By admin on March 15, 2011
We want to go to Washington DC this summer, but we are willing to drive a bit to save good money on hotels. Coming from FL. Any suggestions??
Posted in Hotels Washington Dc | Tagged bit, hotels, money, summer, washington dc |
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Richmond, Va
Alexandria, Virginia has some good hotel rates. I stayed there while visiting Washington D.C. My hotel had a free shuttle to the Metro station. The Metro is an easy way to get around Washington. The hotels in the middle of Washington D.C. are all very expensive.
Richmond, VA is 2 hours south of D.C., so don’t plan on staying there. Instead, select a hotel in either Rockville or Gaithersburg in Maryland. Both have hotels close to the Metro and you’ll pay much, much less for rooms there than you will in the city. Go online to the Metro website and see the Red Line’s route. It will take you right downtown and you can access all there is to see. The Metro ride is about 40 minutes from Gaithersburg to Union Station in D.C., about 30 minutes from Rockville.
Leave your car at the hotel and take Metro into the city, or park at one of the Metro stations. It is much cheaper in the long run than paying for parking in a garage. Forget parking on the street. Meter readers are serious in this town and the tickets are expensive.
Directions: I-95 north to I-495 West/North. Take I-270 North exit to either Rockville or Gaithersburg. Both towns are adjacent to the highway and very easy to navigate.
You might want to look at a couple of ‘extended stay’ hotels for your trip. You’ll save money by paying for only 1 suite and each one has a kitchen so you can save again by making some of your own meals. These facilities are typically very close to the Metro and many have buses right at the door going to the Metro station.
You can see these by simply asking for “extended stay hotels” and selecting the company and town that interests you.
Ok, let me give you the scoop on your options.
You are correct, staying in a hotel inside Washington DC is going to cost you a good bit of money. The next cheaper alternative is to stay in either Maryland or Virginia, close to the Metro (subway) line. You will save about 50% by doing this.
The next step down would be to stay even further outside of the Washington area. Places like Leesburg, Virginia or Waldorf Maryland. Those areas are about 25 miles outside of Washington DC.
But..and this is a big but, the traffic in the DC area can be hectic. If you decide to stay in a hotel way outside of town, then your simple drive of 25 miles will take you at least an hour (plenty of red lights and cogested traffic, so your average speed is only 25 mph).
If it were me, I would personally opt for a hotel in someplace like Alexandria, VA or Rockville MD, that is close to the Metro stations. The time and aggravation that you save by not having to drive is worth it! The Metro is the best way to get around DC and is reasonably priced (I think you can get a one week fare card for a fixed rate that will allow you unlimited travel on the Metro). Even if a hotel is within walking distance of a Metro station, some offer shuttle van services to and from the Metro station. When you return to the Metro station after a long day of scouting around DC, you just call the hotel front desk on your cell phone or pay phone and they will send the van to pick you up.
Good luck!
Our school is staying in McLean, Virginia, which is in Fairfax County. I think it’s about 20 min from DC.
There is not much economy lodging in safe areas in Metro DC (personally I compare it to NYC) and (i) if you decided it was mandatory to stay within walking distance of a Metro stop, then it’s like buying a good home in Metro DC for location, location, location the daily lodging rate goes up esp based on curb appeal and how new the construction etc… (ii) if you elected to stay too far out to save on money where the recurring public transportation is limited, I do not recommend it unless you are driving or have a rental car bec you would have to build the bus schedule into your plan and on a non work day or if you happen to miss the bus, taxi would be so expensive it would offset any savings for discounted lodging.
Assuming you will be driving into the DC area, I would recommend HAWTHORNE SUITES in Alexandria off of Van Dorne Street that runs parallel to I-395 Shirley Highway 420 N. Van Dorn Street Alexandria, VA 22304 (703) 370-1000 bec they offer shuttle bus to the Metro <= be sure you check the schedule or even driving your car and parking on meter near Metro stop or in parking garage might be less overall than close-in hotel plus free continental breakfast when my wife shops for decent lodging helps save on meals, etc
{http://www.hawthorn.com/reservations/loc…
bec the last time we had several friends visting, their rates were quite reasonable for DC, offered free buffet breakfast, shuttle bus, swimming pool etc.
In fact when we went to Orlando Disney last spring break, we stayed at and were very pleased with HAWTHORNE SUITES (which I believe is part of the HYATT HOTEL Chain) and the place was packed!
Hope the Above Info Helps and Enjoy!
I am going to give you the only piece of advice that was given to me for finding cheap travel deals, and it works to this day… Compare as many travel websites as you can as often as you can. Since you have a few months, start searching today and search the flights or hotels or whatever you need every week until the month before you are going. If anything is unusually cheaper, book it on that date. I would definitely recommend checking out the website BookMe. You can compare ALL the reputable travel sites from one location, and save tons of money. Good luck and check out the link below, and you will be all set.
Try arlington.
I would suggest College Park, Maryland
try different places in maryland and virginia that are close… if you chose maryland bethesda isn’t recommended its high end and expensive but its what i call home lol
Alexandria Va