DC Recommendation - maximize point redemption?
 

Dear Friends,

We are looking at doing a mini-vacation before the hubby has a conference in Pentagon City.

I would prefer staying in DC the five nights before the conference.

I am planning to use my points to maximize the free fifth night benefit.

What would the experts recommend as the best property to maximize that strategy? Want to be near the attractions. Best bang for the buck?

Thanks in advance.

William

Do you want a full service hotel or a points bargain?

Pentagon City is a bit out of the way from most of the things to do in DC, so you probably don't want to stay there for the vacation part of your trip.

For proximity to things, the JW on Pennsylvania Ave is hard to beat. Near the WH, walking distance to many Smithsonian museums, near the Metro. But it's a fairly soul-less, modern property.

Another good choice is the Mayflower. Good access to Metro, walking distance to WH, DuPont Circle.

Points Bargain. Love the free internet... and breakfast would be a bonus.

Not one to make use of full service facilities.

Yes, we are planning to stay in DC itself for the first five nights.... we will be in Pentagon at the conference hotel for the final four nights.

For your situation, I would recommend the Residence Inn Dupont Circle. Only a Cat 6 (versus 7+ for the rest of the city). You'll get the free breakfast, plus it's only 2 blocks to the Dupont Circle metro. While there aren't too many cultural attractions in the immediate area, this neighborhood is very nice and safe and has a ton of great food and drink options. You will only be 2-3 metro stops away from the downtown DC attractions and a quick uber/bus right to Georgetown. Also easy to get to Pentagon City later - just go 3 stops to Gallery Place, and transfer to the Yellow Line for a few stops. I think it's your best bet.

Basically everything except the higher end properties are Cat 7. Cat 6 isn't cheap to begin with, so if it were me, I'd pick from the innumerable (and solid) Cat 7 choices. I'd say the two nicest properties are The Mayflower (an Autograph) on Connecticut Avenue and the Renaissance (the one on New Hampshire Avenue is far nicer than the one on 9th Street).

If you really want to save the points and are looking for a Category 6 -- do the Marriott Wardman Park. It's down the street from the zoo in a quiet, residential neighborhood. Literally next to a Metro Station, so you're 10 minutes from downtown and 20 from the Pentagon.

The OP is Silver status. If he goes w/ the RI he gets free brekkie, which he mentions he's interested in as well as using less points (Cat 6). If he stays at a full-service, he doesn't get free brekkie & only the Wardman is the same cat.

Cheers.

If you have to take metro anyway, why not pick one slightly further away? I stayed at the RI in Pentagon City which has free brekkie. There's another RI at Rosslyn which is right by the metro also.

5-night personal stay as a Silver? I'd be looking Residence Inn or Spring Hill Suites, period.

If you wanted to knock it down to a Category 5, consider the Residence Inns in Rosslyn or Courthouse. Easy to get to/from DC, whether by Metro, Uber, or even on foot if you enjoy walking/running.

I always check rates for all days I'm going to be in DC. Rates fluctuate wildly based on demand. Your five-night stay might include a $300 night followed by a $120 night. I know the 5-night award is *usually* better, but check to be sure.

I have never been able to get myself to do a 5 night stay on points DMV area because some paid nights went down to around $70/night so I would never use point on that.

If doing Arlignton, VA, I'd say do Rosslyn instead of Courthouse -- if only because two metro lines are better than one. The Residence Inn there has breakfast even for non-Golds/non-Platinums.

From Rosslyn hotels to Georgetown is easily walkable within 20 minutes. From Rosslyn to downtown D.C., the metro is there.

Best bang for the buck is certainly not inside DC.

If you pick one outside DC and needs Metro, check the Metro maintenance schedule. That system is taking a lot of outages to catch up on decades of deferred maintenance.

Also, hotels outside DC (and some are near Metro) are very reasonable on weekends. So, you might not want to waste your points, especially on weekends, if you stay outside DC.

I was in DC last weekend and the Metro closures were brutal. On the weekends, it's worse than New York or London at the peak of their rebuilding efforts a few years back. Definitely worth avoiding some of the peripheral locations on the Metro, because you're likely to be stranded there.

Of course I got trapped in the elevator of the Downtown DC RI, but other than that, it was a great stay! Breakfast spread there is better than RI in Rosslyn, too.

When do you plan on being in town? Your dates determine a lot.

It's the run-up to inauguration, so metro is trying to look presentable and handle the rush. The weekends are always miserable though.

If you are in a group of people, consider renting a car and stay outside DC. I did it with 3 kids back in June. Use a parking app to get cheaper rate. I parked close to Smithsonian for like $18/day. Cheapest Metro fare is $2.5 (no child discount), so renting a car gives you more freedom plus you can drive outside e.g. to outlet malls.

It really depends on what the OP is planning to do for their 5 days. If you add rental car & parking costs, that's more than what metro would cost he & his husband.

Since he has Silver status, the RI & SHS are his best options for free brekkie & maximizing point redemption, both of which are important to him.

Cheers.

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

Washington DC RI's - Part II
 

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. :)