Summer 2015 we stayed at thee RI Foggy Bottom (wife and 9 year old daughter at the time). Free breakfast and good metro access were important to us just like the OP. RI Foggy Bottom was very convenient for access to all of the DC sites via the metro and the neighborhood around GWU was nice with restaurants and shops. RI Foggy Bottom is a Cat. 7 and we debated going further out to go for a Cat. 6 and save points. In the end we were glad we stayed closer in at the RI Foggy Bottom.

I am Lifetime Platinum and didn't receive an upgrade nor did I expect one. We were treated very nicely by the hotel staff and the typical RI breakfast was well done. We were only around in the evening for dessert night (out touring the other nights) and the ice cream and waffles were nice. Happy hour along with dessert included house wines and some local beers. Only complaint we had about the hotel is the pool was literally the size of a postage stamp and didn't look clean. It was broken during part of our stay and we decided to skip it once we saw it.

As two adults a longer metro ride may be less of an issue, that said being closer in has benefits for anyone. If you want to stay in DC in a nice neighborhood close to the sites with free breakfast, the RI Foggy Bottom is an excellent choice. If you do decide to stay there, Notti Bianchi the Northern Italian restaurant literally across the street, was very good and highly recommended.

--Jon

I also stayed at the RI Bethesda a number of years ago. It is much further out though with easy metro access. It is a nice property and only a cat. 5. Scanning through the RI's in the DC area on the MR web site there are some cat. 4's available as well including

Residence Inn Arlington Capital View

Residence Inn Alexandria Old Town South at Carlyle

I haven't stayed at either one but if you're looking to minimize the points cost, they might be worth looking into. I did stay at the SHS Alexandria (okay, but not great); however, it doesn't have convenient metro access (have to drive, use hotel shuttle, or take a taxi to the nearest station). We used it as a home base while visiting Mount Vernon which it was very convenient for. We didn't do the RI's in Alexandria because they didn't have a bed format we wanted (2 queen). As a couple, that shouldn't be an issue.

--Jon

Definitely true. Only edge the CH property has is that I personally think it's a little better hotel, and it has an indoor pool. But both are certainly good options. Plus I've always liked the food/drink options in the CH neighborhood if you want to do something later in the evening right near the hotel.

re: Metro outages. Benefit with both of these hotels is that worst case you'd have cheap Ubers to fall back on from any of the tourist spots in DC.

My only hesitancy with Alexandria as the base for the stay is that you're spending a lot of time on the Metro or in a car to get to/from DC. The OP's conference hotel is P-City, so I assume they want to be closer to DC than that...otherwise they'd just book a long stay there. (Not that Alexandria isn't a fun place to visit itself. )

I'd also recommend against a rental car unless you have a daytrip or two planned outside the city. DC traffic and parking are a pain...a totally unnecessary pain for a visitor to the main DC attractions.

If you're really looking for a bargain and willing to drive a bit, I was pretty happy with the TownPlace Suites Gaithersburg. It was probably about 40-45 minutes from central DC in light traffic (you would definitely need a car), but for a category 1 redemption it was a great value. Nearby dining options were pretty good.

I'm actually amazed that Marriott still has category 1 redemption opportunities anywhere near popular metro areas like DC. There's another cat-1 TPS closer to the beltway near Andrews that also looks perfectly acceptable if you are planning to get around by car.

My guess is the OP probably isn't planning on getting a car, unless it's for a couple of day trips outside of DC where he could pick up/drop off same day, as he says he wants to be near the attractions.

If someone was willing to get a car & really wanted to maximize points, then a Cat 1 is a pretty good use of points.

Cheers.

I've now posted this hotel several times on various threads that I almost feel like a shill for them, but when I am unable to get a downtown hotel that I want (i.e., JW), the Bethesda North Marriott is a fine choice. It is cheaper than the central DC hotels (both in $$ as well as points), it is directly across the street from the White Flint red line stop (so about 20 minutes straight into downtown), and has a pretty good lounge (which might not be applicable here). The hotel is standard FS Marriott but in a nice (and not run-down) manner.

Unless you are going to stay at Metro Center, JW, CY Convention center, or RI in SW. You are pretty much going to be taking a Metro or doing some serious walking. So I wouldn't automatically eliminate the RI in Rosslyn or Pentagon City. Mayflower and Wardman are nice hotels - especially with an upgrade - but they are not 'close' to the mall. Both RI properties offer easy Metro access and some decent time killing activities.

DC Thurs-Sunday prices go down significantly that I've always just paid for the rooms instead of using points. When I'm in a really thrifty mode I've often stayed at Keybridge or either of the Crystal City FS properties for under $100 and just metro into the city.

RI Foggy Bottom is your best best.

Here is an insider tip, do not use Metro. You are wasting money and valuable time. Uber is your best bet door to door and 4 people ride for the price of one. Example Family of four Metro RT was $16 during the daytime and Uber RT with no walking saving time was $14.

I remember a few short years ago when one of the Crystal City properties was a Cat 4. It was the last Cat 4 with direct access to the Metro to get into DC. Now it's all Cat 5's (unless something has changed) and up...unless there's one well out into the suburbs that I'm not aware of.

Only reason I know this is because I used Cat 4 Free Night certs from various promos there a few times.