Washington, DC on the Cheap (hostels, car pools, etc.)

[GOREVS3000]

So not everyone that is going to DC wants to/can afford to stay in a hotel. This thread is being created for those of us (I.e. broke ass students and cheap bastards) who would rather spend as little as possible on accomodation and travel.

This includes hostels and offers of floor/couch/bed space.
And of course the almighty bum a ride down to DC off someone or even pool together and rent a car/van.

According to Hostel World there are four hostels and one "budget hotel"

There is the Capitol City Hostel (http://www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/CapitolCityHostel-WashingtonDC-12208)
Its $20 a night with a 4 bed dorm available.

The Hosteling International Hostel in DC (http://www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/HostellingInternationalWashingtonDC-WashingtonDC-1859) at $26 a night.
I am a member of hosteling international and could maybe get a group rate or something, I don't think this is their busy season. They have 3 10 bed person dorms. One mixed, one female, one male.

There is the Hiltop Hostel (http://www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/HilltopHostel-WashingtonDC-6867), too.


I have been looking at rental car/van rates from the Boston area, if anyone is interested. We could easily get a 12 person. I am currently looking into rates, now.

Can rent a 7 person Mini-Van from Thrifty in Worcester for $150 and some change. Prolly be around $175-200 when all is said and done.

If we get 5 people thats $40 a head for the trip down and back plus gas. If we get 7 thats about $30 a head. This has space for bags and stuff, too.

Did I mention I love road trips?

[rorvis]

The Hosteling International Hostel in DC (http://www.hostelworld.com/availability.php/HostellingInternationalWashingtonDC-WashingtonDC-1859) at $26 a night.
I am a member of hosteling international and could maybe get a group rate or something, I don't think this is their busy season. They have 3 10 bed person dorms. One mixed, one female, one male.


FYI, I stayed near here (not here) last year, not a bad neighborhood and looked fine to me, if anyone is worried about that stuff. Walkable to sightseeing too if you are so inclined.

[joegrav]

If anyone's doing the rent-a-van thing and can put together a group where it's 40 bucks a head or in that neighborhood, I am in.

[ngower]

I'm in the same field, anything that's $40-$60 ish is about as much as I could get, and that's pushing it. I wanna go so bad, money's the only thing holding me back.

[jrkumor]

Just check, because most car rentals you have to be 25, or there is an extra fee.

Who needs a ride?
From where?
When can you leave?
When do you have to back?

This info will help out anyone that might have space...

[GOREVS3000]

I know its usually managable.

[ngower]

I'll post this for anyone that may see it

I live in Ayer, doesn't matter when I leave or come back, but I have school.

EDIT: I'd have to be home in time for school which starts at 8, meaning I'd have to ride back home that night. So I'm only in with someone that can ride back. If the game ends at 6, that's a 12 hour time span which allows me to tailgate and get home. It'll be a miserable day, but it's Monday, nobody does anything on Monday.

[Brian621]

I'm in Providence - I MAY have to be back for work on Monday, as I'm currently badgering my boss for the day off. But I can be picked up whenever.

[GOREVS3000]

I live at the Phoenix Landing in Central Square.

No in seriousness, I live in South Boston now, but I can move around and the time is not a b ig deal.

[Summerheat]

I am even considering driving down Saturday for the game and driving back afterwards if necessary to save money. We would like to consider the possibility of going back to Dallas too. I hate to put the cart before the horse but these games are only one week apart.

[ProfZodiac]

I live on the Boston/Roxbury line with great T access. If my two compadres back out for fear of missing class/work on Monday morning, I'll be looking for a ride with someone as opposed to Greyhound, which is what I'm leaning towards now. Ideally I'd want to be back for 9 a.m. Monday morning, but I recognize that the likelihood of that isn't very good, so I'm trying to get ahead in the two classes I'd probably have to skip that day. I can leave whenever.

[Medeiros]

I live In Brighton, on the Green Line of the T.

Im a cheap ass college student and would be interested in one of those cheap car pools. If never gone to DC for a match and this could be fun. Let me know

[patfan1]

Is there anyone 25 or older that wouldn't mind renting a van and getting 10-12 in there and driving down? Sounds like we've got a lot of interest but no way to get down there...

[joegrav]

Ditto, another cheapass college student here looking for a rent-a-car-pool.

[jrkumor]

Alamo:

Car class Location Daily rate Total price**
Full Size Van $98.90 $372.35

Chevy Express 3500 or similar, 15 adults, 3 large suitcases.

Enterprise:

Car class Location Daily rate Total price**
Mini Van $51.95* $178.52

Chevrolet Uplander or similar, 7 adults, 4 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons.

Dollar Rent A Car
Car class Location Daily rate Total price**
Mini Van $47.69 $191.29

Am I the only person over 25 driving? Seriously, I could be sainted for offering to drive. I would not take anyone under 18 across state lines without their parent in the car.

Leave on Saturday, return on Monday...if no one is interested in this (and honestly I am not thrilled about it myself) I have 3 spaces in my car.

[patfan1]

Alamo:

Car class Location Daily rate Total price**
Full Size Van $98.90 $372.35

Chevy Express 3500 or similar, 15 adults, 3 large suitcases.

Enterprise:

Car class Location Daily rate Total price**
Mini Van $51.95* $178.52

Chevrolet Uplander or similar, 7 adults, 4 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons.

Dollar Rent A Car
Car class Location Daily rate Total price**
Mini Van $47.69 $191.29

Am I the only person over 25 driving? Seriously, I could be sainted for offering to drive. I would not take anyone under 18 across state lines without their parent in the car.

Leave on Saturday, return on Monday...if no one is interested in this (and honestly I am not thrilled about it myself) I have 3 spaces in my car.
I would hope you wouldn't be the only one over 25 as it's not fair to you that you'd have to drive all that by yourself. Garrett? Anyone else?

If you guys can do this, including gas, you're probably only looking at around $45 per person. (900 miles round trip, with a van probably fill up much more often than normal so say at 200 miles, so I'm assuming $300 for gas)?

With a mini-van, you wouldn't have to fill up quite as often, but you'd also be splitting it 7 ways.

[GOREVS3000]

Hey! You can rent a car if you're under 25! You just pay a bit of a fee! I am serious about doing this!

So people interested in a car pool/rental/van thingy are:

Me - (garrett)
- JoeGrav
Adam - ProfZodiac
- Medeiros
- Summerheat
- Brian621
- ngower

That is seven people. If we all coordiante and network we can easily do this. It woud break down to about between $45-65 to rent this thing and then gas we can work out. I will be able to take care of filling the tank before we return and at the state borders and stuff. I'll explain later. Anyway, I seriously think we should do this. Lets organize this by the Wednesday.
You can rent a car if you're under 25. Its a small fee but you can still do it.

Come on you Revs!

On top of this we could crash at the hostel and it will cost about $45-50 for two nights per person. Thats not bad.

So this trip will cost about $100-125 bucks total.
That doesn't include tickets, food or beer. I imagine the last two can be provided by gainfuly employed adults who would have no problem subsidizing our drinking habits.

We can figure out the gas on the way there and back. Again like I said I can cover a significant portion of the gas (or petrol if you're cool like that) costs.

[GUTuna]

As far as location the Hostelling Int'l Hostel is going to be your best bet. It's in the best area of town of the three as far as stadium access and other things to do. You can easily get to multiple Metro stops to get to RFK (Mt. Vernon Square/Convention Center is probably the easiest) and you can walk down toward the Verizon Center with all the bars and restaurants there.

The Capitol City Hostel on Benning Rd. is much closer to the stadium (you can easily walk) but isn't in as good of an area of town. It's not that it's really dangerous per se (I live within 15 blocks or so), but there's nothing to do over there restaurant or bar-wise. It's just back to the hostel and sleep. On the positive side it's much closer to the ways in and out of the city when coming from New England.

Hope this helps some.

[GOREVS3000]

I have satalite radio...

[patfan1]

I will ask those of you looking to hop on this van, please please make sure you can do this before you commit. Don't leave whomever is offering to rent it in a bind by bailing on this trip, unless you're still going to pay for your share.