Baltimore Inner harbor/DC trip questions, advice...

[speechteachri]

OK, we are in the midst of planning our summer vacation. We are definately doing D.C. and Baltimore this summer. We are going in August, because we were able to get tickets for the Sox/Orioles game at Camden Yards for my Birthday! Yeah!!!

We'll be hot in D.C. but no hotter that WDW last July!:)

OK, so we already have the game tickets, that dictates that we will be staying in Baltimore on the 20th of August. We will have most of two days there and we are hoping to get in the Aquarium and maybe the science Center besides the game. This will be the last portion of our trip, with D.C. portion first...we are planning backwards!:)

No hotels booked yet, and we are trying to decide if we want to drive so we can be on our own timetable, or take Amtrack down (tickets running aroun $350 for the three of us round trip). For the D.C. portion of the trip we will buy Metro tickets regardless, so we don't have to drive into the city.

So here are my questions...First...where to stay? Easy access to Metro and something that won't break the bank are a must!
Second...we have already looked at Hotwire and found a really great rate on a hotel in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, but we have never used Hotwire before. Haven't checked the other travel/hotel sites yet.

What is the difference between all of the travel sites? Can we guarantee that we will have 2 beds with any of these sites? I have never used any of the discount sites for hotels because I like to have CONTROL, so this is really difficult for me! HELP!!!

[Hedy]

Have you looked into flying? We went there for my dad's 65th b-day in 99, and we got a good rate on Southwest.

[askomsky]

We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Maryland that was 10 mins from the Metro. Worth it if your driving down and have your own car. The Hampton Inn was perfect bc it was a free full breakfast each morning. So that alone figured into the cost of the room (and they were nice!) was worth the price.

We went for our hockey tourny, I do know that Hampton in had 2 options 1 was 2 double beds and the other was double bed (or was it queen) and a pull out sofa. I'm sure you could ask after you make your ressie (at any hotel) for a specific one if possible. The rate was $90 but for a family of 4 (not us we had to get a suite bc we were 5) that included a huge breakfast, we all thought was worth it. To eat out for breakfast could run $20 alone.
But where we stayed there were 3 other hotels all next to us, so there are plenty of options.

The first night we drove into DC, the next day we took the metro. Much nicer! lol Metro for 4 of us (youngest was free) on the weekend round trip was $18 and change.
HTH!
April

[speechteachri]

OK, so so far we are leaning toward Amtrack since there are no good ding fares anymore from Providence. We can take Amtrack for less than $350 for all 3 of us RT! With the price of gas, the hassles driving through NYC and Philly, and the parking fees in DC and Baltimore, we figure it might be the best option. Still considering though.

I love Hampton Inn for the convenience of the free breakfast, but I think we will be looking for something closer to a Metro stop just in case we don't have a car.

We did go ahead and book 1 night in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore through Hotwire last night. Got the Radisson, which gets mixed revies, but we only will be there 1 night, so we'll deal if it's not so great. Anyway, hopefully the Red Sox will win that night, so the hotel won't matter!!! Hahaha!!!

Thanks for the advice! Any more advice out there, bring it on!:)

[askomsky]

OK, so so far we are leaning toward Amtrack since there are no good ding fares anymore from Providence. We can take Amtrack for less than $350 for all 3 of us RT! With the price of gas, the hassles driving through NYC and Philly, and the parking fees in DC and Baltimore, we figure it might be the best option. Still considering though.

I love Hampton Inn for the convenience of the free breakfast, but I think we will be looking for something closer to a Metro stop just in case we don't have a car.

We did go ahead and book 1 night in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore through Hotwire last night. Got the Radisson, which gets mixed revies, but we only will be there 1 night, so we'll deal if it's not so great. Anyway, hopefully the Red Sox will win that night, so the hotel won't matter!!! Hahaha!!!

Thanks for the advice! Any more advice out there, bring it on!:)


The only thing I can suggest is to find out hotels that are closer to the metro.
7 yrs ago a bunch of us went to DC and we stayed on the opposite end from where I stayed in Feb. I'm pretty sure it was Alexandria WV. I do remember we had babies so we drove but it was probably 2 mins from the hotel we stayed out. Definetly walking distance with older kids.

[plantlady]

When you book your hotel using the discount sites, make SURE you print out all of the confirmation emails/pages/ect. We have, on more than one occasion, arrived, and they did not have us in the computer. But, when I showed them the printout, we are always given a room, at the rate we were promised.