62 new of 126 responses total.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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?
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.
I think Vegas is a great town to vacation cheap with the kids. The pools behind the MGM are pretty much geared toward doing that and they're right next to the indoor cheapo fast food places.
Really? A lot of people told me that Las Vegas wasn't really geared to kids and made for a poor place for a family vacation. Interesting.
The best place for kids is the casino at Circus Circus. Children aren't allowed to linger in the casino itself (obviously they have to be able to walk through it since it's in the middle of everything.) So, around the perimeter of the gaming area, you find strollers parked with kids in them as their parents gamble and then come over every hour or two to check on them. Your kids, however, probably will eschew the "water park" attractions (which aren't as good as the ones at, say, Cedar Point) and prefer to try to collect all the cards that the illegal immigrants are handing out on the sidewalk.
re #73: Vegas could be a great place for a family trip, but if you were doing a family trip there you probably wouldn't be doing many of the "Vegas" things. During the years I was living in the Seattle area I took a couple of long trips through the American west and southwest, and on several of them I wound up staying in Vegas for a day or two here or there on my way to other places. If you pick the right time to visit (i.e. not when any major events are going on and general tourism traffic is low) it can be a terrific place to get a nice hotel room and decent food at very good prices. I probably wasn't a typical Vegas visitor, however.. When I passed through Vegas on those trips the last thing I wanted to do was gamble -- I got enough of that in Seattle in those years and the poker action in Vegas (at least back then) wasn't all that attractive in the range of game that I was interested in playing.. As a stop-over point to catch my breath and enjoy luxuries like indoor plumbing, soft beds, and hot food that wasn't noodles and had never been freeze-dried, Vegas made a great spot to stop and stay a day or two to sit by the hotel pool and relax before continuing the journey. And there are some *very* attractive outdoor recreation opportunities available at distances ranging anywhere from the outskirts of the city (Red Rock Canyon) to a little further away (Valley of Fire) to a couple of hours' travel away (the Grand Canyon!) I guess what I'm saying is if you pick the right time of year and you're not interested in gambling, night clubs, or showbiz extravaganzas, Vegas can be a spot for a very non-stereotypical-Vegas vacation.
Unfortunately, good food at decent prices is hard to find on the strip nowadays. Downtown still has some good options though (and the poker downtown is, in my limited experience, a lot more serious.)
re #73 Really? A lot of people told me that Las Vegas wasn't really geared to kids and made for a poor place for a family vacation. Interesting. Seattle to Vegas is about 90 minutes flight and the vacation packages are cheap. Plus, we only pay for things with our Alaska Air credit card so we usually have enough for multiple family flights to either there or LA or San Diego. Vegas is the shortest and least hassle. Fun things in Vegas for kids are watching street performers, the fountains at Bellagio, the Zigfriend & Roy habitat, the Hoover Dam, Circus Circus, the buffets, and walking up and down the strip with all the people to look at the architecture like the Venetian. re #74 Your kids, however, probably will eschew the "water park" attractions (which aren't as good as the ones at, say, Cedar Point) and prefer to try to collect all the cards that the illegal immigrants are handing out on the sidewalk. The illegals don't hand the cards to kids. They know they'll go to jail if they do. Plus, we don't freak out if our kids see somebody's naked body in a picture. We don't encourage them to look at porn or anything but we also don't get all prudish about scantily clad women. I'm more worried about my kids seeing violence on tv than them catching a look at a woman's breasts.
I really need to go to Vegas one of these days. I have been to Reno but never Vegas. It sounds like a fun place.
I wish more americans had tod's sensible perspective.
re #79 It really is a major downer in most of American society that the libido is seen as evil. That's where you really see a rift between Fundies and Jews is that Torah actually calls for sensuality with your spouse on the Sabbath. Ask a fundie to transliterate his twisted thumper slant on Song of Solomon and he will fall all over himself.
I have mixed feelings about American prudishness. Because I think it is kind of silly and yet, I find that I am actually a bit of a prude myself. I was talking with some friends about going to a resort in Jamaica that has a clothing optional beach and we all agreed that it might be better for us to consider someplace else because while none of us felt that nudity was wrong, we all felt we would feel more comfortable in a clothing mandatory setting.
I'm not the nudist colony type, either. I don't mind topless beaches, though.
What if your spouse needs candlelight to get in the mood? I guess I'll agree that the fringes of the strip include stuff that is family-oriented (e.g. the rides at Stratosphere, the roller coaster at NYNY, the pool at Mandalay Bay.) The middle strip, particularly the newer and more prestigious properties, are moving away from that direction. Wynn prohibits strollers for non-guests, for example, and Bellagio prohibits all children unless they are guests, seeing a show or dining in a restaurant. After investing all that money, though, Vegas seems to have rediscovered that their real niche is as a place you go to get away from your family.
Its funny because Vegas is where we go to see family. Everyone from around the country goes on the same weekend.
(#81 and #82 slipped.)
Speaking of strollers, an allegedly recent trend is for adult strollers
("mobility scooters") to be used in Vegas by able-bodied adults who
simply don't want to walk.
resp:85 Hahaha. I have to admit that there is a little part of me that thinks those mobility scooters look like they could be fun. But I cant imagine that riding in one of those would be fun in a crowded place.
#80: "It really is a major downer in most of American society that the libido is seen as evil. That's where you really see a rift between Fundies and Jews is that Torah actually calls for sensuality with your spouse on the Sabbath." That's funny. I recall reading a comment somewhere made by a psychologist or marriage counselor, or something like that, who set up practice in a community with a lot of Orthodox Jews, and he was very surprised by the number of young Orthodox Jewish couples who came to him for counseling who knew almost nothing about sex. I don't remember the particular naïve beliefs he mentioned, but they were things you might expect to hear from pre-teens who hadn't had either "the talk" with their parents, or sex education in school.
re #87 Why is it weird that people who have healthy atittudes about nudity are not sluts? I think it makes pretty good sense. Just look at the crazy teen pregnancies which happen under the Christian prude socieities.
OK, but Orthodox Jews are the fundies of Judaism, and their views don't necessarily reflect those of most Jews (in the US anyway.)
I guess I was under the impression that there already was a "Family-Friendly version of Las Vegas", namely Branson, Missouri. The sinful one seems to be more popular, and I don't think it's just because the airfare is often cheaper. Getting back to #0, a recent vacation cost survey indicated that Hawaii is the most expensive state for a family of 4 to visit, and DC ranks second. Of course, the methodology can be called into question, since it was broken down on the state level. Clearly a vacation to Manhattan will have a very different cost structure than a vacation in the Adirondacks, and since DC is all urban area it's different from most states. It does still illustrate, for better or worse, that on average DC is among the more expensive (domestic) vacation destinations.
[Since this is a 'travel' related question and may help others in the future... and can be expanded upon as well, this item has been linked to the travel conference as item 73 in travel and its 93 in the spring agora [2007] conference.]
I finally made a decision, two weeks before we'll be going on vacation. The only hotel search site I found which accommodates my family (2 adults, 4 kids) was Expedia.com. Orbitz and Travelocity rebuke you with "Our system only accommodates 4 guests per room" messages. It seems to me they are missing some opportunities there. Oh, well. Through Expedia, I found a Residence Inn by Mariott 2 bedroom suite with kitchen, free continental breakfast and outdoor pool, which will allow 4 kids. It'll cost us $800 for 5 nights. It seems like a lot to me; we'll see how it works out. I'll have a report in July sometime, I guess. Anyway, thanks for the many helpful suggestions!
Hmm, that comes out to be under $27 per person per night for the 2 rooms, kitchen, breakfast, and pool; cheaper than a lot of hotel rooms that doesn't come with all of that [so maybe you can 'justify' the expense this way]. How far away are you from DC and is it close to public transportation? Good luck with the trip and have fun!
Most importantly, it sounds big enough that you won't all want to kill each other after day 3, and you can't put a price on that. If you're like me, you will go light on the souvenirs. I was going to buy a postcard of the Lincoln Memorial, but when I pulled out a $5 bill to pay for it, I realized that I already had one so I put my wallet away.
I hope you have a great trip, jep
you should take slynne with you so she can sit on the steps of capitol hill and sing "I'm just a bill... I'm only a bill..."
hahaha. I would do it too! Plus I have a free place to crash in the DC area because my brother lives there.
If you'd have mentioned that part earlier, I would have offered you space in our car.
Can you actually get to the steps of Capitol Hill, or is it inside the security perimeter?
Do your 4 kids eat coffee and rolls for breakfast?
Haha. Thanks Jep! The one time I actually sat on the steps of the Capitol and sang "I'm just a bill" you could sit on the steps but that was long before 9/11 and I havent been back to the Capitol Building since then.
re #99: There's a security perimeter now?
I don't think so. I think you can still walk the grounds. I think they just have more security. Re 100 Continental breakfasts at this point are a bit more than just "coffee and rolls".
What does the continental mean?
It means you're not getting a full English breakfast.
Re 104 I have always said that continental means "cold". Happily, many chain hotels (like the Residence Inn, Hampton Inn, etc.) have taken to putting on a very respectable breakfast: coffee, juice, milk, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, danishes, bagels, granola bars, toaster waffles, etc. So when you take into consideration the cost of going out for breakfast (which for John's family could run to about $30 at even someplace like McDonald's), that weighs very favorably in with the cost of the room.
The Staybridge Suites we stayed at provided breakfast, and a sundowner, which was basically dinner.
re #104: usually it means nobody cooks anything for you and there's rarely table service. In minimalist settings it can mean as little as having a coffee urn and a basket of stale donuts set out somewhere, but usually it means there will be at least some beverages, fruit, and pastries. Better "continental" breakfasts usually offer more options.
re #106 And half the time, you can waltz through the front door and pretend you stayed the night while eating their free breakfast.
Why not just hold up a 7-11 for some muffins?
Don't think I haven't thought about it.
It was a little tough when we got there, because there was a convention in the area, and all of the hotels were booked. I forgot to tell my mother which area I wanted to stay in to be centrally-located for the property/apartment search, so we didn't make reservations. Having said that, we did in fact get hotels. I've got a few recommendations. Tyson's Corner is a GREAT place to book a room if you've got business in DC. It's near enough to the District, it's got plenty of places to eat and shop if you forgot anything for the trip, and the area is near to the major routes/expressways. The Westin Embassy Row on Massachusetts Ave in the District is not at all impressive. Don't bother. To make matter's worse, everyone had their hand out for the most menial tasks performed. I'm sorry, I will tip you for bringing my bags up, but I'm not going to tip you for taking them out of the car to put on the cart, neither am I going to tip the guy holding the keys to the valeted car (the only way you can park there), because he's not the one who actually brought the car from the garage! Sheraton Crystal City (Arlington, VA) is nice, as was the staff we worked with when we checked in. They bent over backward to help up find rooms for the rest of our time in the city. The only drawback is the location of the bar/lounge, right off the lobby, and since smoking is allowed, it was not easy for my mother to deal with, because she's allergic to cigarette smoke and a number of scents. Sheraton Tyson's Corner was great. I loved the rooms, there was no smoking in the lobby area as far as I could tell, even though there was a restaurant and bar there. The first two hotels had a physical ethernet connection that you could plug into your laptop, but this hotel had wireless access.
After all of this, something has come up and I had to cancel our hotel reservation. We'll try again to arrange a trip at a later time.
wow! what a bummer!
Crap. That stinks!
That is too bad jep. But I have to admit that the end of June might not be the best time to visit DC as it is often pretty hot there.
Hope you get another chance to go, jep.
(Did you ever check availability of the Lincoln bedroom?)
What a weird week. We're going to be able to go after all. I just rebooked our hotel. It cost me $25 to cancel it earlier this week, and about $50 more to reserve our room (at the same hotel) for 5 days when I booked it again through Expedia. There's still a bummer involved. I asked my congressman's office for help in getting reservations for tourist sites. I had asked with pretty short notice. The hardest request for them to fulfill is the White House. I got a call from someone there, the day after I cancelled the hotel, and was told they had gotten us reservations for the White House. Wow... but I couldn't use them. Our trip was cancelled. So now the trip is on again, but we won't be going to the White House. Ah, well. We'll leave that for another trip. Instead we'll freelance and see what we can of the Smithsonian, Arlington Cemetary, National Zoo, and such other sites as may catch our attention.
Dont worry, you wont be short of things to do.
National Gallery of Art. Great sculpture garden. National Cathederal. Awe-inspiring architecture, irrespective of your religious bent.
National Zoo!
Yeah, that's the biggest bummer with sites like Expedia -- the costs if your plans change.
FYI, the Smithsonian's American History Museum is currently closed for renovations. Also, don't forget that there is a whole new branch of the Air and Space Museum out by Dulles.
There is? I'll keep that in mind!
Yes, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is part of the National Air and Space Museum but it is located near Dulles Airport. My wife and I visited it last year. I took this picture there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sr71_at_national_space_museum.jpg They also have the Space Shuttle Enterprise there. It is hard to describe how large the space shuttle is until you see it up close. Also highly recommended is the new WWII memorial. Take some time with this one because there is a LOT of detail and you will miss a lot of it if you're take your time. http://nharmon.multics.org/travel/washdc_july06/images/wwii%20memorial%20ei senho wer.png
You have several choices: