We are a middle aged couple coming to washington april 25 to 30. we want to stay somewhere convenient to transport and safe to wander at night. which are the best areas to consider?

I stayed at the Days Inn CT Avenue in June and it worked perfectly as it was a short walk to the Metro Station but it was a very safe but quiet neighborhood at night.

Thanks. Seems great value and close to metro. 2 questions:

1 How late does the metro to the hotel run at night?

2 How safe is the metro at night?

Metro ran until around midnight. 1 note is that there were night baseball games that kept it open so check their website. Metro was very safe those nighs, just use common sense as you would in any city.

One of the nicest parts of DC for walking around is Georgetown - the only problem is the nearest metro is 10-12 blocks away. If that interested you, though, you could check to see if the hotel had a shuttle to metro. Otherwise, anywhere in downtown DC is pretty safe and metro accessible. You could also consider the areas along the metro red line which runs up into northwest DC along Connecticut and Wisconsin Aves. Any area around a metro station would be fine, though the areas closer to downtown are more convenient. tc's recommended hotel is on this line, and there are quite a few others. My son works at one of them - the Omni Shoreham, which is a very nice place, and only about a block from the metro entrance, he tells me.

If you haven't seen this interactive map before, it's pretty helpful-

http://www.stationmasters.com/System...ystem_map.html

What's your price range? I would try to stay closer into the downtown area then at the Days Inn on Conn Ave. That area has very little around it to do in the evening. Not many restaurants and nothing to wander to. Dupont Circle is a nice area, as is the Woodley Park area (where the Omni is located) or the Penn Quarter. All have hotels near the Metro and are more active in the evenings. On the Stationmaster site provided above look at Gallery Place for Penn quarter area. The metro is safe. http://www.wmata.com/

I stay in the Dupont Circle area for the same conveniences you list. Check out the Residence Inn, Courtyard, and Hilton Garden Inn. Last of April might be outside spring break peak, but you get family vacationers driving up rates.

I always stay in Dupont Circle and love it. There's lots of restaurants, shops, people out and about at night, beautiful architecture, etc. The Hotel Palomar is my favorite.