DCA Hotels
 

Any particular favorite (or least favorite) hotels around DCA? I recall reading poor reviews of the Hilton. The Hampton DCA was surprisingly nice.

May go upscale since I think rates between Christmas and New Year's would be pretty low.

The Monaco in Old Town Alexandria is probably the closest hotel that approaches upscale. Otherwise, there is a Ritz in Pentagon City, but it is attached to a mall.

For standard hotels, the Doubletree isn't bad and usually has good rates.

Not really upscale, but the Embassy Suites Old Town Alexandria is across the street from the metro and walking distance to lots of places to eat. here is a Whole Foods on the corner for awesome pizza.

Avoid the Crystal City Hilton if you can. (The Hilton Old Town two stops south on the Metro is better.) The Hampton, Gateway Marriott, and Hyatt are all fine. Holiday Inn comes up on Priceline a lot but is on the wrong (west) side of Jefferson Davis highway and a long way from the Metro stop. Courtyard by Marriott is serviceable but no big deal. The Westin is freshly renovated, on the site of a Sheraton that was pretty grim but closed earlier this year -- haven't been back since the change but it might be worth exploring.

The Hilton Old Town and Embassy Suites Old Town are beside each other in Alexandria. There is also a few of the other brands within a few blocks. So if you are willing to stay out of DC then look at these.

Agree with all that the Crystal City Hilton is pretty subpar, and the Embassy Suites Old Town is decent.

Another option that's relatively new is the Renaissance Capital View at the southern end of Crystal City, also quite close to DCA.

Do you truly want to be near DCA? If so, then Old Town doesn't really fit the bill. If you want DCA, then you're probably looking at Crystal City-area hotels. I would choose one of the Marriotts, or the Renaissance Capital View or the Residence Inn Capital View. None are "upscale", but I would think the price would be right.

If you want "upscale" and DCA, I think the Ritz at Pentagon City is your best bet. Yes, it's attached to the mall, and, yes, it's more of a "business" Ritz than a "resort" Ritz (okay, it's ALL a "business" Ritz), but you'll get (or should get) excellent service and among the nicest rooms in the DCA area.

Now, if DCA isn't really what you need, as others have illustrated, you have a lot of choices.

I've had a number of lovely stays at the Capitol Hilton (16th & K, walking distance to the White House). Easy access to DCA via the Blue Line from MacPherson Sq.

The OP asked for hotels "around DCA." A hotel in the middle of the District is anything but.

Hanging my question in here...I have a one-night stay near DCA mid-January and currently hold a reservation at the Crystal City Gateway Marriott and the Westin Crystal City for that Monday night. Rates are both very decent: $82 for the Marriott including breakfast and the Westin on a BRG for $103 with 2000 extra SPG-points, but without breakfast (in the rate). In terms of status, I hold Platinum with both Marriott and SPG.

Deciding criteria is the easiest access to a Metro station - I see that both hotels are pretty close to that - and the quality of rooms. I understand that the Westin is a full renovation opened just recently, so I am currently leaning towards this, however breakfast would mean I need to forgo the 500 points arrival gift (made up by the BRG-points, though). But would Metro Access be as easy as with the Marriott which claims that you do not even have to go outside to get to the Metro station?

Given those two parameters (easy Metro access, nice room): Which of the two hotels would you chose? Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Greetings - Dirk

The Gateway Marriott does indeed have a tunnel that goes underground which connects the hotel to the Crystal City underground, which is quite close to the actual Metro.

The Westin just "opened" as it was the Sheraton before. You do have to go outside to get to the Metro but you can cross 18th to the Marriott and go that way or walk directly to the escalators just east of Rt. 1 (note Rt 1 is actually elevated here so you don't actually have to cross it).

One thing to keep in mind, there's not a ton of breakfast options in that area, with mostly the hotels the only places offering it.

Thanks for the insight, and to clarify things further: We will arrive around 9pm into DCA, so only objective will be to get to the hotel (probably by 10pm) and then go to sleep.

On the next morning the idea was to have an early breakfast and then hop on the Metro to do some quick sightseeing in D.C. before we return to the hotel between noon and 1pm, pick up our stuff. After that head out to DCA again to pick up a rental car and drive to Potomac Mills, then on to IAD for our flight back to Europe at 9:50p.

Greetings - Dirk

I think the idea was that the Metro to DCA is so convenient that staying at any hotel in DC itself that's close to a Blue/Yellow line stop doesn't add more than a few minutes to your trip and can add much better options if you're looking for a nice property.

Both properties have van/shuttle access from DCA to the hotel, so that would make getting TO either hotel quite easy. However, I'd give the Marriott a slight edge in convenience to the Metro (not much, though). Given that breakfast seems to be somewhat important to you (meaning that you mentioned it), that also gives a bit of an edge to the Marriott.

Have you used this itinerary before? I ask as it seems like you are packing a lot into one day. I have no idea how long you plan to spend at Potomac Mills or what shopping you plan to do, but I throw out this alternative: go to the Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets instead of Potomac Mills. I think the shopping experience will be much better, and you'll cut out some of the potential variability in traffic getting from DCA to Potomac Mills and then on to IAD. The Leesburg outlets are a pretty easy shot to IAD and, I'm fairly certain, will take less travel time.

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlet...ting.asp?id=14

Google maps currently shows 47 minutes to the Leesburg outlets and then 19 minutes from the outlets to IAD. The same app shows 42 minutes from DCA to Potomac Mills and 42 minutes from PM to IAD. Saving some time on the road might give you a little more sightseeing time or shopping time. But, again, this is just my two cents, as I have no idea if there's something specific you need at PM.

I prefer the Doubletree, but the Crystal City Hilton, though
sort of cheesy, has always treated me like God.

Enjoyed the Hampton as well as the Rad next door. Both
are on the west side of the highway, I think.

That Sheraton, at which I had numerous problems from
unlaundered sheets to false alarms in the middle of the
night, was one of the reasons I now think long and hard
before booking at a Starwood.