Originally Posted by
amanuensis
If you do indeed want to be in DC itself, given that you will be arriving at Union Station, which is on the Red Line, have you considered the Hampton Inn Washington-Downtown-Convention Center? It is a short walk from the Gallery Place Station, which is just 3 minutes by Metro from the Union Station Metro station. I stayed there once and enjoyed it. There are a lot of food options around Gallery Place, including authentic Chinese.
I'd stay away from Chinatown/Gallery Place. That area hasn't really recovered from the pandemic shutdowns. Crime has been an issue - Gallery Place/Chinatown station used to have the highest crime rate in the Metro system (don't know if it still does). The Wizards & Capitals tried to move to NoVa, in part because of crime, and they've had some restaurant closures in the fairly recent past. Prior to the lockdowns it was generally safe, if a bit sketchy. But personally, I wouldn't go there now (and I sued to go there all the time).