My family (husband and 7 year old son) are planning on visiting DC in June. I've made reservations at the Crystal City Marriott at Reagan but recently found out about Crystal Gateway Marriott across the street. I've read a lot of reviews and no clear line between which one is better (they are both the same price). Any opinions?

Why are you staying out in the airport/Crystal City area rather than in town?

you are staying very far away from the "action" of the mall area. there are marriotts (courtyard and convention center - check the marriott site) right within blocks of all the attractions, the one close to 9th has an indoor pool.

It has a metro station down stairs which I thought would give us easy access to the sites. The ones "in town" are very expensive (I booked this room for $139). I understand there are a lot restaurants in the area as well. I don't mind the metro ride (I'm sure my son will love it). Am I making a mistake?

Hello, SShuttle! Just a suggestion to help you out here...you will get more responses if you repost w/ DC in your heading: Which DC Marriott???

I'd recommend Rosslyn over Crystal City. You're just across the bridge from Georgetown, the Teddy Roosevelt Memorial is an underappreciated gem and it's just generally a nicer location IMO.

I'm kind of with repete on prefering Roslyn. You can walk across the bridge into Georgetown and have a very wide selection of restaurants. You also might be lucky enought to get a room with a view of the city, which I don't know if you can from the Crystal City hotels.

to WOW: Can't seem to figure out to edit my title, is it even possible without reposting?

Nope, it's not possible to edit anything after it's posted.

You may also consider doing priceline. For the same price or less, you can probably get something as nice, in a much better location. A few years ago we (family of 4) did priceline and landed the JW MArriot, a few blocks from the white house. CHeck out biddingfortravel.com.

IMO, Crystal City isn't that bad--you're right that the Metro is right there, and your son will love taking it. The main drawbacks are that you won't be able to walk to anything worth going to--it'll be Metro every day. And the area is pretty dismal--not dangerous, just blah. So Roslyn would be better, and if you can Priceline an in-town hotel, even better, but you'll still have a good visit even if you stay in CC. Good luck!

sshuttle. Have stayed in the Crystal City area a few times, including the Marriott. I don't really remember which one it was but I don't think it was the one with the metro in the basement. The hotels I have stayed in there have been nice. I like the location especially when flying in & out of DCA. Although it may not be as totally convenient as some others mentioned here, it still was not all that bad to hop on the metro & get to & from were you are going. Also, if you plan on driving to Mount Vernon, that is a decent enough area to start from. Crystal city is a business area with a many hotels & a couple of shopping malls, - one in the area underground - but be aware that the metro in the basement statement may mean walking a few blocks or so through the underground mall before you actually get to the metro station - & there are a number of restaurants in the area because of the malls, or a number of hotels have restaurants in them also. Crystal City is not quite as far out as Alexandria, but doesn't have the atmosphere of Alexandria. I would stay in Crystal City again. But I am thinking of trying the DuPont Circle area next time, because of postings on this site.

To SShuttle: unfortunatley, you have to re-post.
Maybe you do not need to..looks like you have some good info here...Maybe that's all you need!

The Crystal Gateway is much bigger (& better pool) and it is still a short walk to the Metro. In Crystal City, you are a short drive to Old Town Alexandria and (agreeing with earlier post) it is worth it to drive out to Mount Vernon if you have a car. Of course, you DO have to pay for parking. If you are w/o car, there are several auto rental places for the Airport VERY close by (but a bit far to walk). With a 7 yr old, I would NOT stay at the Key Bridge - too much hiking. JW Marriott is very handy & expensive, Metro Center Marriott is convenient and better priced. West End Marriott is not quite DuPont OR Georgetown - long walks to Metro. So for price, Crystal City works well; also close to Pentagon City Mall. Several nice restaurants on 29th St(?) in walking distance of the CGateway. It might be worth it to buy the Metro daily passes - check www.wmata.com. Don't forget to bring hats and carry water & snacks with you to the Mall!

The Crystal City area around this metro has gotten a number of new restaurants in the last year. There is now a Jaleo, a Mexican tapas place, owned by the Jaleo people, an icecream place etc. Combined with the places on 23rd St. across Jeff Davis Hwy (rte. 1) this area has more going for it than before. You'll have to ride the metro every day but as others have said you are close to Alex. and Mt. Vernon and there is more at this location now.

I honestly prefer the Crystal City area to Rosslyn. Rosslyn seems dirtier. There's plenty of places to eat in Crystal City, and it's very handy to the metro. Yes, I'd agree it's better to stay in the city. But if the price is right, staying in Crystal City wouldn't be bad.

I would try priceline, however, if you are not staying for more than 4 days, because you will save a lot of money.

NO, you are NOT making a mistake. My family made this trip in October with kids aged 9 and 5 and this was just perfect for us. Yes, it is outside of the city but we didn't really want to pay for being "in town" and, as it turned out, we didn't really need to be. The Metro is in the basement and we were able to access everything - Mt. Vernon, Arlington Cemetary, the White House, the Mall and all of the musuems and monuments, even Chinatown for dinner on night - using it. I suspect your kids will love the train as much as mine did and by the end of the trip they were quite good at finding the right trains to board. We visited everything from this nice hotel and for $140.00 you can't go wrong. A couple of tips, the mall below closes early-ish since it is primarily a commuter mall, so be prepared to get things you need (snacks, books, etc) during the day. However, the restaurants there do stay open into the evening. Speaking of restaurants, the hotel's aren't what I would call kid friendly. Breakfast is great but plan to eat evening meals out - Nouveau cuisne and all. Does your rate include breakfast?? Also, the hot tub is OFF LIMITS to kids so you may need to do some damage control if your kids expect this. I'd love to know what you think after your return. I've recommended this hotel to many people here at home. Have fun and don't worry! This is a great hotel for an inexpensive but NICE trip to DC. They even have a Starbucks in the lobby and a coin op laundry (just in case)! Hope this helps. I was confused too, but ultimately really happy with this location.
Holly

mhbeverly, the OP visited DC in June of 2005.