Priceline Hotel: Help with Priceline March 31-April 4

[suscrowe]

I need advice on using Priceline to book two rooms for three adults in Washington, DC the week of March 31-April 4. We would like to be in an area that is accessible to the Metro so we can use the metrorail to see the DC sites. After looking at the Priceline maps, I am still not sure which area to bid on. We would like to stay in a fairly inexpensive area but having access to the Metro is a must. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help!

[pterrell]

What is your budget?

How far are you willing to walk to get to the Metro?

Are you willing to split your stay between hotels?

And are you willing to stay outside of the city?

Using HOTWIRE as a reference, you've selected a time with low availabilty and high prices...

[suscrowe]

I would like to keep our budget under $125 if possible. We are taking my mom with us so the Metro would probably need to be within a few blocks of the hotel. We would consider staying outside the city as long as we have easy access to the Metro. I would like to avoid splitting our stay between hotels but I may not have a choice.

[pterrell]

I would like to keep our budget under $125 if possible. We are taking my mom with us so the Metro would probably need to be within a few blocks of the hotel. We would consider staying outside the city as long as we have easy access to the Metro. I would like to avoid splitting our stay between hotels but I may not have a choice.

Expert advice on DC is given by TravelGuy in the topic [http://www.betterbidding.com/show.php/showtopic/10688]Washington DC Zones.

I'm giving my advice with the caveat that I'm no expert on DC, just that I spent many hours researching the best options for my 5 day trip to DC last month, and I'm willing to share the results of my efforts.

If being a few blocks from the Metro is a high concern, then be aware that every zone has possible hotels that can be half a mile or so from a Metro station. And some hotels have a long hike from the entrance to the room (reported of the Hilton).

The Omni Shoreham is having a $109 TravelZoo special on Mar. 31 & Apr 1, so you may be able to pick it up on Priceline for those dates for less. Or go with that deal if you want to guarantee a hotel that's "across the street" from a Metro station.

The remaining dates look like a crapshot on your budget. Good luck...

[suscrowe]

Thanks for the advice. I looked at the Omni but it is totally booked on one of the days we are in DC. I am still trying other areas.

Also for some reason, the TravelGuy link did not work. Do you mind posting it again?

Thanks again for all of your help! :)

[pterrell]

Sorry for the broken link. The Washington DC Zones topic is under the forum Priceline/Hotwire Hotel Lists and Tips for Washington, DC.

TravelGuy refers the hotels as being a short walk to the Metro station, with a short walk being about 10 minutes in some cases. But I know that for some people, that's quite a distance. A couple times that 10 minute walk to our DC hotel became 30 minutes for my wife and I as she was feeling ill and had to stop several times (the stops were nice though, sitting in Washington Circle in front of our first president, then across the street from some historc buildings, and then in the nice hotel lobby). For my disabled mom, I even make reservations in motor lodges instead of hotels to minimize the distance to the room.