Author: joebear
Date: 02/15/2008, 10:21 am
We are planning to take our 16 year old daughter to Washington during March spring break. Please advise the best place to stay without much commuting? I would like it to be safe, clean, fun area and can afford up to $200 a night. She has not been before so the standard sights will be the agenda

How about The Quincy at 1823 L Street NW?

Nice rooms, walking distance to downtown sites and near subway stations.

The Dupont Circle area would probably be a good choice.

Pricing is hard in D.C. for hotel rooms.

Anything off any of the Metro lines is fine.

Family wise, as you are, and myself too next time- I will stay in old town Alexandria right on the Metro.

Perfect for meals and to get to everything and you also get to see some water.

My second choice would be something over by the Archives area.

Last time I stayed at the Quincy address above, and it is between two very close lines and you can get to everything. But read my long post here ($22 in the title)about my Quincy review.

Downtown is not an easy area to get meals at breakfast etc. - you'd have much better luck with your budget in Alexandria.

Hotel costs, outside of Priceline or Hotwire, for D.C. are more than you want to spend, frankly.

I recently suggested the Jurys Hotel in Dupont Circle to some friends. The rate was $158 and they thought the rooms were in good condition. Dupont is a good neighborhood, with a Metro stop and in walking distance to many sights.

That's a tourist area and its fine to get to everything. But lately the prices have not been anywhere close to $158. All of the Jury's were over $239 per day or more when I was there last Feb.

There are also immense differences in room rates between weekdays and weekends in D.C. Weekends are much cheaper. And that is almost the exact opposite of many of the other big American cities.

Well, for the benefit of the OP, the rate was available two weeks ago during weekdays. I booked the rooms and got the rate from calling the hotel directly, not on line (they showed they were booked on line).

But JJ5 is correct, prices can vary quite a bit and sometimes it is very hard to get a hotel room in the city at all without paying an arm and a leg.

Have you searched hotels in Washington on this forum. There are lots of recent threads.

We stayed at the very nice Jury's Washington Hotel on Dupont Circle for $179 a night in October and someone recently posted that he stayed there for $119.

Jury's Dupont is very well priced for such a great location (it is where I sent my parents when they came to DC), but the OP is looking for "spring break" lodging. The most expensive season in DC is Easter/cherryblossom time, so I'd be surprised if they find rooms for that early-February rate.

I'm shocked that the rates are what they are- what they have quoted February 2008.

We were in D.C. a year ago right now, left on Feb.13 and there was NOTHING, nowhere for under $239 and that was on the weekends. Weekdays were at or close to the $300 per day mark. Jury's as well.

I ended up getting the Quincy on quikbook.

You may try www.quikbook.com and pick an exact name, do not have to bid, for a cheaper rate than calling the hotel you are interested in.

And I made reservations way before that former Christmas, and tried to change close to the date for a better place, but nothing worked that Feb. 2007 on any availability.
The B&B I liked had no availability on the Friday of the stay, right smack in the middle. It was a Wednes. to Tuesday vacation.

www.quikbook.com can also be cancelled up to 48 hours ahead, I think.

I've stayed at the Embassy Suites in Foggy Bottom with my husband and two kids. The suite aspect of the room was great for our family, and a great breakfast is included. At the end of the day the free cocktails at happy hour were also fabulous. You are about 4 blocks (if I remember correctly) from a metro station, so you can easily get around. In the other direction it is just a 20-minute walk (very safe and pleasant) to Georgetown. I don't remember our rate, but with the large room, breakfast for four and drinks included it was great. Have fun!

Hotel Monaco hands down.

Harrington hotel. Two blocks from the mall and the White house near the FBI building.How safer can you get ?

Those choices, except for Embassy, were not close to her budget when I was there last Feb. I actually walked into the Hotel Monaco, because I liked that location for a next closer to the Archives stay, but it is not, IMHO, anything equal to what you would get for that money in a great majority of other cities.

And my room at the Quincy was a suite and at least 3 times the size of some of these other rooms, like Monaco, mentioned.