Yeah, I use Trip Advisor a lot. It's a good resource for checking reviews.

There are some great boutique hotels but they would be budget busters. I would stick to a chain...Westin, Residence Inn, etc because your budget is a bit limiting. I live in the Metro area, thankfully in a rural area, and things cost a lot more than most of America.

we were there in november and stayed at Avenue Suites Georgetown and it was great! clean and comfortable. it used to be a apartments, so our room had a full kitchen. i don't remember what we paid, might be more than $150 but it was great walking where we wanted to go. you have to pay almost everywhere for parking -hotels included- but we lucked out and found a spot on the street and left our car there for 2 days.!!

easy walking distance to White House and surrounding area and just across a bridge into G-town, 6 minute walk!! we did drive when we went to see the capital but it was easy and we actually parked for free in VA and walked across the bridge into DC. i think we made a mistake from where we intended to go d*m google maps, but it was a good one in the end b/c it was free!!

Be prepared to walk!! it is a walkable city but you will do a lot of it!! they do have shuttles but we didn't use them.

best advice, get up early and go see what u want to see!! lines get very long to get into some places.

we walked down to see the white house and surrounding buildings, left hotel around 7:30, and then did breakfast. by the time we headed back to hotel to met with DD, around 11-11:30, it was very crowded and glad we did it early. very difficult to get good pics with all the people!!

Easy Commute and cheap!

Circulator

You should consider the Crystal City area -- it's on the Yellow Line, only a few metro stops to the DC Mall area, so a very easy and quick commute. It also serves National Airport (aka Ronald Regan airport). There will be lots of federal workers/contractors around during office hours. Plenty of food and shopping options within walking distance.

You might look at the Metro map and think Rosslyn would be the same ... but the Orange Line takes a lot longer to get to the DC Mall, and it's always more crowded.

Take good walking shoes :-)

And check the free concerts at the Kennedy Center.

Most hotels in the downtown area are going to be above your budget in May but you might find something if you book now. Many of the sights you want to see are spread out and you will need to walk or take the metro anyway to get to them. Check the DuPont Circle area. It’s walkable to the Smithsonian. But any of the larger chains, if within your budget, should be ok. Trip Advisor is a good resource, but I always book thru the hotel site and use any discount such as military or AAA I have.

I traveled frequently there when I was working and often stayed in the Crystal City area of Arlington & close to Reagan airport. Lots of hotels (Hilton, Hampton Inn, Marriott, others) are within walking distance of the Metro. And many had shuttles to the Metro and other spots. One fun thing was to visit some of the monuments in early evening. Fewer crowds and the experience is nice. Especially at the Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, and WWII, Vietnam & Korean War monuments.

We stayed in Baltimore when we went a few years back. We were right off the metro. I'm not sure that's the best place, but it's where our big event was. We did find the metro fairly easy to navigate and it felt safe.

There was a lot of walking. We were exhausted at the end of every day. It was a great trip.

Food was really expensive and we didn't think it was all that good either. Customer service was lacking just about everywhere.

stayed within walking/short train distance at what was the Helix hotel and is now Mason and Rook (two miles from say, the Smithsonian Air & Space. 11 minutes by train, a couple of blocks from the station). Very close to your budget ($171). Never paid for anything beyond train for transport so it made up for that cost.

Depending on your appetite for taking the Metro (subway), you'll find less expensive rates outside of the city proper. Hotel rates rise steeply starting in May and during big conventions, so really check dates/rates. The company that I work for has offices at a few locations in the area, and I have stayed in Ballston (Hilton), Courthouse (Residence Inn or Hilton Garden Inn), and in the city proper near the White House (Hilton Garden Inn, W, Hilton). The Ballston Hilton and Courthouse Residence Inn are next to or very close to a Metro station.

I would check TripAdvisor or Expedia to see what might be in your price range, then come back to ask if anyone has experience at any of those hotels. I would book soon, though, May is popular for class trips.

When we went for the DC march in January 2017 we stayed at the embassy suites at the convention center...it was an easy walk to get to the mall and such and not far from a metro stop.

Last month I was in DC for a conference. I stayed at the Omni Shoreham Hotel between Dupont Circle and the National Zoo, however even at the reduced conference rate the room was $182 plus 14.8% tax ($26.94) per night. So it is a little outside your specified limit. (but just now while looking it up on a map I was seing rates for that very hotel ranging from $124 per night to $296 per night depending on the nights selected.) Something else that you'll need to consider is that the advertised rate usually doesn't include the local occupancy tax nor the additional fee for parking, (which was $33 per day at that Hotel)

While there in additional attending the conference, I walked to the zoo, I walked to the nearby Adams Morgan area for meals twice, I also twice took the Metro to downtown attractions and saw the Library of Congress (for a reception for the conference) and saw the botanical gardens near the Capitol and the National Gallery of Art.

I'd say that the location of the hotel itself is somewhat less important than in many other cities given the good coverage of the city via the Metro. The proximity to a Metro stop may be more important than specifically where the hotel is located.

I second the suggestions to check Trip Advisor, I use it frequently and have even posted one review there. However I recently read a story about how someone gamed their system and made it so that a completely made-up, non-existent restaurant came to be ranked as the #1 restaurant in London.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/food/wp/2017/12/08/it-was-londons-top-rated-restaurant-just-one-problem-it-didnt-exist/

My daughter who travels to DC frequently suggests the Holiday Inn Capital or L'Enfant Plaza which has a metro stop underneath. It's right across the street from the Air & Space Museum.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm not hung up on the $150 amount. It was just a number I arbitrarily picked out of the air.

I've also been looking at Air B&B rentals. I've seen quite a few cute apartments for rent.

Don't just check reviews on Trip Advisor, go to its forum for DC, where you can ask questions. Reviews are often bogus.

I'd look on VRBO before I'd use Airbnb. Neither brokerage checks to see if a property is legal or not. They just want something they can make a fee for renting. Airbnb has had the most illegal rentals, at least in Hawaii. People who bought nice residential properties don't want their areas turned into transient districts.

"Reviews are often bogus"

All internet sites suffer from phony reviews to some degree but I don't think this is a valid comment to the same extent for Trip Advisor as for other sites. What are you basing your comment on, do you travel a lot? On the other hand, I've hit a lot of clinkers domestically with VRBO and I'm to the point I won't use it unless (and with fingers crossed) it's for a long stay somewhere or one that includes a large number of family members.

I find TripAdvisor's info for major urban and touristic areas very useful. Especially when there many positive ratings and few negative ones. I travel a fair amount, often 6 or more trips per year (leaving soon on my 2nd trip to Europe and 3rd transoceanic trip abroad in total in 7 months). I've never been disappointed with relying on Trip Advisor to choose hotels.

Chisue, i agree with you about Air B&B about not checking to see if a property is legal or not. I'm living next door to one. Owners bought the condominium, remodeled it, and then turned it into an Air B&B. Our HOA's attorney is after them. It's a violation of our HOA Declaration to run a business on the property where people come and go.

my youngest daughter and I are rather adventurous... and we stayed at the AYH (American Youth Hostel). But, you share a room, and use a communal kitchen, and get to meet interesting folks. :)

It was the cheapest way to stay, and explore.

Moni

The last time I was there, needing an overnight close to Reagan National, I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in Crystal City. It was absolutely lovely, and having used Priceline to book, I got the room for about $100 (this was a weekend in late September). There is a metro stop a short walk away.

My default chain is usually Hampton Inn, but I've had good luck with Embassy Suites, Crowne Plaza, Westin, Hilton Garden Inn. Always reserved via Priceline or Hotwire.

I totally agree with checking on TripAdvisor for reviews. It has never steered me wrong.