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We would like suggestions of Hotels within walking distance from Washington D.C. Union Station. Thanks in advance! DM
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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Hotels within a walk of Wash Union Station at which I have personally stayed at one time or the other are Hyatt Regency on New Jersey Ave. and directly across is Liaison Capitol Hill.
Now, if "room with a view" is of importance, there is a Marriott Courtyard that appears to offer just that. However, that property is closer to New York Ave. than Union Station, and could be beyond a reasonable "walk" - especially if laden with luggage.
However, for the "where can I find an inexpensive, safe, and clean hotel in Wash DC?" crowd, I had best defer to others. I know there are some around here who will disagree, but so far as I am concerned, be prepared to "Dig Deep in DC".
mpaulshore Member # 3785
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First of all, I'd like to applaud Mr. Norman's use of quotation marks around the word "walk" in the second paragraph (although I note that he forgot to do the same in the first paragraph). It's important that those of us who write high-class literary English always use quotation marks to distance ourselves from low-class slang words like "walk", so that readers understand that we're using such words semi-ironically, not fully accepting them as appropriate for serious composition.
Getting to the matter at hand, I'd point out that the closest hotel to Washington, D.C. Union Station is the reasonably luxurious 149-room Irish-themed Phoenix Park Hotel at 520 N. Capitol Street, N.W. (corner of Massachusetts Avenue), just one-and-a-half blocks from the station's main entrance. (The building was built in 1922, and was originally known as the Commodore Hotel.)
(P.S. Just in case there's anyone who didn't catch my irony at the beginning of this post, the noun "walk" is in fact not a slang term or neologism, as Mr. Norman seems to think. The noun has existed in the sense of "an act of walking" for around six centuries, and in the sense of "a distance to be walked" for around five.)
sojourner Member # 3134
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W and Washington Court are quite close.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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It would appear that if "affordable" is a priority second to Union Station proximity, Mr. Paulshore's suggestion of the Phoenix Park best fits.
However, one should be mindful that the restaurant in that hotel is The Dubliner, an Irish themed restaurant that I've been to in the past, and be it assured, it is noisy and with live music. I can't be sure if their racket will bombard your room, but if potentially a problem, as it would be for me, best stay elsewhere.
Finally, and I know it will surprise many I'm mentioning this, there is always the Hotel Harrington. It is fairly near The White House, and definitely caters to the High School tour crowd. They even have barracks, or at least what looks like such. This place's best claim to fame is that they always bought ad space on a Pennsylvania Railroad timetable for NY-Wash service.
PullmanCo Member # 1138
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Lest we forget, the DC Metro stops at Union Station, and you can get a bit away from the highest prices in a short ride.
I personally prefer Pentagon City.
DonNadeau Member # 61606
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I stayed at the Phoenix Park Hotel years ago on my first visit to DC when it was an affordable choice for a "starving" university student. It had a different name then, but I recognized it under its new name when I moved to DC years later.
Wonderful location!
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by PullmanCo: Lest we forget, the DC Metro stops at Union Station, and you can get a bit away from the highest prices in a short ride.
I personally prefer Pentagon City.
When we lived there, quite a few years ago now, there were several reasonably priced motels in Arlington along the route to Vienna.
Ocala Mike Member # 4657
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Best duty I ever had in the service, a month training course at the Military Assistance Institute, Arlington, VA. Wifey and I stayed at the Arlington Towers high-rise hotel (now a condo known as River Place) on Uncle Sam's dime, and the "classes" were taught there as well. Got to know virtually every military base in the DC area, circa 1966.
mpaulshore Member # 3785
posted Mr. Norman: Regarding the hotel north of Union Station that you mentioned, the so-called Marriott Courtyard Washington, D.C./U.S. Capitol: It's about a mile from Union Station and just one block (or, strictly speaking, two half-length blocks) from New York Avenue, and it's located in a somewhat dicey area, with the sidewalk between the station and the hotel passing through a mixture of nice blocks and dicey ones. A tourist with luggage who for whatever reason wanted to stay there would be much better off taking the Metrorail Red Line one stop (in the Silver Spring/Glenmont direction) to the NoMa-Gallaudet U station, getting out at the Second Street exit. I should add that I'm puzzled by your singling this hotel out as supposedly having good views: the immediate area around it is rather dreary, and the monuments and visually noteworthy government buildings are two or more miles away.
Another hotel close to the NoMa-Gallaudet U Metrorail station--specifically, to that station's M Street exit--is the so-called Hilton Garden Inn Washington, D.C./U.S. Capitol, at 1225 First Street, N.E.
I can't help but have the impression that your deprecations of the Phoenix Park Hotel (an establishment I have no connection with, by the way), and of my correctly identifying it as the closest hotel to Washington Union Station, are attempts to excuse your failure to have identified it yourself, which apparently was the result of a memory lapse (since you do admit you've actually been there in the past, even if only in the restaurant). Your intended implication seems to be "Oh, of course I knew about the Phoenix Park--I just chose not to suggest it because I thought it was too expensive and too noisy!" Might I point out that Passenger Rail Fan said nothing about wanting a low price: he only expressed interest in walkability. So your posterior-covering sentence "It would appear that if 'affordable' is a priority second to Union Station proximity, Mr. Paulshore's suggestion of the Phoenix Park best fits" is ridiculous, since no priorities other than walkability/proximity were under discussion; and how would you even know what Passenger Rail Fan's current financial limitations and spending preferences are? Moreover, the two hotels in the near vicinity of Union Station that you did mention, namely the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill and the rather suggestively named Liaison Capitol Hill DC, are in fact in the same moderately high price category as the Phoenix Park. Equally ridiculous is your assertion that no noise-sensitive person should consider booking a room at the Phoenix Park because of the music and loud voices at the Dubliner restaurant: the hotel is a solidly built ten-story structure, and the Dubliner only occupies part of the north side of the ground floor, so if there's any spreading of restaurant noise to the guest rooms, I can't imagine it travels more than one or two floors up, or that it travels to the south side of the building at all. A noise-sensitive guest who was determined to be cautious could simply ask for a room away from the restaurant.
I agree with you about the charms of the 1914/1918/1925 Hotel Harrington, even though it doesn't fit Passenger Rail Fan's expressed criterion. Still, conveniently, it's a two-block walk south of the Eleventh Street exit of the Metro Center Metrorail station, three stops from Union Station on the Red Line (in the Grosvenor/Shady Grove direction).
sojourner: Thank you for mentioning the Washington Court Hotel at 525 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., right near the Hyatt Regency and the Liaison mentioned by Mr. Norman. Another nearby hotel is the George, at 15 E Street, N.W. I'd point out, though, that the W, at 515 Fifteenth Street, N.W., doesn't qualify as walkable by a tourist with luggage, though it's only four blocks from the 13th Street exit or the F Street exit of the aforementioned Metro Center Metrorail station. (Were you perhaps misremembering some other, nearer hotel as the W?)
PullmanCo: These days the hotels in Pentagon City (where I live) are virtually all moderate-to high-priced, with the arguable exception of the Americana, which is about equidistant from the Pentagon City and Crystal City stations. Its nominal street address is 1400 on the unfortunately named Jefferson Davis Highway (actually U.S. Route 1, which has been elevated at that point); in reality, it's only directly accessible from the parallel S. Eads Street.
George Harris: It's my impression that currently there are few or no hotels and motels along the Orange Line in Arlington that connoisseurs of "reasonable" prices would embrace, although of course it's often possible to get discount rates through various websites. Even the Highlander Motel, near the Virginia Square-GMU station, charges surprisingly high prices these days. There might be some slightly lower prices available near the East Falls Church or Dunn Loring station (though East Falls Church in particular is not all that conveniently located for travelers on foot).
palmland Member # 4344
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Mr. Paulshore, you have lots of good suggestions. I wonder if Alexandria might be another option. We stayed there for a few days and enjoyed old town, access to Amtrak and the Metro.
I wouldn't read too much into Mr. Norman's comments. Regulars on the forum know he prefers the finer things when it comes to travel, whether it be hotels, air travel, or wine. While, at times, his comments might come across as dismissive to other suggestions, they are often very helpful and his knowledge of the rail industry is extensive and I'm sure helpful to many novice Amtrak travelers.
DonNadeau Member # 61606
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I second that. Mr. Norman but not necessarily staying out in Alexandria for more than a one-night stay in the DC area, although its downtown area is quite interesting and pleasant.
George Harris Member # 2077
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quote:Originally posted by mpaulshore: Its nominal street address is 1400 on the unfortunately named Jefferson Davis Highway (actually U.S. Route 1,. . .
Suggest you de-politicize by eliminating "unfortunately". Not all of us see any reason to be ashamed of our Southern heritage nor of Mr. Jefferson. To have something named for him is not unfortunate. Might be worth while to see what the mad did other than be President of the Confederate States of America, although an unbiased history of the time would look far different from the current propagandized version.
DonNadeau Member # 61606
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It's was the strangest war. In my opinion, the sides fought at least in the minds military participants for different reasons.
The North rallied for justice and the South to a large extent to preserve a way of life, with a special emphasis on nixing the trade protectionist policies the increasingly industrialized North wanted, which would have destroyed the southern economy that depended on exports so much.
Nearly no one in the North at the time believed that people of African descent were equal in abilities. You can't argue that. Historians in general do not believe that even Lincoln did.
What a shame what went down. How long before the nation heals?
Mr. Harris, you are right. There's no shame whatsoever in your heritage.
In fact, I would argue that Lee was a lot more concerned about the well-being of his men than Lincoln was in his conduct of battle. Moreover, there was hugely less impact on civilian populations in the way the south fought.
PullmanCo Member # 1138
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Mr mpaulshore,
Thanks. I have plans to get back to DC this fall. There's this couple laying in Section 59 of Arlington.
That said, I'll puddle jump SWA into National. There are other calls on my time, so making the trip part of the vacation is impractical.
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