Washington D.C. (including Baltimore) - Day room....worth it?

Hi guys, I have a flight out of Dulles to London a week from Friday which leaves at 10:00 p.m. I will be flying southwest from florida to BWI, and then I have to shuttle to Dulles. I should arrive in Dulles at 10:30 a.m. I don't want to be stuck at the airport for 12 hours. I called the Hyatt in Reston, and they quoted me 75 dollars for the day. I was thinking I could take my hand luggage to the hotel and then hang out at the Reston town center, and then head back to the airport at 5. Do you think that is worth the money? I was going to try to go into DC for the day, but I read the posts that it really wouldn't be worth the time. Does anyone else have any ideas of what to do for that long of a time period?

If you want to rest, the $75 is well worth it and dirt cheap. If you do want to spend some time in DC, go ahead. You can take the MARC train into Union Station from BWI, hang out in DC until 6:30 - 7:00 PM and catch a cab / car service out to IAD and have plenty of time before departure.

Do you get stay credit? I discovered to my shock and
delight that a day room at the Sheratons around LHR
got stay credit.

If you want to rest, the $75 is well worth it and dirt cheap. If you do want to spend some time in DC, go ahead. You can take the MARC train into Union Station from BWI, hang out in DC until 6:30 - 7:00 PM and catch a cab / car service out to IAD and have plenty of time before departure.

The only problem with me going into DC is my luggage. I don't think I can check it in with British Airways until 3 hours before my flight...so I think the hotel is my best option.

Do you get stay credit? I discovered to my shock and
delight that a day room at the Sheratons around LHR
got stay credit.

Hmmm, I don't know if I get stay credit or not with Hyatt...I will have to inquire about that.

I would stop in DC. Dulles is not an airport to hang out in. I don't know details but I'm pretty sure that DC Union Station has luggage storage. You can also consider renting a car for BWI-IAD and leaving the luggage in the trunk. Might be worth it, even if you pay for DC parking for the day. Alternatively, you could use the mobility of the car to go to other places, such as Mt. Vernon, Annapolis, or whatever.

DC is a great city, why not spend some time checking it on rather than a hotel room?

as others mentioned take the MARC train from BWI to DC

you can also catch a bus from DC to IAD for $6 which is a lot cheaper than a cab

I disagree that it wouldn't be worth the time to venture into DC; with 12 hours, that's exactly what I would do.

I would probably take public transit from BWI into DC, spend the afternoon downtown, and then head out to Dulles in the evening. The only caveat is your luggage; I travel with carry-on only, but this might be difficult if you have bags to carry.

There is a place to store baggage in Union Station (where the MARC train arrives in DC). It's not super cheap, but it's cheaper than a day room in a hotel.

I suggest taking the MARC train from BWI to DC. MARC trains only run weekdays, it's $6 one-way, and a free shuttle (runs many times per hour) will take you from BWI airport to BWI train station. Buy your ticket at the train station before taking the overpass to the southbound trains. Check any larger bags in Union Station, then do some serious sightseeing. There are sightseeing trolley tours that leave from the parking garage at Union Station or you could take public transit for a do-it-yourself kind of tour.

Just make sure you give yourself extra time to allow for rush hour traffic when going from DC to Dulles Airport after your sightseeing. Most airlines will open baggage checking for a flight around 3-4 hours before the flight is scheduled to depart.

Happy travels.