC.

I should note that the subway is air-conditioned and there really isn't much in the way of nightlife near the Mall (except for pockets - DC is very neighborhood by neighborhood). What do you want to do at night? What do you like to see? I could probably give you a better answer...

Also, the Udvar-Hazy center is $12 for parking and that covers the cost of entry, making it I think the only Smithsonian museum that charges entry. It's pretty awesome, though, if you like aviation. *Really* hard to get a good light reading if you're a photographer (bring your reflective meter), as it is an airport hangar. It's about a half hour drive from anywhere central.

I found Priceline pretty pricey for discounts. You've had luck with them? Hotwire's been good to me, and I'm using the search through TripAdvisor and BookingBuddy for my trip to Europe, searching through them to other sites turned up the best deals. Cheapest areas will be Arlington around Falls Church and maybe you can score some deals in Crystal City or near the zoo.

Also, my friend rents an apartment near the Capitol (and it's a nice apartment) that I think is about that price. I can check if you're interested.

One more note - *outside* of DC the hotel parking fee is $20 if it's not included.

Okay, ONE more: Check out the Highlander Motor Inn in Arlington. It looks really cool in a 50's kind of way, it's 3 blocks from the Metro, it's in an area with restaurants (Clarendon) and it's next door to the best steak & cheese place. I've always wanted to stay there. And it's a MOTOR INN so parking is free.

Plus, I just checked those dates and it's about $80 per night.

I"m local also, and whatever you do, do NOT stay at or near Tysons Corner. It's an awful place and there isn't a metro there, anyway (yet).

I think parking is usually going to be included outside DC, at least motels, even if they are just a few miles outside. But the beltway isn't synonymous with having a metro option, although the closer the better for convenience. Clarendon would be a good choice. That price is just really low, I'll be surprised if you get something in late September for that rate (in a city hotel).

I wouldn't bid on Alexandria as that's an entire county and a place could be far out and not near a metro. Most of Alexandria is not Old Town. I wouldn't bid on suburbs/NE as it sounds like that could be anywhere.

Thanks to everyone for the assistance. The location options I gave were taken right from Priceline, so I don't know why I got so many posts stating they were wrong (I'll have another look).

Oh, and fujifan, thanks for the local perspective - it's especially helpful.

To answer your question, I've had great luck with the Name Your Own Price option on Priceline (used it about half a dozen times). I've traveled extensively in the UK (parents from there) and always use www.smoothhound.co.uk; even if you decide not to book with them, I've found the photos & online brochures very helpful.

Photo_Traveler, there are two ways to book rooms via priceline: the original "name your own price" bidding and regular traditional (discounted) booking. Those locations that you gave are not related to the map areas that are used in the Priceline bidding process, but they appear in the drop-down menu for sorting the regular booking options.

name your own price, and the normal booking prices zones do not correspond as mentioned. Best you read up a LOT before you bid as you are not familiar with the system.

Most hotels will have in and out valet parking around $30 or more. There are cheaper lots you can find googling " best parking DC".

Try www.travelzoo.com also as there are offers sometmes for parking with room. many hotels that are not near metro have a free shuttle to nearest stop. (sheraton near Pentagon, for example).

www.hotwire.com may be interesting. www.betterbidding.com has hotel lists that can help decipher which hotel they are offering on hotwire. There is a great moderator over there at betterbidding. It is a very friendly website but read the FAQs before asking questions.

I just got 3 rooms at the Marriott across from the Zoo for $95/nite on priceline. we are traveling at end of September. Looking at their website it seems to be a good deal. I used betterbidding also. Site has really good info. I went up to $135 in areas around whitehouse and capitol. Waited a few days and went down to 3.5 stars bidding and started with Capitol area for $80 then added Whitehouse for 90 then Dupont and got Marriot for 95. Waiting closer to the date could have gotten a better deal, but I needed 3 rooms--I still think it is a good deal and my 9yr old granddaughter is excited about being close to zoo

@Photo_Traveler, glad I could help. Thanks for the link! What a good site. I hate trying to find a hotel in "Greater London / The Midlands / The North" as if they were small areas. I'll definitely use that next spring. Now, you don't have any tips for Belgium or Normandy, do you? I'm headed there very soon...

A tip for going to Mount Vernon, your driving directions should include taking George Washington Parkway there - it's a beautiful scenic route, speed limit is 40-50 mph so it's only about a half hour drive. You go through Old Town Alexandria, which is a nice place to stop for a meal if you haven't been (and there's a nice waterfront). You also pass by National Airport between Mount Vernon and the bridges, and just north of the airport is a place called Gravelly Point. It's a popular place with the locals, just a small park, but all the planes take off or land overhead so it's kind of neat if you like planes. Worth a ten minute stop if you're going that way anyway.

@rphsims1, the zoo is FANTASTIC! I've been to quite a few and it's still my favorite, only rivaled by the Berlin Zoo. I'll give you a quick tip about the Metro, since you're equidistant between two stops: going to the Metro, walk south to the Woodley Park-Zoo stop, and coming from, walk south from Cleveland Park. It's a good long walk, not too long, but it helps when you can stay facing downhill. =)

And a quick tip about the zoo: if you find yourself at the other (lower) end of the zoo @ 11:30 am, you'll be there to watch the seal training, which is always an impressive show!

In March I used Priceline for Fairfax, VA. I was there three nights and bid for a 3-star (two free rebid zones in N. Virginia). First two nights were at the fabulous Hilton Garden Inn, which had a free shuttle to the Metro station. The last night (an add-on) was unfortunately at a different hotel, the Hyatt, which wasn't as nice, and I don't know whether they had a shuttle or not. However, I paid something like $45/night for each place...

The one day I did use the shuttle to the Fairfax metro station, I noticed there was ample parking there to the point where I could have simply parked there instead of relying on the shuttle. This was a weekday in March.

Fairfax would be fairly convenient for the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles as well.

"I'll give you a quick tip about the Metro, since you're equidistant between two stops ..."

That tip would be excellent IF the Marriott were literally across from the zoo. But the only Marriott that I'm aware of in that area is the Marriott Wardman Park, which is next to the Woodley Park/Zoo Adams Morgan Metro station.

Just today, we got the Georgetown Uni Hotel on Priceline for 4 days in October ($86). Coming from Dulles, it seems a bit awkward to get to, tho I'm sure we'll manage.
5A bus to Rosslyn
38B bus towards Farragut Ave and get off at NW M St and NW 34th St. Walk about a mile, or get a taxi if raining.

Any easier ideas, please?
In hindsight, "Foggy Bottom" area wasn't such a good idea, too late now. The hotel looks OK and price OK too.