Concierge - Mandarin Oriental Washington DC Booked

[kpaap]

We have booked our first concierge collection stay at MO in Washington DC. We will be traveling 4/1 - 4/6/07 (cherry blossom season).

If anyone has any travel suggestions please pass them along. It will be 2 adults and 2 kids (ages 7 & 9). The downtown mall area doesn't appear to be a long walk and there's a couple metro stations fairly close as well.

My biggest concern is finding family-friendly dining in the area. We don't plan on renting a car so all of our travels will by foot, metro, or possibly taxi.

I'll post a follow-up trip report once we get back.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

Good source of local dining information is http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/01/10/DI2007011000990.html the weekly food discussion of our local food critic. With respect to family friendly restaurants, the restaurants in the hotel are top end, high cost/special occasion style restaurants. Your best bet for family friendly in the Mall area is going to be in the Penn Quarter area, between 9th and 7th Ave, NW, which is off the mall in the FBI, Verizon Center area. You'll find chains (Ruby Tuesdays, Clyde's (local chain -- good food for kids and pretty good food for adults), independents (depending how adventurous your kids, Jaleo [tapas], Capital Grille [steak]). Don't overlook the Native American Museum restaurant -- authentic food, reasonably priced. There is no real cheap eats around the Mall other than your office worker takeout places (Panera, PotBelly -- sandwiches). Around your hotel itself, I don't have any suggestions, try looking in Tom's files (Post critic). A couple of non-Mall suggestions for touring -- the Spy Museum (not free but interesting if you like James Bond/spy movies/history of spying), National Zoo (off the Mall but on the Metro), all things Shakespeare...particularly the Shakespeare theater (non-traditional tellings of Shakespeare stories), if they're in town and hockey is your thing, you can take the Metro to Ballston and watch the Capitals hockey practice. That's all I can think of at the moment, PM me if you have any questions. Have a great time -- bring shorts and long pants -- April can be early summer weather or late winter -- and comfy shoes.

 

[MikeBW]

We stayed there this past summer. We have 2 kids (12 & 10) and there isn't any dining nearby. There is the restaurant in the hotel, but it is not a kids' place. We didn't eat there. There is a place for breakfast in the office building next to the hotel. It had a breakfast buffet and a grill, it was good and cheaper than the hotel. For dinner, there is nothing close. Phillips which is a seafood restaurant is about 3/4 of mile away in the back of the hotel (opposite direction of the Mall). I suggest taking a cab to dinner somewhere. Espn Zone is a short cab ride away, we went there. The hotel itself is very nice. The pool is indoors and there is a spa and a gym. Have a good time.