washington dc - where to stay?

holly8

have a day to spend in DC - a fri night to sat evening - with 2 boys (12, 13)... looking for ideas where to stay? any hotel recommendation?

we'd like a walkaround at night-time with a bit of city buzz, if possible?

hoping to tour the spots on fri evening but as we have so little time, it'd be nice to make the most of the fri night? what is chinatown like?
or out arlington side?

endofrainbow

I'd recommend staying in Crystal City in Arlington - buzzing area with good metro links to downtown DC

holly8

endofrainbow wrote: »

I'd recommend staying in Crystal City in Arlington - buzzing area with good metro links to downtown DC

ah...interesting as that's where I was beginning to settle on after a bit of researching last night...any particular hotel recommendations?

Looking at the Americana (very budget motel) or one of the other chain hotels with a pool as it will be hot when we are there ....all quite reasonable prices though ... thanks!

jack presley

I was only there once but central DC seemed to turn into a ghost town at night as the majority of people just travel in and out for work then head home to the suburbs in the evenings and maybe even home to where they're from at the weekends. It was October when I was there so maybe in the Summer it's busier.

The mall looks amazing at night time though so I'd still go and have a look around but a lot of the bars and restaurants around were dead (some even closed) once evening time came. I was only there for a a couple of days myself so didn't venture too far but places out from the centre, e.g. Georgetown are supposed to be buzzing in the evening.

SHOVELLER

Chinatown is only a couple of streets so there's not much to see. However on friday night the Wizards will be playing what could be the defining game of their season in the Verizon Center so the area will be absolutely buzzing.

You could try the hotels around Dupont Circle. Plentiful and a good location as there is a metro station there. From there you can walk to Adams Morgan and the U Street corridor which is the busiest area of the city. If you're looking for buzz this is the area.

The weather for the coming weekend is great so try to go down downtown and walk around the Mall. No queues as it's wide open and you can see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and a lot war memorials. Last friday there was a flyover of World War 2 planes for the 70th anniversary of VE Day and it was spectacular.

SHOVELLER

Just to add if anyone is coming over this or next month the White House is closed for renovations so no tours are available.

This is not on their website.