I am going on my first trip with my dad probably this march to D.C. What are some good hotels close to the sights, the mall, museums, white house. The Willard Intercontinental looks nice and Hotel George and others. Only complaint I read about George was its distance to everything. We typically stay in 4 or 5 star hotels. If possible we want to stay under 215. Maybe more if its really good deal for great hotel. Give me some ideas and good places to look for good deals also. I am anxiously awaiting your replies.
Matt

Hi Hotwire is currently offering a 4 Star hotel in the capitol area for $166 for March 05 you may be able to figure out which one from its description my wife and I stayed at the Mayflower a couple of years ago and we were pleased with it,weekend prices can be much lower GOOD Luck

If price is paramount, Priceline often offers the Grand Hyatt (4* Capitol Hill zone) for $65-$70 and the OMNI (4* Woodley Park/DuPont Circle) for $80ish.

But those aren't among the top properties in the city. Top properties will be outside your price range...

Mandarin Oriental
Ritz Carlton (Georgetown is the best one)
Four Seasons
Fairmont (used to be the Monarch)

Closer to your budget you can probably pick up the Hotel Rouge, very W-esque.

Lots of discussion of DC luxury properties in the Luxury Hotels forum...

If you want to be right downtown near the Mall and Smithosonians, then the choices would include the Williard (old, grand hotel, but rooms smaller than you would get in a newer hotel), Hotel Rouge.

But the choices expand greatly if you go a bit outside the downtown zone and plan to use the Metro -- which is extremely convenient and not a hassle at all. If so, then the choices run are
West End: Ritz Carlton, Fairmont, Westin Grand
Dupont Circle: Hotel Madeira, Rouge, or Helix (these 3 are Kimpton Group, very hip and 'W-esqe as gleff says)
Georgetown: Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons

What do you guys know about the Hotel George. It looks very nice online and its only 169 a night. Frommers rates being good and says its usually a lot. Looks like you might need to take metro but still pretty close. Safe area? Any comments about it? Looks nice to me.
Thanks
Matt

My favorite is the St. Regis. You could throw a rock and hit the white house it's that close. In fact I advise you to try this for a fun and interesting time.

Serioulsy it is a very, very nice hotel and can sometimes be had at a good price on the starwood web site.

Hotel George is just around the corner from Union Station, basically right on Capitol Hill. So (a) very close to Congress, if that's your thing and (b) certainly close to the metro. Also around the corner from some good Irish pubs. That said, it is a way off from downtown.

Hotel George is host to the restaurant Bistro Bis which is quite good. They used to have the best value weekend brunch in town ($20 for three courses, anything on the menu!) but they raised the prices and I've been disappointed in the service the last several times.

Admittedly my only experience is with the restaurant and bar not as a hotel guest. (Haven't been up to the rooms.) Though I've heard generally good things.

I asked my fiance to marry me at the DC St. Regis, so obviously I'm fond of it.

A couple of things to note.
I find the service quite good. Concierge didn't know when the Starbucks across the street opened, so they went over there to find out and rang me back in a couple minutes. Complimentary shoe shines overnight. Turndown service includes slippers. Very plush robes. Room service is very fast. Water pressure is excellent.

Downsides. The furnishings are a bit worn/tired. There aren't alot of suites to upgrade into. The hallways are warm/humid in the summertime, despite excellent a/c in the rooms. This is an old, old hotel and while it's kept up well the age does show at times.

I do like the property very much, and it compares favorably rate-wise to several of the luxury properties in town. But it's a very different experience from, say, the Ritz in Georgetown or the Four Seasons.

Another Starwood property to consider on the value-end is the Westin Embassy Row. I've seen weekend rates as low as $129! It's in a great neighborhood (DuPont Circle), not far from a metro, has plenty of suites. Used to be a Ritz-Carlton once upon a time.

Thanks everyone. Checking all your suggestions. Any more ideas just post.
Thanks Again,
Matt

Also check out the Saint Gregory Hotel & Suites:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...mbia.cink_html

Due to its proximity to the Union Station Metro station, the Hotel George is, IMHO, very conveniently located. You are two stops away from the Gallery Place/Chinatown area which is teeming with restaurants and shops plus the new Spy Museum (very popular; get tickets in advance).

One more stop away is Metro Center which is probably as close as you can get to the rear of the White House which is the most photographed side of the White House.

Two more stops away and you are in Dupont Circle which is a very popular neighborhood with lots of bars, clubs, shops and restaurants. There are a lot of hotels in Dupont Circle too, which is a good alternative to staying downtown.

Metro also takes you to the Smithsonian station which is ground zero for all the museums, the Washington Monument and the new WWII Memorial. Note that all the other memorials (Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, Vietnam War, Korean War, etc.) are a long walk from any Metro station; Smithsonian being the closest.

Locally, the area around the Hotel George is not too lively but pretty safe. It's a short walk away from the shops/restaurants at Union Station and Capitol Hill.

You may also want to look into the Hotel Monaco, sister hotel to the Hotel George. It is centrally located in the Gallery Pl/Chinatown area which is a very lively and busy area even at night. Because Metro takes you everywhere you need to go, I think picking a lively area is more important than staying as close as possible to the sights which are in areas that have very little activity at night.

We may bid tonight on Priceline for 4 star, Georgetown/Foggybottom. Is that a good area. If that doesnt work we might try Whitehouse/Downtown.
Matt

There aren't a lot of hotels in Georgetown.

I wonder if 4 star in Foggy would mean Washington Marriott. That's probably only 3 stars though.

Should be interesting! Good luck.

I've stayed at a lot of DC hotels over the past few years, and let me give you some of my favorites in order:

1. The Willard. One of my favorite hotels anytime, anywhere, anyplace. The place just reeks of class and politics and sitting down and chatting in the nice lobby -- and very nice rooms, too. May have problems with 215.

2. St. Regis. Can't add much to the above. Just stayed there last week, though, and they do a great job on service. I used a 50% off Starwood coupon and it was still 285. Something tells me you won't hit 215 here.

3. Westin Grand. I really like this hotel, it's right across the street from the Park Hyatt. Conveniently located to Georgetown. Had a really big room with the funkiest long hallway, enclosed in the room, last time I stayed.

4. Park Hyatt. Same location as Westin Grand. Not as nice as the Parks I've stayed in in SF or Chicago, but heck, it's a Park, you really can't go wrong.

5. The Jefferson. I'm staying here right now. It's a nice smaller hotel with the feel of a Regency or Stanhope in NY, or the Hay-Adams in DC. 16th & M, convenient to 3 Metro lines. May be able to steal it for under 215 now that we're past the election. This is a Loews hotel.

6. The Hay-Adams. Just down the street from the Jefferson and the St. Regis, really can hit the White House from here. It's the original "all the presidents and their guests slept here" hotel. But, you won't get it for 215.

Others I would not necessarily recommend: Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill, Loews L'Enfant Plaza, J.W. Marriott on 14th St.

You should be able to get a plenty nice room in DC for well under $200, almost anything but the top-end luxury places. March should be pretty dead. I've been there in March, and I bid on Priceline and had 3-star Renaissance Convention Center for 50 bucks/night. This was March 2002, granted. Anyway. Some zones have iffy 3-stars (in my opinion) in DC, but you should be pretty safe in any zone (choose your favorite) with 4-star bidding. Some of them are kinda bland. My last 4-star win there was the JW Marriott, and I don't particularly care for that one, though for sightseeing it's a great location, and it was under $100/night.

Bidding 4-star for Foggy Bottom should get you Park Hyatt, Westin Grand or Melrose. (The Watergate has come up but not since ending association with Swissotel.) Downtown-White House should net you pretty nice 4-stars as well. I mentioned that I was pretty unimpressed with the JW, though, which seems to come up a lot. You can get the Willard that way if you're lucky, but I wouldn't bank on it.

Couple other things to try if you don't bid or want some comparison pricing:

QuikBook has a nice selection for DC, mostly independents rather than chains. Prices are sometimes quite good, other times just so-so, but again I think March should be pretty quiet so may have some good rates. Check their prices for the Willard, Madison, even Hay-Adams, you never know what you might find. http://www.quikbook.com/10031.asp shows you all their hotels in DC.

Capitol Reservations is a local discount reservation service for DC. Can have some very good rates on properties that they do list, but the rest of the list could be so-so or even above average. Worth checking, though, on the chance they have a good deal that works for you. Has some of the same hotels as QuikBook, so check again for a deal at the Hay-Adams, etc. http://www.capitolreservations.com