Stay in Georgetown or DC?

Old Apr 27th, 2022, 01:50 PM
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Stay in Georgetown or DC?

My husband, my 12-year-old and I will be travelling to DC in November, for 4 full days and we have heard staying in Georgetown is a great option for families. I have also heard there is no metro stop and seeing the sites may be less accessible. Does anyone have thoughts on this and the best way to travel from Georgetown to DC (on our site seeing list is the White House, Lincoln memorial, Spy Museum, Arlington Cemetery, museum of national history, Fords theater)

The hotel I am looking at in Georgetown is The Graham - Luxury Boutique Hotel in Georgetown D.C. (thegrahamgeorgetown.com) which looks nice but I don't want to be too far away without the =13pxoption to go back to the room if needed.

I also see a river boat taxi could that be an =13pxoption too?

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Old Apr 27th, 2022, 03:05 PM
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Neither - I would look for a hotel under $200/night near the Rosslyn Metro stop on the Virginia side of the Potomac. Rosslyn has the blue and orange lines. The blue line will take you south to Arlington, Pentagon and National Airport. The orange line will take you to Metro Center and Union Station. Union Station is within walking distance of the Capitol Building and the office buildings of the congressmen and senators.
Georgetown is served by buses but not with the frequency of the Metro trains.
If just taking a day trip into DC, I like to stay near Greenbelt MD and ride the green line into the city.
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Old Apr 27th, 2022, 03:07 PM
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Originally Posted by ekhayes
My husband, my 12-year-old and I will be travelling to DC in November, for 4 full days and we have heard staying in Georgetown is a great option for families. I have also heard there is no metro stop and seeing the sites may be less accessible. Does anyone have thoughts on this and the best way to travel from Georgetown to DC (on our site seeing list is the White House, Lincoln memorial, Spy Museum, Arlington Cemetery, museum of national history, Fords theater)

The hotel I am looking at in Georgetown is The Graham - Luxury Boutique Hotel in Georgetown D.C. (thegrahamgeorgetown.com) which looks nice but I don't want to be too far away without the =13pxoption to go back to the room if needed.

I also see a river boat taxi could that be an =13pxoption too?

Georgetown is in DC….

An Uber or Lyft would cost $10 or $15.


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Old Apr 27th, 2022, 08:01 PM
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No, it's not a great location for tourism if you plan to use the Metro or bus transit. If you are willing to do cab/uber everywhere it's not horribly out of the way but not convenient to most of the usual tourist sites and you risk getting stuck in DC traffic.

Suggest trying a site like booking.com and searching in Downtown DC area - lots of decent options for you.
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Old Apr 27th, 2022, 08:08 PM
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It has been some time, but we enjoyed the Embassy Suites hotel when we visited Washington DC with our children. It was walking distance to Dupont Circle and the Foggy Bottom metro stations although a hotel even closer to a metro station or the sights you plan to visit would be ideal.

I really liked the Georgetown area but It was not as convenient to the Metro, which is a terrific transportation system.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 03:39 AM
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Georgetown is within Washington, D.C. but is not a great place to base if your focus will be on the Smithsonians. Look nearer to "Downtown" proper, Foggy Bottom, Dupont Circle, etc. or close-in Northern Virginia; and preferably somewhere close to one or two Metro lines, as during the day trains arrive at 20-minute intervals. You might pay a bit more for a closer-in hotel, but you'll make up for it with less transit time, plus be able to easily return to your room to refresh.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 03:57 AM
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Did the people recommending Georgetown say why? I'm sure it is a nice place to live, but it would not occur to me to stay there on a trip. For DC proper I would look at the Dupont Circle area. I typically stay at one of the Crystal City Marriotts, right above a metro station. Since I arrive from the south on Amtrak that's particularly convenient for me. However, I haven't been since Amazon started building its new HQ in the area.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 04:48 AM
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Penn Quarter is an interesting area for dining and is convenient to many Smithsonian buildings and the National Gallery of Art. For several visits we have been fortunate to find good rates at the Grand Hyatt. Yes, it’s large. It’s adjacent to a Metro station. We like the location.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 05:42 AM
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We stayed at the Embassy Suites DC Convention Center on 10th St NW with our 12-year old a couple of years ago and found it to be a great location. We walked to all the main sites easily, and did appreciate having a separate room for our kid. Lots of good restaurant options nearby too.

I would definitely not want to stay in Georgetown for typical sight-seeing.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 09:05 AM
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The Graham is a beautiful little hotel and in the same block as my favorite DC coffee shop//bakery (Baked and Wired). It's on the east end of Georgetown so closer to the sites you listed but, as others have mentioned, not the most convenient. Cabs or Uber/Lyft to the places you mentioned (aside from Arlington Cemetery) would take 10-15 minutes in normal traffic.

If you are seeking a boutique hotel experience, I suggest you look at the Hay-Adams, the Jefferson, or the Sofitel, all of which are located in proximity to the White House. In my opinion, Penn Quarter would be a better location. Check out the Riggs and the Monaco hotels.

The water taxi you mentioned is a touring excursion and not transport from place to place in the city. Worth a look though to see DC from the water if that is something that interests you.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 10:56 AM
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>> have heard staying in Georgetown is a great option for families. I have also heard there is no metro stop and seeing the sites may be less accessible.

​​​​​True enough on both counts.

>> don't want to be too far away
The 'too far' would be a matter of time more than distance. Georgetown would take a bit more time than a downtown location to visit sights. As for a Georgetown location, the Graham is relatively good for visiting the sights. Just off M Street at Thomas Jefferson St (between 30th and 31st).

There is a Metrobus stop very close by (1 min, 253 ft away) on M. It is also a DC Circulator stop.

Metrobus to 9th & Constitution, leaving now - middle of afternoon, about 25 minutes. By car it is 15 minutes. That's the Natural History Museum on the Mall.

From Rosslyn Metro station it would be 17 min, including a 7 min walk from the station to the NHM. That does not include the time it takes from leaving a Rosslyn lodging to actually boarding a train.

The Graham is doable. There is a tradeoff between the benefits of staying in that particular location and its convenience to sightseeing.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 12:37 PM
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It is also a DC Circulator stop.
It's worth looking at the various circulator maps, one loops around the mall area, because ultimately using the various circulators is the way to go for sightseers. Using the DC metro for sightseeing is a TERRIBLE idea. Locals think the metro is handy and it may be for commuters and downtown workers but almost no stops are convenient for DC sights.
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Old Apr 28th, 2022, 02:33 PM
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I stayed at the Mayflower in September, loved it. Just up the street from the White House and close to Dupont Circle and several good bus routes. The Circulator stop a few blocks away was handy for Georgetown.

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Old Apr 29th, 2022, 09:10 AM
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I don't think it's very convenient and can't imagine why someone would say that is a great option "for families". If anything, I'd say the opposite, it might be ok (but still not great for a tourist) for a solo or couple, but for families? I just think that is an odd remark and wonder why someone would say that. Because there aren't hardly any hotels even in Georgetown, actually, but not the kind that cater to families like you can find elsewhere, such as suite hotels. The main commercial area of Georgetown gets congested with traffic and often some drunk/rowdy college kids in bars, which is normal as Georgetown is there. I just don' t understand the family reference at all.

You can get around by bus, the DC Circulator does have a route on M St or K St and the Graham is near that. It's just farther away and even that circulator bus won't take you near the Mall at all One line goes a few blocks from Dupont Circle and the other runs along K St to Union Stn. You can see the lines on here.
https://www.dccirculator.com/georgetown-union-station/

I'd stay somewhere more in the central area, and that would be roughly between the Foggy Bottom metro and the Archives metro stops, going north up to about M or N St. There are a few other choices south of the Mall near the Wharf or elsewhere, but it depends what you are looking for, etc. For example, some in that area aren't near any restaurants as it is just Federal bldgs so nothing going on at night. Wharf isn't the most convenient either but do-able and not sure I'd say that is good for families, either.
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Old Apr 30th, 2022, 08:03 AM
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DC
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Old Apr 30th, 2022, 08:35 AM
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Christina, I took "great option for families" to mean a place that has restaurants and shopping nearby and not a downtown hotel where it is dead or creepy outside at night. This family is a couple with a 12-year old, so I think a boutique hotel in a lively part of a city would work.

If knew a couple of bus routes you could flex your plan depending on which bus arrived next at that stop on M Sreet. DC Ciculator - no brainer to just take it to Union Station at the start of National Mall circulator route. Metrobus 33 - take it to the White House or the Mall/museums or just transfer tp the bus tp Spy Museum.
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Old Apr 30th, 2022, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by tom_mn
It's worth looking at the various circulator maps, one loops around the mall area, because ultimately using the various circulators is the way to go for sightseers. Using the DC metro for sightseeing is a TERRIBLE idea. Locals think the metro is handy and it may be for commuters and downtown workers but almost no stops are convenient for DC sights.
Respectfully, I think your information is misleading. Every place ekhayes mentioned is within a 10 minute walk of a metro station. (except the Lincoln Memorial which is 15 min)

As is the case in most major cities, getting from point to point after that is frequently faster on foot than trooping back into the metro or potentially waiting 10 minutes for a Circulator bus. Not dissing the the Circulator National Mall route -- it's an excellent resource especially for some of the farther flung monuments.

For the most frequently touristed areas, DC is a very compact and walkable city.
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Old May 2nd, 2022, 09:42 AM
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The Graham is a crazy expensive hotel not in a good location for normal tourist stuff. The Arc in Foggy Bottom is a very nice boutique hotel with an easy walk to the Metro, plus you could walk or take the shuttle to the Kennedy Center (as an aside, there are free performances at the Kennedy Center most evenings at 6pm).
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Old May 17th, 2022, 03:00 AM
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Georgetown IS DC. Don't stay in Rosslyn.

Quick and pleasant walk to Dupont Circle. From the Graham, one mile. Easy peasy. The Graham has a nice rooftop lounge with pretty views. I'm sure you could have your morning coffee out there and take in the view before heading out.

The Circulator Bus will stop nearby your hotel and that is either one dollar PP or free (was free during COVID). The Circulator lines hit the major sites but if you just wanted to get to a metro stop, it will take you to Dupont Circle metro stop and off you go.

Georgetown - Dupont Circle Route:
https://www.dccirculator.com/explore...etown-rosslyn/

Georgetown -Union Station route:
https://www.dccirculator.com/georgetown-union-station/

National Mall Route:
https://www.dccirculator.com/explore...national-mall/

This last one is nice to know when you are out and about if you are on the Mall and get tired. It is the main tourist route but it's a buck a person per ride. What a deal. And if you use the smart card, transfers within two hours are free. Even better.

The above said: if your main focus is the Smithsonian museums, finding something downtown would be closer. But you chose a nice hotel. Georgetown would be nice for your evening stroll.
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