Washington D.C.

[myangel]

Can anyone recommend a hotel in DC, I had heard that it is pretty expensive. We are looking to tour the WHite House, Visit the Smithsonian, etc. Thanks!

[selucrey]

Staying in Arlington and riding the Metro into the city would be your best bet. There are many chain hotels-motels there. You can ride the Metro anywhere you want to go.

[myangel]

Thanks!

[One4gip]

DC Hotels can be quite costly depending on the location. What part of the city did you want to stay in and when is your visit? I would highly recommend using Priceline.Com and you should at least be able to save some money on a nice hotel.

 

Public tours of the White House (East Wing Only) are available for groups of 10 or more people. Requests must be submitted through one's Member of Congress and are accepted up to six months in advance. THese are on a very limited basis.

 

Visiting the Smithsonian Museums will keep you quite busy. There are now 16 Smithsonain Museums plus the National Zoo in DC. Don't forget the Holacaust Museum or the Spy Museum.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.....

 

Ken

[can'twaittacruise]

Where is the Spy Museum? Haven't heard of that one. Is it new?

 

Lynn

[One4gip]

From http://www.visitingdc.com:

 

The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. opened in July 2002 and is extremely popular. There can be long lines, so we recommend getting advance tickets.

 

The Spy Museum has an eclectic collection that includes a replica of James Bond's Astin Martin and the mailbox once used as a signal site by CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames.

 

The $40 million dollar high-tech museum at 9th and F Streets, NW, occupies five buildings - new and old - and is a short walk from Ford's Theater.

 

The Spy Museum is open seven days a week with last admission at

5 PM from November - March and 7 PM from April - October. Admission is $14 for adults, $12 for Seniors, $10 for ages 5-18. Free admission for children under 5.

 

Also See: http://www.spymuseum.org

 

Ken

[stace11]

I would reccommend checking travelzoo.com for hotel specials in DC. They tend to have some pretty good deals, though sometimes it's pretty short notice. I would also second the priceline reccommendation. You can get some great deals there as well.

 

It's a great city, hope you enjoy it!

 

Cheers!

stacey

[tadjr]

I found a pretty good deal at the Hampton Inn in Crystal City, Va. when I went up there. It was about a 2 block walk to the metro and a short ride across into DC.

 

I would also recommend the Holocaust Museum as something to see if you have some time and have done all the regular DC sights. It was a pretty powerful place. We had already done all the other "tourist" places and wanted something different. It was something I'll never forget.

[ontheopenseas]

We found some good deals on http://www.visitdc.com. Good luck with your planning!

[Jen_G]

I live in Northern Virginia and I would recommend Old Town, Alexandria. Make sure they have a shuttle to Metro and that it is actually in Old Town ( a lot of hotels in Old

Town will shuttle you to King Street Metro). I think ther is an Embassy Suites about a block from the Metro. Great restaurants and unique shopping there. Great history in Old Town too, Gatsby's Tavern and Carlyle House are great to visit. Mount Vernon is not too far South from there. Crystal City is ok too. I personally don't like Arlington.

[KreinKrunker]

A couple of years ago we stayed at the Holiday Inn-Capital Hill for four days. http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hd/wassm?irs=y It was about a block from the Air and Space Museum, and about a block to the Metro in the other direction. We walked to everything on the mall, and took the Metro to the zoo. Had a pool on the roof. Nothing like swimming with the Capitol over one shoulder, and the Washington Monument over the other.

[Deb in Cali]

Years and years ago we stayed at Falls Church and took the Metro line in. I don't remember which Hotel chain it was with.

 

The Vietnam War Memorial is another must see. If you know anyone that is registered there, I would recommend bringing paper to take an etching of the name.

 

Got to stay at the Mayflower a few years ago, but I wasn't paying the bill. :D

[betsyrossapk]

We did DC last summer. We stayed at Summerfield Suites in Gaithersburg. It is located on the last stop on the redline. Every day we got the hotel shuttel to take us to the Metro, & once we were on it took approx 30mins to get into DC. You could wait that long just trying to get from the hotel to a freeway there. Driving is HORRIBLE in the DC area. Anyway we had a wonderful 2 bedroom suite, with 2 full bathrooms, 3 TVS & a complete kitchen & living room for $115/nite. I couldn't believe it. I only wish this chain had more hotels elsewhere. They had complete breakfast in the AM & a appetizer buffet in the evening.

[atlmagic]

Also don't forget staying in Silver Spring MD. The SS Metro station is within 2 blocks of a couple of nice hotells. And it's a straight shot back to downtown and the sites there.

 

Also... check out Mama Iesha's Calvert Cafe. It's a Middle Easten place just on the edge of Adams Morgan at the edge of the Duke Elington bridge. You can get to it from a Metro station at the Zoo. Take the Conn Ave exit. Food is GREAT and fairly cheap.

 

And you can't claim you've been to DC unless you stop and eat at Christfield's in Silver Spring MD. It's on GA ave less than 1/2 mile from DC. My parents ate there years ago and it's still as good. Hint: Go for lunch, dinner frequently has a line outside the door. Also sit at the bar. Food service is faster and you wont have to wait for a table.