Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - Maryland, Baltimore - location help

Im supposed to be having a meeting in Columbia, MD (zip code 21044) but Im not sure where to stay.
I looked into hotels in Baltimore and Bethesda, but they are very expensive.

What are some other areas I could be looking into?

Washington DC?
Virginia?
I assume those two places are too far away to be practical.

Actually, even Bethesda is pretty far from Columbia I believe.

Thanks

Im supposed to be having a meeting in Columbia, MD (zip code 21044) but Im not sure where to stay.
I looked into hotels in Baltimore and Bethesda, but they are very expensive.

What are some other areas I could be looking into?

Washington DC?
Virginia?
I assume those two places are too far away to be practical.

Actually, even Bethesda is pretty far from Columbia I believe.

Thanks

Look into Greenbelt or Laurel, both of which are close by.

Columbia, MD has a whole slew of hotels. http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=columbia,+md+hotels&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

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There are plenty of hotels and motels within Columbia. If a specific brand/program is what you are looking for, some nearby hotels may be very close, but listed as being in Ellicott City. If you can say where your meeting is being held, and which chain/program you prefer, perhaps we could give better advice.

You don't say the hours of your meeting, and over how many days it takes place, which would be an important factor for me in deciding where to stay. Bethesda and Greenbelt are, in my opinion, unnecesarly far away and would make you deal with traffic you can avoid (even Silver Spring, where I once lived, would be closer, and it wouldn't be my first choice). Virginia??? Are you serious? Have you looked at a map? Have you been on the Washington Beltway (I-495 or I-95) at rush hour?

I'd probably opt for Columbia itself or the BWI Airport area (you can get deals through Priceline or Hotwire). We recently stayed at a BWI Airport area hotel, since we were flying out of that airport, and got to a meeting in Columbia in perhaps 20 minutes (non-rush hour). I've been to Columbia a few times but haven't spent enough time there, and never overnight, so can't opine regarding its desirability as a place to stay. On our last visit, we went to the brief meeting, did some shopping at Macy's, and left. Baltimore's Inner Harbor would be closer than Bethesda or other places in the DC area, and more interesting than Laurel, BWI or Columbia, but you apparently have already ruled it out for reasons of cost.

I live pretty close to Columbia, and there are some pretty nice hotels there. The nicest one I can think of off the top of my head would probably be the Sheraton on the lake at the Town Center.

If you're looking to stay in a major city, Baltimore is by far the closest, and you can probably get from downtown Baltimore to the town center in Columbia in about 20-30 minutes, if there isn't much traffic.

In the surrounding areas, Columbia and Ellicott City will probably have the nicest hotels.

i do not think the public transport to columbia from dc or balt is very good. will you have a car?

what do you consider "reasonable " for a hotel?

just google columbia and look at hotels. start there and look at rates.

Im supposed to be having a meeting in Columbia, MD (zip code 21044) but Im not sure where to stay.
I looked into hotels in Baltimore and Bethesda, but they are very expensive.

What are some other areas I could be looking into?

Washington DC?
Virginia?
I assume those two places are too far away to be practical.

Actually, even Bethesda is pretty far from Columbia I believe.

Thanks

There are plenty of hotels in Columbia, here are a few, also Columbia is only about 20 min. from BWI.

Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel - 310 reviews - Place page
www.sheratoncolumbia.com - 10207 Wincopin Circle, Columbia, MD - (877) 207-9358

Holiday Inn Hotel Columbia - 145 reviews - Place page
www.holidayinn.com - 7900 Washington Blvd, Columbia, MD - (410) 799-7500

Doubletree Hotel Columbia - 247 reviews - Place page
www.columbia.doubletree.com - 5485 Twin Knolls Road, Columbia, MD - (410) 997-1060

Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Columbia East - Elkridge - 37 reviews - Place page
www.columbiamdhotel.com - 6064 Marshalee Drive, Elkridge, MD - (410) 579-8888

Extended Stay America Hotel Columbia - Columbia 100 Parkway - 68 reviews - Place page
www.extendedstayamerica.com - 8870 Columbia 100 Parkway, Columbia, MD - (410) 772-8800

Extended Stay America Hotel Columbia - Laurel - 37 reviews - Place page
www.extendedstayamerica.com - 8550 Washington Boulevard, Jessup, MD - (301) 725-3877

Extended Stay Deluxe Hotel Columbia - Columbia Corporate Park - 48 reviews - Place page
www.extendedstaydeluxe.com - 8890 Stanford Boulevard, Columbia, MD - (410) 872-2994