Washington DC with school group
 

I'm helping plan a budget trip for about 20 fifth graders and chaperones. Any suggestions? I've looked into the Embassy Suites and that looks wonderful. The Hostel is inexpensive, but, stories of bed bugs frighten me. Any other suggestions or thoughts?

The Embassy Suites doesn't have many kid-friendly restaurants nearby. I don't the the hostel is appropriate for a group of 5th graders anyway.

BTW, what is your budget?

Anyway....

Two very popular budget hotels for school groups are Red Roof Inn Chinatown and Hotel Harrington. Another very inexpensive (less than $200) central DC hotel is the Hilton Garden Inn.

Here are some maps of central areas by Metro with hotel locations:

http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../mcphersn.html
(Hilton Garden Inn)

http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../mcphersn.html
(Harrington)

http://www.stationmasters.com/System.../gallrypl.html
(Red Roof Inn)

There are at least 4 Embassy Suites in the DC area. The ones downtown and in Crystal City are less convenient to the Metro than the ones in Alexandria and in Chevy Chase. The last one, although the farthest-out, is in many ways the most convenient because it's literally on top of the Friendship Heights Metro station, and it's attached to a friendly mall with restaurants. Its corner suites are quite large, with room for rollaways in addition to the usual beds.

Good point. I always assume Dupont Circle Emabassy Suites, need to break that habit.

Ugh. The Harrington and red roof inn are booked.

Why do you think the Hostel is not good for 5th graders?

When is your trip?

The trip is from the 23rd to the 26th.

Any help would be appreciated, including names of good cheap places to eat that could accomodate a large group. Thanks

What month is your trip?

There's not much in D.C. that's inexpensive. How about checking with churches or school groups of r PTSa about setting up some kind of exchange or at least shared housing? Make new friends! There's so much to see and do here, but it IS costly. Now, while I have your attanetion, did you know that the residents of the District of Columbia, all half a million of us, have no senator or congressman? It's because the constituteion pegs us as a federal district, so we have no vote in Congress. This is pretty bad in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, that resident of the People's Capital don;t have representation. So we pay our taxes, and go off to war, and do everything YOU do, but we can;t complain to anyone if we want something changed or if we want different policies. The only way this can be fixed is with a constitutional amendment. Won;t you please help us?
Incidentally, this lack of representation for D.C. would make a heckuva great 5th-grade project!

We're going in May. But, turns out someone already booked the hostel. Hope it's okay.

Any suggestions for nice (mid-range) hotels nearby that others can stay at?

I didn't know about the representation thing. Interesting.

Hmmmmm. It is kind of late for May. If the Embassy Suites (Chevy Chase), has rooms, I'd book it now.

DC is not cheap. I've been looking for rooms for a trip in October. There are plenty of rooms still available for October, but they are expensive! I've settled on the Red Roof Inn.

The Embassy Suites on 22nd Street in Foggy Bottom is about two blocks from a Metro stop. That's a lot more "convenient" than some other places IMO.

Van_Ness..when you guys get a MAYOR who doesn't insist on being called "The Governor" and can refrain from taking "good will" trips to other continents then maybe people will listen..

Several years ago my DS's 8th grade trip was to DC. They stayed at an Embassy Suites with a mall downstairs. (Probably the one that a previous poster mentioned.) The principal said she always chose this one because of the easy access to transportation as well as the fact that the mall had a food court so the kids could pick and choose where they wanted to eat.

Doesn't Embassy Suites also provide breakfast and "happy hour" type snacks? If you are on a budget, a hotel that includes food will help a lot.

Yes, the ES with the mall is the one at Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights.

An additional advantage of the huge ES free breakfast (in addition to cost savings) is that members of the group don't have to all be ready for their day at the same time; half can be breakfasting while the other half are showering, or whatever, it's a much more relaxed way to start the day. Also faster than eating in a restaurant since there's no wait for food except the cook-to-order items, and usually less trouble finding appropriate seating, or you can bring food back to the room. With a gang of ten-year-olds, that culd be a big help.

Thanks, Intrepid, for your idea to help DC get represenatation in Congress. You think that electinga a better mayor will convince people who have to support a constitutional amendment that we will 'deserve' to vote once we do that, huh? Actually, we're Americans just like the rest of you. How about some help with this? Or, if you'd rather, just ignore us until we're 'deserving' of representation. Let us know when we meet your standards, willya?

There is a 4H center on Connecticutt Ave that has dorms ... they used to rent them out for other groups, I'm not sure if they still do. I know someone who stayed there a few years ago for an Americorps seminar & she like the place and the location ... short bus ride or even a walk to Metro station. Do a search if it interests you.

You're just as likely to encounter bedbugs at Embassy Suites as the hostel, imo. Articles abound about the little critters showing up in all categories of hotels.

I believe the new Embassy Suites (Convention Center) is very close to the hostel.

The 4H does not have rooms available. The kids and chaperones will stay at the hostel and other families might stay at the Embassy Suites convention center or the Jury's Inn Hotel. It seems that that ES is only one block from the hostel. Is that correct?

misha, you probably are aware of this, but nearly every 8th grade class takes an annual trip to DC during the months of May and June. This also means that many of the lower budget eateries as well as attractions will be packed (in addition to other visitors).

Good luck with your trip -- you are a brave soul to take twenty 5th graders on this adventure! :D