Priceline Hotel: Hotel area suggestions for DC/surrounding?

[BHL]

Is there anywhere safe to stay in the Washington DC area to the east close to Six Flags America? With traffic, I don't want to make an hour drive to Six Flags in the morning (I plan to get there at 10:30). Would most areas near or outside of the I-495 loop generally be safe? I'm looking for a 3 star hotel.

To the east, for Priceline's "Maryland - DC Suburbs" area, the Bowie zone is greyed out and the Camp Springs zone has no 3 star. How is the "Greenbelt - Hyattsville" zone area?

If those aren't good areas, I've read that Fairfax County Virginia (west of DC) is safe.(?) For Priceline's Northern Virginia area, what zones other than Fairfax would be safe?

I think I read Arlington is OK.

How about Alexandria? Would Pricelines zones in those areas be too broad to guarantee a safe hotel?

I did read the following in the city-data.com forums:

"The Arlington, Convention Center-Capitol Hill, Alexandria, and other zones are too big and you might get stuck in an undesirable or inconvenient location (i.e. the Hyatt on D St., NW which is right next to a homeless shelter or the Mark Center Hilton in Alexandria which is nowhere near any public transportation)."

But this was in 2008. The zones could have changed since then.

[BHL]

Can anyone offer any advice?

[thereuare]

Why not start with the Priceline Maryland Hotel List and see if the 'known' 3* and higher hotels in that zone would work for your needs? You could receive a hotel not on the list or yet reported to the board, but this will at least give you a good idea of what to expect.

I don't have firsthand knowlege of this area, but as it doesn't appear to be an area that only has 1* and 2* rated roadside motels, i'm not sure what type of safety issues you're concerned with.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[BHL]

Why not start with the Priceline Maryland Hotel List and see if the 'known' 3* and higher hotels in that zone would work for your needs?

That's it though, I don't really know if it'll work since I don't know about the areas. I hear Fairfax is good, so I might have to just go for that (or maybe Alexandria) and pray for the best. I was reading about a nice hotel that's next to a homeless shelter somewhere in DC. But maybe (probably would be) that was right in downtown.

[kethrinelopez]

The Residence Inn by Marriott is a very nice hotel; we had a 2 bedroom rooms with a small kitchen. The hotel served a courtesy hot buffet breakfast every day. It also served a complimentary supper on Monday - Wednesday evenings. It was located in a pretty commodious place very near a metro stop and within walking distance of the capitol. It also had a couple of computers that guests could use to access the Internet, which was handy.

[44disney]

I think your best bet may be hotels in the National Harbor area. They are cheaper generally than the Arlington/Alexandria (unless you go all the way out to Dulles) and much closer than Fairfax to Six Flags. I'm sure there are good hotels closer to Six Flags but the National Harbor is a new development with lots of hotels and 30/40 minute drive to Six Flags via 95/495.

A random search for dates/places makes me think the Aloft and Residence Inns can be had for $170 on weekends and $210 on weekdays on PRICELINE WITHOUT BIDDING and $145 on HOTWIRE. Probably can find some good deals in that area with some work.