atjsfo

Hello Flyertalkers,

I'm planning a vacation trip to DC, and at this point I'm considering the Westin City Center and Westin Georgetown.

I'm planning on touristy activities: museums, monuments, etc; as well as a few nice meals; Looking on a map it looks like the Westin City Center is a bit closer to the things I want to do, but I wanted to confirm that choice; I get the impression from reading this thread that the Westin Georgetown is slightly nicer, but I'm not sure it's a huge difference. Also (and I'm probably showing my ignorance of DC here) isn't Georgetown a nice neighborhood? I like the idea of walking around the neighborhood to find a place for breakfast or dinner.

Or, if you have an alternate recommendation for me, I would consider other properties, though I would prefer to spend less points, so I'd rather a cat 4 than cat 5. I tend to prefer Westin to W hotels - I like the interior design of the W hotels, but I always end up feeling like I'm not hip enough for it. And I do like the Westin beds.

Oh, and no kids, and we are both walkers, so we would plan on walking or taking metro around town, if that makes any difference.

Thanks in advance,

Tony

nevansm

Here's my 2 cents. For touristy things there's a couple good "location" hotels. The St Regis and the W are in great locations for walking to the White House and a little bit longer walk to the mall. If you are comfortable with public transit, you could save a little bit of money and do the Westin City Center. I have stayed here several times and been upgrade to the tower suite all 3 times. They sit in the middle of the hotel and are really unique. The hotel is near the Orange and Red lines of the Metro which will get you to the mall in only a few minutes. The prices here tend to be lower, also the neighborhood that the hotel is in tends to be quite active, great restaurants, bars, etc. If I were to choose between the W and St. Regis, I'd take the St. Regis any day. Great staff, good upgrades, good location.

jibi

The Foggy Bottom station (blue and orange lines) is about a 5-minute walk from the Westin Georgetown. The rest of Georgetown (bars, restaurants) is about a 3-5 minute walk down M Street, although there were a few places within a block of the hotel. Aside from the 500 points bonus in Dusk, it is nothing special (spend the required $10 and nothing more). Foggy Bottom station is about 2 stops and a block walk from the White House and about 4-5 stops from the Mall area. We're not walkers and found no real issues with the Georgetown location. I had previously booked the City Center for the location and price, but I changed my booking after reading reviews on here and TA ... it seemed more like a dungeon than a nicer hotel

controller1

Below is an updated list of Starwood hotels and their locations to the nearest Metro station. The updates include the time to walk from some of the stations and updated names of some of the Starwood properties. I hope this will help some in their decisions of which Starwood in Washington, DC is best for their stay.

Locations in red are the properties closest to a Metro location.

A link for a printable Metro map is at the bottom of the post.




Fairfax at Embassy Row
 Dupont Circle (1 short block)
 Red line

Westin Georgetown
 Foggy Bottom (5 blocks/7 minute walk)
 Blue line/Orange line

Westin Arlington Gateway
 Ballston (2 blocks/2 minute walk)
 Orange line

Westin Washington, DC City Center
 McPherson Square (3 ½ blocks/8 minute walk)
 Blue line/Orange line

Four Points – Downtown
 Metro Center (3 ½ blocks/8 minute walk)
 Red line/Blue line/Orange line

Sheraton National
 Pentagon City (7 minutes – complimentary shuttle)
 Blue line/Yellow line

Sheraton Crystal City
 Crystal City (1 block)
 Blue line/Yellow line

Sheraton Suites – Alexandria
 Braddock Road (7 blocks/12 minute walk)
 Blue line/Yellow line

St. Regis Washington, DC
 McPherson Square (1 block)
 Blue line/Orange line

W Washington, DC
 McPherson Square (6 blocks/7 minute walk)
 Blue line/Orange line

METRO MAP - printable
http://www.wmata.com/rail/docs/colormap_lettersize.pdf (You may have to cut/paste in your browser)

atjsfo

Thanks for the info, jibi.

I read through the various threads for DC and decided that the Westin Georgetown was the best choice for us; the fact it is Cat 4 is nice, the location sounds good - maybe not ideal that it's not too close to the mall, but I think it will suffice - and the proximity to Georgetown sounds nice. Hotel sounds like it's not the most luxurious but sounds pretty good. So we are booked for October, and I'm very much looking forward to it!

jading

Was just in DC 3 weeks ago. Would recommend the Westin Washington. They cater to families with a great milk and cookies program (free cookies and bedtime age-appropriate book for the kids), as well as great frontline staff that really look after the kids. They also have a daily listing of activities and events in the city that they provide everyday. $40 valet parking is a bit steep and it's a long walk to the main sites in DC proper. Priyanka Potnis - wonderful front office manager.

Also stayed at the W the same trip. Great hotel and stay and was really looked after with a great view of the city from the hotel rooftop (White house/Washinton Monument/National Mall/Treasury building) and a close walk to everything you want to see. Only unfortunate occurence during my stay was that someone decided to pick the W to jump off the roof of the hotel... Sad.

mahasamatman

This is excellent! I've been unable to find a street map of Washington with a Metro overlay, but this should help tremendously. Thanks.

rachel645

There's one on the metro's website: http://wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm (you'll have to click Google map in the top right corner).

Boraxo

For business, my first and only choice would be the St. Regis, the Westins don't do it for me in terms of location.

If you are trying to save coin then the Westin Arlington (Ballston) and Sheraton Crystal City are good choices, they are a short metro ride into DC.

If you have an AAA membership, they can provide a free DC street map that shows the Metro overlay. Of course, that's old school compared with using a smartphone app

christianj

The location of the St. Regis is indeed great but I just got back from a less than stellar 3 night stay there. Had plumbing issues in the room with the sink not draining and the toilet not flushing correctly. Had to call down 3 different times for these issues. At a hotel of this caliber I would have also expected a call to make sure the situation was resolved but that never happend even though I personally spoke to the manager on duty when I called down with the toilet issue for the second day in a row. On the one night there was also no turndown service until I questioned the front desk. Was suprised at the noise from the hallways that you heard in the rooms. Allround just wasn't what I expected but confirmed to me that the St. Regis brand cannot compare to other upscale hotel brands after this stay and a stay a while ago at the St. Regis Monarch Beach.

Have had much better stays at the Westin Georgetown (formerly the Westin Grand). W DC has the best location IMHO but if you get stuck in one of their smaller rooms you will feel like your sleeping in a closet.

paytonc

I'd say that the Westin Georgetown is indeed slightly nicer and newer, even though I'm personally fond of the City Center's architecture. If you're more Westin than W, then you'll prefer the dining options in Georgetown (which actually starts a few blocks west of the Westin) to those in Logan Circle (a few blocks north of the Westin CC and the 4P).

Both Westins are also very close to the K Street Circulator bus line that runs across town, between Georgetown and Union Station:
http://dccirculator.com/index.php?op...d=27&Itemid=11

The Circulator map above -- available in print form at most hotels I've seen -- has the station entrances marked (helpful) but not the lines (unhelpful). Sometimes I'll "connect the dots" for visitors.

Sorry I didn't see this until now, but for future reference since Independence Day is a very popular time for family trips to DC...

Of the DC properties, only the highest floors of the W and perhaps the Westin Georgetown are situated close enough to the Potomac/Lincoln Memorial to have a fireworks view. The Arlington riverfront is often a better bet for a fireworks view -- and the Sheraton National has a particularly good vantage point, since it's atop a hill overlooking the low-slung Pentagon. Arlington also has its own fireworks display, from the Iwo Jima memorial near Rosslyn, and as a bonus you'd get a view of those.

mahasamatman

It's hard when a city has so many properties. I'm planning to use C&P, and it looks like Georgetown doesn't offer C&P, so that one's out. So we're left with the W (cat 5), Fairfax (cat 5), and City Center (cat 4). I'm generally not a fan of W, but am willing to give them another try if they're head-and-shoulders above the others.

alamedaguy

I have a one night (Sunday) stay coming up. It looks like I basically have it narrowed down to the W for $90 + 4800 points or the Fairfax for $169. I don't really need any of the W experience and I very likely would not visit the rooftop bar. I am plat and would like an upgrade, though. I plan to visit the Smithsonian and it looks like the W location is a little better for that, but it will just be one trip over there, so a few extra minutes to/from the Fairfax wouldn't be a big deal.

Probably the biggest factor is that I'll arrive early in the morning - maybe around 8. I can drop off my stuff, of course, but I also wouldn't mind getting the room somewhat early.

Any thoughts?

doctor15

If you don't need the "trendiness" of the W, you will probably be happier at the Farifax. It is very nice hotel and the rooms are much bigger then the W. I'm not sure which will be more likely to accomadate you with a room at 8am though. I have not stayed at the Fairfax in a while, but my guess would be you are likelier to get a suite there.

As you noticed, the W is right off the mall and great for the Smithsonian but the Farifax has a lot more restaurants bars and "life" around it. The area around the W will be relatively dead on a Sunday. To get to the mall from the Fairfax you can just take the metro a few stops to Metro Center or Chinatown and walk from there, or transfer to the blue line.

TimesTwo

Hi all, I'm planning a small meeting in dc soon, and I'm debating between the Westin & Sheraton 4P. I don't have status (in the process of switching to spg from hh), so upgrades aren't a factor. I'm mostly interested in nice conference rooms, good food, easy enough access (I think most of my participants will be driving and valeting, and the price is similar). Also just a general good feeling. I want my client and participants to have a good experience for the days they're there. Only colleagues and I will be staying in sleeping rooms. Thanks!

Edit to add: I read thru the threads of these properties and the only reference I saw to the meeting spaces (iirc) was that the Westins were in the basement and felt like you were in a cave. Anyone have any experience there?