Accommodation near PyCon DC 2005
A hotel in Arlington located near a metro station would be a good choice, because Foggy Bottom station is a brief (15-minute) ride away. Somewhere to the west would work best. The orange line of the Metro system runs from Vienna, VA through Falls Church and Arlington to the GWU stop. Anywhere else will involve a transfer and extra travel time.
See the Arlington Hotel Guide for a list. For example, the Quality Inn at Court House is about two blocks from the metro.
Possible locations:
Radisson - Barcelo Hotel (DuPont Circle) (+1 202 293-3100) (no Wi-Fi)
State Plaza hotel (Foggy Bottom; near GWU) (+1 202 861 8200 no Wi-Fi in rooms, says Ted Leung)
Hilton Silver Spring (Near Metro, in suburban MD) (+1 301 589 5200, free Wi-Fi in rooms, but expensive --- $200+ per night) Windsor Park Hotel (+1 202 483-7700, no Wi-Fi)
Conn Ave, between DuPont Circle/Woodley Park Metro stations
Rouge Hotel (Embassy Row, steps away from the downtown business district and Dupont Circle) (+1 202 232 8000) (free Wi-Fi, not in all rooms; $250+ per night; tastelessly appointed in red velvet and Naugahyde) Best Western Key Bridge, one Metro stop away, free Wi-Fi in rooms
Here's a website which can help you find cheap hotels: http://washington-dc.hotelscheap.org/
Some places which are close to GWU/Foggy Bottom (ie, walking distance or less than 15 minutes by metro): Georgetown; Dupont Circle; Rosslyn, VA.
Here are some places which are farther away, but still on the metro: Arlington, VA; Alexandria, VA; Falls Church, VA. The WMATA has a list of metro-accessible hotels at http://www.stationmasters.com/Lodging/lodging.html . Caution: some stations would be very far away and require a long commute.
If you want to get an idea of the Washington Metro, here's a map: http://www.wmata.com/metrorail/systemmap.cfm
Or a faster version: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/metro/
These are the hotels our conference center recommends: http://cafritz.gwu.edu/AreaHotels
Hotels
GWU
- One Washington Circle - 3 blocks from conference, 2 blocks from metro. Book through Expedia for a 'Third night free' offer, bringing average price for the conference nights to $106. (Use the 'search by hotel name' feature in Expedia).
- Double Tree (GWU)
- GWU Inn
- Lombardy (GWU area)
Georgetown
- Double Tree (Georgetown)
Arlington (Rosslyn)
- Virginian Suites (Rosslyn)
- Virginia Suites (Rosslyn)
- Rosslyn Holiday Inn
Best Western Key Bridge Half a block from metro station, only one stop away from GWU metro station. Looks like a good deal.
Americana Hotel is close to Pentagon City metro station. It's cheap and gets some good reviews. I'm going to try it this year. - Catherine
Downtown DC
Washington International Student Center: see PyConForCheap2004 under "Hostels".
- Brickskeller (Dupont Circle)
- International Student Center
- Best Western, New Hampshire Ave.
- Marriott Metro Center
- Red Roof Inn (near Chinatown)
Arlington
- Hotel Iwo Jima (Arlington)
- Quality Inn Governor (Arlington)
- Quality Inn Courthouse
- Days Inn (Arlington)
- Comfort Inn Ballston (Arlington)
Fairfax
- Vienna Comfort Inn
- Best Western Fairfax VA
See also PyConDC2005/ForCheap.
Tourism
Here's a good site with some information about things to do in Washington.
http://www.stationmasters.com/Recommend_Reading/recommend_reading.html