I am a Hilton Honors member and would like to stay at a Hilton. Having never been to Washington D.C., I was wondering which Hilton has the best location as far as easy access to sights. Like the Capital, the White House, monuments, etc. It seems I've read a lot about the quality of the different Hiltons but not much about the convenience of the locations. Any suggestions? Thank you!

Not sure if there are Hiltons in either of these locations, but another post recommends Dupont Circle (right in the city) or Old Town Alexandria.

Sorry, I can't help you with your question, but we will be going to Washington DC in May for the first time too. We are not Hilton Honors members, but we booked a flight and hotel through Hotwire. The hotel is Hilton Crystal City at National Airport. From what we understand, it's a three star, 1/2 mile from the airport with a shuttle to the hotel, and 3 miles from the Mall with a Metro close by for convience. Has anybody stayed there to confirm this for us ? Thanks for your help, and LuvNYC, I hope you find the Hilton that works for you. Thanks, again !

I don't think there's a Hilton in Alexandria, but I personally wouldn't stay there anyway as there are several in the District as I would see no reason to stay in a suburb.

There are only four I know of -- Embassy Row, Garden Inn near Franklin Sq, one around 16th St and K (Capital Hilton), and the biggie called Wash. Hilton and Towers. All of these are pretty good in location, but I'd put the Towers at the very bottom of my list. It's a huge hotel for conventions, so isn't that good for casual travelers unless you like that, but is also farther to a metro stop.

I'd choose Embassy Row for ambience of location and convenience as it's only a block or two from Dupont Circle metro, right near the Phillips Collection gallery and plenty of restaurants. It's also more a smaller boutique hotel, at least for a Hilton. I find it rather pleasant. Franklin Sq. is the closest to the White House and you could walk there and to some museums if you want--it's also right near a metro stop and there are restaurants around there, also. The other one is bigger and also more used for conventions (16th) and not too far from a metro stop, but that area is much more businessy and I don't like it as well. It's not terrible, however.

Washington is a small city so distance between these hotels in comparison to tourist sites doesn't really make any difference--however it is a city, it's not THAT small, so you cannot walk to everything you want to see in Washington, regardless--you'll have to take the metro so closeness to a stop is more important. No hotel is near the monuments and no metro stop is that close, either.

Capital Hilton, 16th and K streets NW, is about three blocks from the White House and two Metro Stations (Farragut North and McPherson Sq).
Hilton Embassy Row, Mass Ave and 21st NW, is very close to the Dupont Circle station.
Both of the above are in the central taxi zone.
Washington Hilton, a big convention hotel, is up Conn. Ave. about four blocks from Dupont Circle, and in the second taxi zone, so any trip between there and capitol/museums/attractions (except the zoo) would be a two-zone ride.

Capitol! Capitol! Capitol! Capitol! Capitol! Capitol! Capitol! Capitol!

Thanks, I feel better now.

LuvNYC,

Don't forget that the Embassy Suites and Doubletree are part of the Hilton family of hotels.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites at 22nd St NW & N St (between Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle) in June. We used our Hilton points and stayed for 6 nights for 100,000 points. It's about a 10-15 minute walk to the Foggy Bottom metro station and about the same distance to the Dupont Circle metro. That puts you close to all the lines of the metro, which we found convenient. Also, the free breakfast and drinks in the afternoon were quite nice.

Not really any hotels in DC are close enough to walk everywhere. Your best bet is to locate yourself close to a metro station and buy a pass. We are walkers and from the Embassy Suites we walked on a tour of the monuments - Lincoln, Viet Vets, Korean, FDR and Jefferson. We also walked to the White House from this hotel.

The Doubletree Suites is actually closer to the Foggy Bottom Station than the Embassy Suites. So there's a couple of suggestions for you to look into. Have a great trip!

E ~ Can you elaborate a bit more on the Capital Hilton? Why would you choose the Capital Hilton?

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn at Franklin Sq in March on a family trip to DC. We found the location to be excellent. We walked to the monuments and to the Smithsonians, but we could have easily taken the Metro which was directly, and I mean directly, across the street. We were a mere 2 blocks from the White House. The hotel was clean and services was encellent. Our kids enjoyed the small but clean indoor pool every day. We'd stay there again in a heartbeat.

Oh dear--I'm exposed as a jerk. LuvNYC, I wasn't endorsing the hotel, I was correcting your spelling--it's the Capitol, with an "o". Spelling mistakes are a pet peeve of mine. I did not mean to be snide.

I would second Christina's take on the Hilton Embassy Row. I've stayed there several times and have upcoming reservations, too. It's a very nice location for access to the Dupont Circle neighborhood, with all of its shops and restaurants. You also have easy access to the metro. The Hilton Embassy Row is decidedly not a convention-style hotel, but far more of a boutique style in terms of ambiance and intimacy of the lobby/lounge areas, etc. The standard guest rooms aren't particularly large, but certainly adequate. I give it good marks and I've been able to get decent rates, too.

Hey, E, I doubted your spelling so I took a look at hiltonhotels.com and it is the Capital Hilton.

The reason I thought your spelling was wrong was because of the location at 16th & K, in our nation's capital. That is near the White House and NOT near the Capitol building. If it was on Capitol Hill, then I would have thought you were right.

The Capital Hilton has a great location in the part of D.C. called "New Downtown." It's within walking distance of the Mall and all the museums, as well as the White House. The National Geographic Society is a couple of blocks away. Also, the Farragut North metro station is a couple of blocks away.

Thank you Mr. Wunrfl for coming to the rescue. "E" ~ misspelling is also a pet peeve of mine! I was always a straight A speller in school! ;-)
Anyway, thank you everyone for all of the suggestions. I guess I'll go with the Embassy Row or Embassy Suites.

I stand corrected--thanks mrwunrfl! My top spelling peeves, from this website: "site" vs. "sight", as in "What are the sites to see in NYC?"--argh; Monterey, CA, spelled every which way; Capitol vs. capital; Manhattan, not "Manhatten". I know there are others...Tucson frequently becomes "Tuscon", but I take that to be a typo. And the rampant misuse of apostrophes drives me nuts.
Anyway, sorry to divert your post from its topic, and thanks again for the correction! Have a great trip, LuvNYC!