posted
Not sure how to take this question. When I was a trainer, I would have rookies come to me and ask me questions---which was great, because that's my job to help them. But then one day someone asked me a question, I gave the correct answer, and I heard him 10 minutes later asking someone else the exact same question. I walked in and told him, "Don't EVER ask me for advice ever again." The answer I gave was correct and within policy, and the answer he was about to get from person #2 was the same answer I had given him. It's a bit disrespectful to "shop around" for answers when you are already speaking with "experts".
The reason I'm saying this is because I saw your question on Trainorders, and the answers you got are pretty good. All you're going to get here is the same thing---people will tell you where they have stayed in the past.
What you really should ask (on one, single forum) is this:
"Where in Washington, DC can I stay that is within "x" blocks of Union Station, but costs less than "x" per night?".
Otherwise, you're just getting a whole list of hotels and nobody knows what to tell you. My advice is to stay at the most expensive luxury hotel you can find--Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, etc. Is that what you are looking for?
I'm suggesting that you might want to tone things down a bit, and not ask everybody the same questions on the various forums.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
Mrs. Hale, while neither Mr. Smith nor myself are best equipped around here to answer the frequent inquiry "Where can I find a cheap hotel in....", I think this Marriott Courtyard has a "draw" for the hard core railfan:
While I've never stayed there (have stayed over at a Marriott in Crystal City near the Metro as Ms. Voss suggested over at Trainorders), it does have "rooms with a view' (and I'm not talking Domes and Monuments) and ready access to Metrorail.
I hold the various Marriott brands in high regard (except their low-end Fairfield, which is an ITILDO with me), and find they come closest to my optimal 'the best surprise is no surprise" for the twenty-two or so nights a year I find myself "plopped" in a hotel bed. For an upcoming five night trip to Atlanta next week, four of the nights will be at Marriott Courtysrd properties.
Oh and finally, while I have never been obsessed with "point chasing' activities like many here appear to be, especially for AGR points, I seem to get a free night from Marriott about every year (have already had it for this year; in Pittsburgh at a Renaissance last month).
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
GBN, Thank you for your suggestion of the Courtyard by Marriott. I did, indeed, get that same suggestion from a couple of people on the Trainorders forum. I am not in the least looking to chase points. I just need to be as close to Union Station as possible for as little money as I can spend to be comfortable and safe. (I am arriving one evening and leaving the next morning.) Again, thank you!
smitty195, I believe this forum (and the TO forum) have many experts. All who consider themselves experts do not agree. I will feel free to post the same question on as many forums as I wish. You, however, are not required to read or respond to any post that does not interest you. I'm sorry you found my post disrespectful. I might suggest that you block my posts from appearing in your account.
posted
Interesting, Mrs. Hale, how Mr. Paterson was posting his recommendation for the same Marriott Courtyard over at Trainorders within minutes of when I was posting same over here. Prior to posting, I did search over there looking to see if anyone had recommended that property to you.
Also of interest is the recommendation of the Phoenix you received from several over at Trainorders and reference to its Irish pub. Hey, if it is good enough for the President, it ought to be good enough for any of us:
I have been to that Pub, The Dubliner, by the way.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Train Granny: GBN, Thank you for your suggestion of the Courtyard by Marriott. I did, indeed, get that same suggestion from a couple of people on the Trainorders forum. I am not in the least looking to chase points. I just need to be as close to Union Station as possible for as little money as I can spend to be comfortable and safe. (I am arriving one evening and leaving the next morning.) Again, thank you!
smitty195, I believe this forum (and the TO forum) have many experts. All who consider themselves experts do not agree. I will feel free to post the same question on as many forums as I wish. You, however, are not required to read or respond to any post that does not interest you. I'm sorry you found my post disrespectful. I might suggest that you block my posts from appearing in your account.
I can not "block" you, nor was I being disrespectful. I'm simply pointing out what many others have been saying. The multi-postings asking the same questions on multiple forums is getting a bit tired.
Posts: 2355 | From: Pleasanton, CA | Registered: Apr 2007
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posted
In terms f convienence, the Marriott property suggested by Mr. Norman is as good as it gets in DC. One stop up the Red Line on Metro and there you are.
For something more moderate, the BWI Rail Station 30 miles north of DC has a number of the 'near airport' hotels with shuttle service available.....
But as most of the trains from points south of Washington do not stop at BWI, that would neccessitate a train change..... and it sounds like you won't be in the area long enough to fool with those logistics.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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Thanks for so many suggestions on lodging in the DC area. After some phone conversations with hotel employees, I have decided to stay at Manassas Junction Bed and Breakfast. I will give an update with my trip reports!
posted
I don't know what your plans are, but you do realize Manassas is 60 miles from Wash. DC?
Posts: 332 | From: Long Island, NY USA | Registered: Jan 2004
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Mr. MD, at first my reaction to Mrs. Hale's plan to stay in Manassas struck me the same as it apparently did you, but after further review, it appears it may be the "least of evils".
The Manassas Jct B&B is represented to be "within walking distance' of the train station; they can ride VRE #326 leaving 615A and arriving WAS 730A, which I'd like to think is "safe' for #56 dp 805A.
I further checked several Union Station area hotels; first found the previously noted Marriott Courtyard is not available April 25, then both Phoenix and Hyatt. Each had rooms available in $425 range, which could give some here, self included, "pause". Those here familiar with the auction and other consolidator sites, could possibly 'beat" those noted rates, but not all such as myself are familiar, or about to become so.
While I am no aficionado of B&B's in this life (I felt "ripped off' by the one that was our Class HQ for School Reunion last June, but then, your 50th is a "once in a lifetime') preferring major brands at which "the best surprise is no surprise", others surely hold differently. Perhaps Mrs. Hale not only found the Manassas rate to be acceptable but also is an "aficionado" of the genre'.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
My most recent stay (my fathers' funeral at Arlington) in DC involved the Crystal City Embassy Suites. It was recommended me by a friend.
It's not inexpensive, but it has superb service. It has the advantage of being a quick shuttle ride away from a Metro Station, and that give you access to all of DC by underground rail.
I can unconditionally recommend the Crystal City Embassy Suites.
Posts: 1404 | Registered: Oct 2001
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For future reference as this is Richmond, VA area and not WAS, I am a fan of this establishment Henry Clay Inn located literally across the street from the Amtrak station in Ashland, VA. Great place to watch trains, explore the small downtown, or walk the campus of Randolph-Macon College.
It's a reproduction of the original railroad hotel in town and offers 14 rooms and a continental breakfast...... not exactly a B&B but of similar ambiance.
The drawbacks are that you will hear trains during the night and none of the trains from points south of Richmond, VA stop in Ashland. That means changing trains in Richmond for the last 10 mile jaunt up to Ashland.
-------------------- David Pressley
Advocating for passenger trains since 1973!
Climbing toward 5,000 posts like the Southwest Chief ascending Raton Pass. Cautiously, not nearly as fast as in the old days, and hoping to avoid premature reroutes. Posts: 4203 | From: Western North Carolina | Registered: Feb 2004
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