US Travelers: What's the best place to stop overnight between California and Washington DC ? ?
Hi I will be coming to America in February - arriving mid morning in either Los Angeles or San Francisco, (not sure which airport yet). My final destination is Washington, DC. Due to the difference in time zones, my options are very limited - the flights in to DC either arrive quite late in the evening (just before midnight), or else very early in the morning. I would prefer to arrive between noon and five pm. I really don't want to spend the early hours of the morning in an airport. I thought I could remedy this problem by flying in a day earlier, and then stopping over midway across the country. I could just book a room, spend the night, and then fly out to DC the next morning. This would probably help me get over my jet lag, too. Here's where I could use some suggestions - what would be the best city in which to stopover? I looked on the map for somewhere about halfway across; a workmate suggested Chicago, but I thought it would be too cold, or maybe even snowing there, in February. My neighbours suggested Houston, Dallas, and Atlanta as possibilities. However, none of them could provide any first-hand information. I'd appreciate suggestions as to what city to overnight in, as well as recommendations for inexpensive accommodations - because I am on a limited budget. I can't afford the Hilton, but I don't want to stay in a backpackers. Just a quiet and safe, yet inexpensive place to get cleaned up and rested - and preferably a motel with a free shuttle to the airport. Thanks in advance for your help! I know there are many people out there in the know, who will share their travel expertise... As far as the stopover - again this is just for clean up and sleeping - not for shopping or sightseeing. I've been to Las Vegas once, and aside from the neon, it doesn't really interest me. I'm a student so I don't have any $ for gambling or shows. I'm just mainly looking for a safe quiet place to have a shower and a rest before I head on to the East Coast. About the Chicago stopover - I've been watching the weather reports-brr! Will the ice and cold would be over by February? Or am I fooling myself? Both of my airlines options (ANZ or Qantas and their alliences) offer multi-stop trips, and also give discounts on hotels, Trying to find the right one with an airport shuttle, and without cockroaches will be the tricky bit. Looking at Dallas-Fort Worth or Houston as southern options, and Chicago or Indianapolis as northern options. BTW, I can flu directly into DCA, which is only about 12 Km from where I need to be. Any ideas on safe clean places to stopover? Thanks =)
Other - United States - 2 Answers
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1 :
Dallas or Denver. If you could stop in one other city though, you should stop in Las Vegas, NV. Just one night there you would love.
2 :
Despite the fact that it could be to be both mind & body numbingly cold Chicago [ORD ] is still your best bet and the reason is that unlike Dallas [DFW ] or Denver [DEN ] that are stuck out on the prairie miles away from the city center ORD is within Chicago proper, surrounded by it's suburbs . ORD is also well served by mass transit that makes getting places quick easy and cheap Here's the CTA site http://www.transitchicago.com/travel_information/maps/default.aspx Ten years ago when I lived in the Chicago suburb of LaGrange I used to take the PACE 330 bus to and from ORD Mannheim/LaGrange Road just has hotels & motels all up and down it http://www.pacebus.com/pdf/maps/330map.pdf You may want to post this question on the Chicago site to get more up -to -date info on possible lodging choices than I can provide you One more thing; In winter the weather at both DEN & especially DFW can actually be a lot worse than ORD Safe trip >>update As I'm thinking about your question I'm thinking that what your asking may in fact be impossible to do w/o booking LAX/SFO>ORD > IAD/DCA as 2 separate flights of LAX/SFO>ORD>LAX/SFO +ORD>IAD/DCA>ORD Usually the airlines won't let you do an over night stop mid-continent, TCB and then continue your flight the next morning update2 There is another possibility that's called a triangle fare so named b/c it's 3 separate legs that return you to where you started And it looks like this: LAX/SFO>ORD+ ORD>IAD/DCA+ IAD/DCA>LAX/SFO >>Update I searched the web for"Chicago O'Hare lodgong and came up with tons of stuff close to ORD http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=chicago+o%27hare+lodging&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&fr2=rs-bottom&rs=0&pstart=1&b=1 Here's another site .Look for anything within 6 miles of ORD http://www.airnav.com/reserve/hotel?near=KORD
