where should i stay?  i was through a few years ago and managed to stay on the 'bad side of town'.  best places?

DuPont Circle area

I have always had luck getting great 3*+ hotels on Orbitz. Stay in fairly populated and easily accesible areas such as Dupont Circle. Keep north/west of the Capital and you will do fine. Stay away from Georgetown though as not too many like to deal with the traffic and the horrible parking situations. PM me if you need further info.
Good luck,
Sara

Would you please post a web site?

If you come to Northern VA, McLean or Tysons Corner are the right addresses.

The vast majority of providers I've seen have been within the triangle of these 3 neighborhoods. Great areas, walkable, near transit, lots of shops and restaurants, etc. You can also stay more officially "downtown" (further East and South), but then it becomes harder to explain which districts are more or less desirable (though all will still have "NW" in the address). The Convention Center and MCI Center/Gallery Place areas (which are downtown) are fine as well, but more of a pain to find parking at.

The easiest is just to stick to those first couple areas mentioned. If you have a question about a specific area where you're looking at a hotel, post the general address (around these streets) here, and you'll get some reactons.

Good luck and welcome.

And book as early as you can. Good hotels in downtown DC (Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, etc.) at reasonable prices tend to be solidly booked ALL the time.

I am in DC once a month and can usually find great deals and nice hotels.  Email me anyime at [email protected]

xoxox
Anik

How may I contact you?

Can't PM since have no VIP credits at the moment...

I posted a reply to this message and was just wondering why it wouldn't have been posted - just suggestions on neighborhoods. Can't imagine what policy it could have bumped into.

Tysons Corner in VA and Rockville/Bethesda in MD. Some of us try to avoid downtown.