National Harbor or Old Town Alexandria

[weleftmn]

Looking at a 2020 trip to the DC area. Old Town or National Harbor?
I know it has been discussed before but I couldn't find the thread.

 

[Cyrus24]

Old Town. Parking is free and Metro is but a few steps away from the resort. Old Town is a really neat place to explore, as well. No pool might be the only drawback. But, who goes to DC for a pool???

 

[55plus]

Old Town is more convenient for the metro. National Harbor has nice shops, entertainment, lots to see, etc. There is a free shuttle that runs to and from King Street Station (Metro) every half hour from National Harbor. If you are staying at Old Town and have a Wyndham keycard use the shuttle to visit National Harbor.

 

[DaveNV]

+1 for OTA. Stayed there twice, and will gladly stay there again. Without a vehicle, it's in the perfect place. National Harbor is more of a destination location, and you have to travel to/from there just to get to the Metro. Way less convenient.

Dave

 

[55plus]

I'm deeded at Old Town Alexandria. I consider it the crown jewel of all our deeds. If you are military or have military friends buried in Arlington you need to go during Memorial Day at some point in you life. We go every year during Memorial Day and every four years for the inauguration.

 

[uscav8r]

It depends on what you want. If you want access to DC, then go with OTA. If you like casinos, gambling, or don’t care to go to DC, NH is just as nice if not nicer, in terms of amenities.


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[weleftmn]

Thanks for the advice.

 

[chapjim]

It depends on what you want. If you want access to DC, then go with OTA. If you like casinos, gambling, or don’t care to go to DC, NH is just as nice if not nicer, in terms of amenities.

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It also depends on what you can get. Old Town Alexandria is a high demand facility, justifiably so. Make plans early.

If you are going with children, OTA becomes almost imperative unless eating in is acceptable. National Harbor has one restaurant with family pricing -- Nando's Peri Peri, a Portuguese/West African chicken place. It is awesomely good but you can't eat spicy chicken every night. Other restaurants in NH are "night out" kinds of places.

We live 11 miles from NH (8 from OTA) and have stayed at both places. I look for discounts and upgrades and there is almost never anything available at OTA inside the 60 day discount/upgrade window. So lately it has just been National Harbor (I have a reservation from April 18-22 in a 3BR Presidential unit at NH for 60,600 points).

The OP is talking about visiting the area in 2020 but just a reminder to people thinking about coming this summer. All Metro Rail stations south of National Airport will be closed from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This means taking a bus from the King Street Metro station if you're staying at OTA. Or driving, which one should not think about doing.