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Grex > Travel > #73: Hellllllp! finding hotel room in Washington, DC | |
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| 25 new of 126 responses total. |
richard
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response 47 of 126:
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May 30 19:38 UTC 2007 |
re #46 thats a list of homeless shelters and soup kitchens. I know
JEP wants to save money, but isn't having his family stay at a
homeless shelter or eating at a soup kitchen a bit extreme?
This sounds like it could be National Lampoon's DC Vacation, with
Clark Griswald taking his family to D.C. the cheapest way possible.
Of course the Griswalds ain't got nothing on the Perrys :)
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tod
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response 48 of 126:
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May 30 19:50 UTC 2007 |
re #44
LOL
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keesan
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response 49 of 126:
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May 30 19:54 UTC 2007 |
r 44 and 48, we actually spent a month cooking over wood fires once, in the
far west, where Jim did go up trees to get dead branches. We took along a
car and put any extra wood in it for later.
After a month we smelled hickory smoked, and got a camp stove.
There are camp stoves that take expensive little gas canisters, but Jim found
a way to use them with a big canister that he can refill, for bike camping
where we can manage the extra volume and weight. A gas canister would
probably be much cheaper than a free breakfast.
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edina
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response 50 of 126:
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May 30 20:10 UTC 2007 |
Really? You think? Because while a gas canister might be cheaper,
there's always the cost of getting food, taking the time to cook it,
and appeasing 6 different people. A provided breakfast can usually do
that for you, not to mention give you snacks for later. My time and
energy are worth something to me and I'd much rather send kids to get
breakfast than attempting to cook a pot of oatmeal or eggs over a
campstove.
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marcvh
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response 51 of 126:
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May 30 20:28 UTC 2007 |
Maybe, but the typical "continental breakfast" at a two-star hotel can
be pretty easily procured at any 7-11. The breakfast is for businessmen
who don't want to waste time looking around an unfamiliar city for food
before their urgent morning meetings. Are there no kids who just eat
cereal any more?
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tod
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response 52 of 126:
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May 30 20:53 UTC 2007 |
My kids don't eat cereal for breakfast usually. They have meat, cheese,
bread, tomatoes, and olives.
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mcnally
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response 53 of 126:
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May 30 20:58 UTC 2007 |
Brooke's suggestion in #32 sounds like the most practical so far.
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richard
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response 54 of 126:
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May 30 20:59 UTC 2007 |
re #52 olives for breakfast?!?! Now you know the only real place for
an olive is in a martini glass, and you don't drink martinis for
breakfast unless you are in france!
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tod
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response 55 of 126:
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May 30 21:19 UTC 2007 |
Doh! Black olives, richard..
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keesan
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response 56 of 126:
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May 30 21:41 UTC 2007 |
Oatmeal and eggs are among the easiest things to cook. Is there anyone who
actually makes a different breakfast for each family member?
We had no choice at all as kids.
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tod
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response 57 of 126:
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May 30 21:55 UTC 2007 |
Sometimes, the boys might get english muffins with pate' or roe.
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edina
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response 58 of 126:
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May 30 21:57 UTC 2007 |
Re 56 Of course they are easy to cook. But when you're trying to
manage four children and get them up, ready to go and out the door,
letting them be in a position to pick out their own food and appease
themselves, sometimes you can't put a price on that.
I know it's not something you would do, but having breakfast included
in a hotel stay really does work well for a lot of people.
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keesan
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response 59 of 126:
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May 30 22:03 UTC 2007 |
Three of the kids are teenagers and should be able to wake themselves up.
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marcvh
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response 60 of 126:
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May 30 22:11 UTC 2007 |
Cooking anything at all is a challenge in a hotel room where you typically
don't have a proper stove, counter, utensils, sink, refrigerator, and so
on. Eating something like eggs will also be a bit annoying and messy since
you typically won't have chairs or a table for even 2 people, let alone 6.
I'd either stick with something easy, like a granola bar and maybe some
yogurt, or else just go to McDonald's.
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bru
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response 61 of 126:
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Jun 2 00:03 UTC 2007 |
my campstove burns anything(alcohol) and the tank can be emptied prior to
boarding the plane. It would probably have to go in checked baggage though.
when you go to a restaurant for breakfast, make sure you ask for scrapple.
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mcnally
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response 62 of 126:
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Jun 2 00:42 UTC 2007 |
If you do, be certain they have some camp stove fuel on hand to
wash your mouth out.. At least be clear on what it is before you
order it.
From Wikipedia:
> Scrapple is typically made of hog offal, such as the
> head, particularly the heart, liver, and other scraps,
> which are boiled with any bones attached (often the
> entire head), to make a broth. Some people joke that
> it contains "Everything but the squeal!"
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bru
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response 63 of 126:
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Jun 2 01:11 UTC 2007 |
The only place I ever saw scrapple was in washingtom D.C. And it was fried
like bacon...
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slynne
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response 64 of 126:
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Jun 2 01:14 UTC 2007 |
Wow, that place in Fairfax that edina mentions in resp:38 is really
cheap for a two bedroom suite. My brother lives in Fairfax. There is a
metro station there.
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keesan
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response 65 of 126:
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Jun 2 01:20 UTC 2007 |
I cooked on an alcohol burner (made in Greece) for three months, in Skopje
Macedonia, in an unheated room (it had a lightbulb) with water from an outdoor
faucet. I bought one frying pan, one pot, a lid, a bowl, knife, spoon. It
is not that difficult, just takes experimenting because that burner had only
one heat level. A room with an attached bathroom (with hot and cold running
water and sink) would be luxury in comparison.
Consumer Reports reviewed hotel chains some time this year, and says that if
you go a step or two up from the cheapest class you tend to get microwave oven
and maybe refrigerator in the room, and continental breakfast, without paying
for a kitchenette.
I don't see a major problem in sitting on a bed to eat. No mosquitoes,
adequate lighting at all times. Luxury camping.
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edina
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response 66 of 126:
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Jun 2 02:40 UTC 2007 |
Fairfax is huge - there are a bunch of metro stations there. I think
it's a great place to stay when visiting - it's far enough out to
escape some of the expenses, but not so far out that it's inconvenient
for getting into the city.
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nharmon
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response 67 of 126:
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Jun 2 14:39 UTC 2007 |
Jep, I just got back from DC. We stayed in the Staybridge Suites in
Columbia, MD. Our room was around $120/night, and included a full
fridge, dishwasher, microwave, and half-range. It is about a 20 min
drive from there to the nearest metro station, and a 20 min drive (going
the opposite direction) to Baltimore.
The hotel price depends on when you are going. I think we got a hotel
room last year near Dulles International Airport for around $70/night.
It was a Holiday Inn Express, very nice.
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jep
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response 68 of 126:
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Jun 4 02:29 UTC 2007 |
I'm still reading, just not responding much. Sorry!
resp:32 sounds excellent to me. Thanks, Brooke!
I checked into the rent-an-apartment you posted, too. They're available
for the time when I will be there.
I stayed in a Staybridge Suites in Columbus when I went there for work
last month. It was nice, and it gave me the idea of getting a place
with a kitchenette. It had one; I was on an expense account and so
didn't need to use it; but it seemed great for a family vacation. The
breakfast was very good, too.
I'm thinking of taking an electric skillet and electric griddle with us
if we don't get a kitchenette. We already have these things.
We can take some bowls, cereal, oatmeal, yogurt and the like. It's what
we usually eat for breakfast. We can take or acquire sandwich
materials; my son and I made sandwiches every day when we visited edina
in DC a few years ago, for lunch while visiting tourist sites. It
worked well.
We've decided against camping. My wife feels she would spend 2/3 of
every day cooking, and I think she has a point.
Not gonna rent an RV, though we all liked the Robin Williams movie. We
can too easily see ourselves having similar experiences.
re resp:46 and resp:47: No, I don't think we want to stay in a homeless
shelter. Yes, I'm cheap. We go cheap or we don't go. I had a
perfectly adequate income for 2 of us, but it's harder to make it cover 6.
BTW, the kids are 16, 14, 11 and 10 (my son turns 11 on Wednesday).
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jep
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response 69 of 126:
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Jun 4 02:37 UTC 2007 |
My wife and I went to a presentation by Global Vacation Resorts on
Saturday. They offer resort condos for $94/week. If you pay a lifetime
membership of only $9900, and an annual fee of $349.
Unfortunately, they misrepresented themselves greatly. We were offered
3 days and two nights at a Holiday Inn... "I promise, you can use it any
time in the next year, no cost!" Except for the $50 deposit, if "any
time" means Monday-Wednesday, and not within 2 weeks of any major
holiday. The deposit is refundable, so they say.
They also promised a free DVD player or video camera, then it turns out
that's "free but you pay a $14.95 shipping fee".
I dunno. When someone lies to you to get you into their place, you have
to be closely related to donkeys to buy anything from them. It's not
that we didn't know there would be catches. <shrug> So we wasted some
time.
If anyone wants the certificate for the two free nights, let me know.
If you have read this far into my item, you would be most welcome to the
certificate. I'm not going to use it.
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keesan
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response 70 of 126:
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Jun 4 03:25 UTC 2007 |
5% interest on the $10K ($500) plus the $350 plus $100/week does not sound
like a bargain to me. Nearly $1000 if you rent for a week every year. This
assumes you can sell your 'membership' to some other idiot. Some CHinese
friends of ours actually bought one in Las Vegas and use it. They thought
this was the only way you could rent something with a kitchen.
Can't you cook the same things in a frying pan that you could on a griddle?
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marcvh
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response 71 of 126:
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Jun 4 05:19 UTC 2007 |
There are plenty of places in Vegas you can rent with a kitchen. Probably
the newest and hence the one getting attention is the Platinum, which is
a little off the strip but has a full kitchen in every suite.
As far as the older options, the one that comes to mind is the Jockey Club.
Although it's owned as a timeshare (that's why it's still there -- too
difficult for developers to buy back the shares of thousands of different
owners so they can level it and build something better) you don't have
to own a share to book it like a regular hotel.
But, to be honest, I can't really imagine wanting a kitchen in Vegas.
If you're trying to save money and/or you have kids with you, you're in
the wrong town.
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