Washington, DC - where to stay?
 

Traveling to DC in late July (yes, I know it will be hot) with my family - two almost 10 year olds and an 11 year old + husband. I've been before, many years ago, but first trip for the kids (and possibly my husband? Can't remember!). Six nights. We aren't planning to have a car - will walk or use metro or taxis. Prefer luxury hotel or similar - but not sure best location/hotel, and most posts I'm finding on FT are 2+ years old, so not sure how relevant they still are. We like to spend time in the hotel room, so would like larger rooms - will probably look for a suite with connecting room. Pool would be a plus, but not required.
Suggestions? Some that I'm looking at include Ritz-Carlton Washington DC, Park Hyatt, The Watergate, Intercontinental The Willard - but I'm not limited to those.

What's on your must-do list for the city? I don't think any hotel is going to blow your socks off (though the food at Blue Duck is phenomenal), so proximity to activities would be my recommendation. We can recommend specific properties based on what you see yourself doing over your six nights.

Thanks, Beltway2A! With 6 days, we'll probably do things all over! We'll of course walk the Mall (including visits to Library of Congress/White House/Capitol, go to several Smithsonian museums, see the main Memorials, spend time at Arlington Cemetery, visit family in Alexandria and wander through interesting neighbourhoods - Georgetown, Dupont Circle. I don't envision going to the Zoo or Cathedral (which I know are near each other, and not near anything else I've mentioned), so not sure if that helps. Does that narrow it down at all?

And I'm open to suggestions of what 9 & 11 year olds might enjoy! (2 not very girly girls and 1 boy).

Have you considered using an AirBnb or corporate rental arrangement for such a stay? Some of them may have good outdoor pools, decent gyms and even a staffed front desk and provide more living space than a hotel suite with or without a connecting room.

Hmm, interesting thought, have not considered it and never tried such an option before. We generally like the amenities of a hotel - room service, turn-down service, spas - but for the length of this trip, it might be worth considering. Thanks for the suggestion!

For my traditional hunting ground on the hotel side, I would consider the Rosewood in Georgetown for stays in late July.

Just had a look and it looks lovely, although is closed for renovations until June, with restaurants not opening until end of June, which makes me a bit wary. On the one hand, would be nice in a newly renovated room. On the other, if their renovation schedule slips by 2-3 weeks, could leave us without accommodation or staying in a construction site... May call them to check how they handle.

PS - tried to DM you back, @GUWonder, but got this error: GUWonder has exceeded their stored private messages quota and cannot accept further messages until they clear some space. Will try again later.

I've opened up a few spots in my message box.

I would expect this hotel to have some plans in place to fix things if thing aren't good enough for their guests' expectations when the property is to have come off a major renovation. I wouldn't be too concerned with the hotel restaurant situation in the area, as DC has a lot of pretty good ones beyond hotels. And other than perhaps for breakfast, there is too much on offer on the DC food scene to want to stick to any single hotel restaurant option too much when only in DC for a week. This is being said by the guy who tends to go to the same places repeatedly over many many years and isn't exactly practicing what I'm preaching when it comes to the eating choices. :D

There is also a brand new Conrad in City Center. If you want thee amenities and a central location, it may well suit you. Given the oppressive heat, having something close to most places can be a real help. Uber means that no particular property is much better than another from a location perspective over a period of 6 days, unless you intend to spend them all at the same museum or other venue.

That's a reasonable suggestion indeed. And it would tend to be substantially less expensive than Rosewood.

For a better selection of restaurants and variety in food and entertainment in the evening, some properties are better located than other properties. I dislike high temperatures with high humidity so much so that the DC summer time has been good for me mainly for two things: to use the pool when stuck in DC or to get out of town and be in the cooler climates of Scandinavia, down in Argentina/Chile, or in the mountains of Eurasia. [I pay to avoid the heat.] And yet for summer evenings in DC, the convenience of walking out the door to get my food and entertainment fix in within such distance so as to avoid breaking a sweat while on foot and to do so without dealing with taxis and other hired vehicles can make a difference. And when the travel party size is 5 people, getting around in hired vehicles with a driver is a different beast than when the travel party is merely 4 people or less.

This "use a taxi/uber" issue is actually one of the reasons why the Rosewood -- even if it manages to be more or less fully open for a late July stay -- should possibly be avoided and a location closer to a Metro station more ideal.

But DC is indeed a rather compact enough place that for tourist day activities the hotel location really doesn't matter so much, as to get to many of the key tourist attractions for daytime visits will mean wanting to use means of transport with air condition operating from door to door.

For summer time visits in DC that involve 5+ days of visit/travel, I would suggest also considering laundry facilities (and costs for such) so as not to go back home with a bunch of sweat-soaked clothes. :D

How about the Hay Adams - right across from the White House? For hotels with pools: Mandarin Oriental, the Four Seasons, the Ritz (west end),

Th Mandarin is the closest to the Mall and the museums (walkable (but in July....bleh)), and the Mandarin and the Ritz are close-ish to metro stations (both about 5 blocks). I love the Four Season but it is not really metro accessible.

Spy Museum

Holocaust Museum

Air and Space Museum

Natural History Museum

Hi Aldie,
RE: Hotels, I had a good "staycation" at the Eldon Suites Hotel. I'm not sure if it'll have the luxury you seek but it does have a kitchenette, etc, which might be helpful for a 6 night stay, that way you can store juices, bagels/ breakfast stuff. Just a suggestion. TBH, I don't recall if it has a pool or not. Also the JW Marriott at the Convention Center is lovely. As far as suggestions, I have an ongoing list of things to do in DC that I try to cover w/ my own of town visitors: White House, National Mall, Smithsonian Museums, National Zoo, Spy Museum, Museum of African American History (part of the Smithsonian Group), going out to Roosevelt Island, maybe a Nats game or DC United Soccer game? Also if you get really bored, you can do the MARC (commuter train) and take the 45 min ride up to Baltimore and enjoy a half day or so at the Aquarium then the other half of the day at the Baltimore Harbor. Again, just suggestions keeping in mind the kids' wants.

There is a Ritz-Carlton hotel connected to the Pentagon City shopping mall -- may well be more functional to be proximate to a mall with 3 kids. this mall is on top of a subway station and not far from the national mall, though it is in Virginia.

That's a lot of time in museums for 3 kids. Non-museum ideas: baseball game at Nationals Park. Horseback riding in horsey country a la Middleburg, VA area (a day in the country -- would need to rent a car for a day). Hiking at Great Falls (Maryland or Virginia). Mt. Vernon. Hopefully you'll have a day or two for which the weather will be less hot and humid.

There are also paddle boats in the tidal basin. Also think of some kind of boat trip on the Potomac River in general.

Thanks for the great outdoor suggestions. My kids hate shopping malls, but several of your boat and other outdoor ideas sound good, so will look into those. Thanks!

One of my favorite things to do in DC in the summer was a free concert or activity at one of the Smithsonian museums - seems there was always a military band concert at the Capital or a movie showing at one of the museums. And for food, I must recommend Market Lunch at Eastern Market. Cash only, long lines on the weekend. Blue buck (blueberry buckwheat) pancakes for breakfast or crab cake for lunch :-)

For me personally, I love to do walking tours and/or food tours in towns I'm visiting for the first time (or, when I don't know a place very well)

The Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage has daily, free shows of world-class talent at 6pm. You are then just steps from fabulous food options and the G'town waterfront scene.

all great comments above - no lack of unique things to do/see in DC at anytime of the year. The Mandarin is a wonderful property and right next to the new Southwest Waterfront....

I lived by Union Station for a couple of years, so friends and I would load up our water bottles with frozen drinks and meander over to the Capitol to listen to whomever was playing. Good times ;-)

https://www.aoc.gov/news/military-ba...concert-series

I used to like taking my visitors to the tours of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing since the US Mint in DC became off limits.

The entrance is at Raoul Wallenberg Place in SW DC. Named after a Swede. Tickets are needed, free or not.

hate to say this, Mint not in D.C. (just the headquarters). Agree that Engraving and Printing is a fun tour. "the buck starts here"

I know you aren't interested in the zoo, but the Omni Shoreham is a beautiful old hotel that I would consider at least near-luxury. Yes, you'd need to taxi / Metro anywhere. But they have a beautiful outdoor pool if you needed a day for some downtime.

From DC so can't easily recommend hotels, but agree with others recommending staying closer to Mall will make things easier for you and waste less time getting around.

Re Air and Space museum, if time allows, be sure to go to the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport. It's in many ways more interesting - just lots of planes. Plus the main one downtown is under renovation.

If you're flying out of Dulles you could leave early for the airport and spend a few hours there first.

I keep wanting to go to Udvar-Hazy, but I almost always fly in and out of National, so the opportunity has never presented itself. Maybe once the Metro gets to IAD and I have the free time.

As far as location goes, I would recommend staying in Dupont Circle - it's a beautiful neighborhood filled with restaurants/shops, is central and well connected by transit (Metro as well as numerous buses) and is quite walkable. The Churchill on Connecticut Ave is a nice hotel where I've stayed in the past, although I don't think they have a pool.

You could also consider staying in Woodley Park by the National Zoo - it's further up Connecticut past Dupont and is a bit quieter, but there's a Metro station right there as well as a decent selection of dining options, and you're an easy walk over to Adams Morgan.

Georgetown is pretty but somewhat isolated (no Metro). I'd avoid staying in the downtown business district, which is pretty soulless and dead at night.

Just wanted to report back. We ended up with a Junior Suite connected to a double room at the Park Hyatt, which we were VERY happy with.
Main selection criteria were: 1) pool, 2) room configuration and availability for 5 of us

And despite someone on FT saying the location wasn't great, we thought it was perfect. Easily walkable to many restaurants, Dupont Circle and the White House / National Mall, as well as a Metro stop. We walked some days and Ubered others. Hotel has a complimentary car service as well, but we didn't try to use it as it only takes 4 passengers and we're a family of 5.

Definitely not a high end luxury hotel, but we were super satisfied with it feeling exclusive and comfortable for the price we paid (around $300/room or less).
@drewguy - thanks for the tip about seeing the Udvar-Hazy Center on the way to the airport. We did just that! Rented a car for our last day (which was helpful to get to a family member's house for dinner), and then drove to the airport, enabling us to take our luggage with us and stop at this museum locale on the way. Worked perfectly!

Omni Shoreham 5 night stay review -- sorry, no pictures
 

I stayed last week at the Omni Shoreham, which is in Woodley Park near the zoo. Never stayed there before. Probably won't again.

By way of background, I usually stay in Crystal City and ride Metro to downtown DC. Usually Archives Station. So Yellow Line is my typical focus. The Omni Shoreman is on the Red Line, so it is not a hotel I would usually consider. But my meetings were being held at the hotel, so for this trip it was the logical choice. But I hated not getting points for a frequent stay program.

The hotel first opened in 1930. It has not aged well. Its elevators are small, slow, and subject to breaking frequently. They would get one elevator fixed only to have another one go out. Meeting rooms were a maze. I never did figure it out. Lots of stairs up and down. I would advise those with mobility issues to steer clear.

My room had wasted space in the main area, but the bathroom was very tiny. But water pressure was fine and it got hot fast. Insufficient power outlets and no USB outlets.

I can't speak to number of tv channels -- I never turned the tv on. I had a choice on Internet of free or paid for extra speed. I tried free out first, and it was fast enough that I did not need to pay to upgrade. But the floor creaked. And my room, on the third floor, overlooked a chiller on the roof that ran all night. So the room was not as quiet as I like.

I assume that the hotel used to have stocked minibars. Because they had the beverage coolers still in the room. But nothing to use them for -- the coolers had prominent signs saying that they would not get cold enough to keep food from spoiling. Nonetheless, when I first arrived at my room, I found leftover food from the previous guest in the cooler. Also, the room did not initially have all of the toiletries. They are a brand called Nest. I have no idea if that is high end or not. I am not a shampoo snob. Anything will work for my very thin hair (and getting thinner every day).

The one part of the hotel that I loved was the gym in the basement. It had far more equipment than most hotel gyms. I was able to do real workouts. Other than that, my impression was the the hotel emphasizes style over substance. Since this hotel claims to be in the near-luxury segment, I would give it 3 stars out of 5.