D.C. Travel Help

The wife and I are headed up to D.C. Labor Day weekend and are having a hard time finding a hotel that isn't going to cost us our first born.
We're going to be there that Friday and Saturday night, and we'd prefer not to have to spend the aforementioned cost or worry about getting shot or solicited. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

 

You should stay in Virginia, maybe in the Pentagon City/Crystal City area. Safe area, right on the metro. And there are about 50 hotels in the area so I imagine prices would be ok.

 

sostartled's suggestion is a good one. also check out hotels in the rosslyn, clarendon and ballston areas of arlington -- those neighborhoods are one right after the other right along a metro line. not as many hotel options as pentagon city/crystal city but the clarendon-ballston areas have better nightlife options than pentagon city/crystal city. check out the hilton garden inn in arlington. it's in the courthouse-clarendon area, within walking distance of the courthouse metro stop, which zips you in and out of dc easily.

 

I stayed with friends in Haymarket, way the heck west of DC. I noticed a lot of people on the end of the Orange Line (Vienna) who were staying around there. It's not a long trip to the city on the Metro, so you might even look farther out for rooms if don't mind not staying in the city.

 

They do a lot of weekend track work on metro, so I would advise against staying as far out as Vienna if you're planning to use metro a lot. The track work often adds 30 minutes to what would already been a 30 minute or so trip. The previous suggestions of checking out Arlington are good. PM me if you need any help.

 

Ohh yeah! I forgot about that. The Blue Line will be out of commission Labor Day weekend. The Yellow Line should still be running, but it's going to be slow. Funky's suggestions would put you on the orange/blue, so you should be ok.

 

I've already PMed MU about this, but just to throw it out there:

I live in a huge apartment building in Bethesda which keeps one two-bedroom apartment as a "guest suite" for residents. That means you can stay as my guest for $100 a night. The area is very safe, close to great entertainment and dining, and the bus stops at the front door for a 5-minute ride to the Friendship Heights Metro stop (red line). It's more likely to be available on non-holiday dates, but if anyone is ever coming to town, feel free to contact me and I'll let you know if it's an option.

 

Some very, very good suggestions here.

I enjoy Crystal City, mostly because I enjoy the Crystal City Sports Pub. Tons and tons of hotels there, all, I'm sure, with shuttles to the Crystal City Metro station.

 

Plus, if you have enough drinks at the CCSP, you can mosey on down the block to the Crystal City Restaurant, which has plenty of, um, scenery, and where, amazingly enough, the 4 p.m. shift rivals the midnight shift. Hard to believe, I know.