Looking for options if (when) our Disneyland trip for June is officially canceled.
NOLA vs DC.
For those in DC area or familiar, we have never been and looking to avoid a car so walkablity is key. Have Hyatt and Marriott points. Considering 2 nights Courtyard Foggy Bottom and 2 nights Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill. Are there walkable restaurants in those areas? Any other considerations?
The Courtyard Foggy Bottom is about a block up from a few big federal buildings - OPM, GSA, and DOI. Normally this would be great, but my understanding is that area is pretty dead with everyone working from home. I used to work there and there were tons of nice little restaurants, but I doubt most of them are still around. They relied primarily on weekday lunch crowds to stay in business. Also, despite having Foggy Bottom in the name, it's still a bit of a walk to the metro. The closest stop is Farragut West and it's about a 15-20 minute walk depending on traffic. One upside is you are very close to Lafayette Square, the White House, and the National Mall, and since the monuments are pretty much all you can see right now this might work out just fine.
Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill - Avoid. Calling this one "Capitol Hill" is a bit of a stretch by Hyatt, but I respect the hustle. You are not too far north of some Senate buildings so I guess that's what they mean. This Hyatt is very close to Union Station and I'll be frank, this is not the best area. It also suffers from the same problem as the above hotel, in that it's largely a few federal buildings driving the area and with those closed, I am not sure what's still around. However, even in the before times, there was less to immediately walk to here. We lived nearby up until last year and it was always a neighborhood to walk through, not to stop in. It is close to Wiseguy Pizza though, so that's something.
I know you want to do a split stay, but I am noticing that these two hotels are essentially on opposite north sides of the National Mall. DC is not that big - you can walk the length of the Mall a few times in a day and be fine.
I did a search of the points value of the two hotels you selected to try to see what else I could come up with.
Hyatt - Consider the Hyatt Place Washington DC/National Mall. This one is south of the Mall but still easily walkable there, 5-10 minutes. It's sandwiched between the L'Enfant Plaza and Federal Center SW metros. Again, has the issue of being near lots of federal buildings so the daytime is kind of dead, but you can walk in the other direction to the newly-constructed Wharf in Southwest to find shopping and plenty of places to eat. It's also within walking distance of the International Spy Museum and the Museum of the Bible, two of the few places actually open. Downside - it's next to a fire station, so it may or may not be loud. Not sure how that may work.
Marriott - I second the above suggestion of the Residence Inn Washington DC/Dupont Circle, or the Residence Inn Washington DC/Downtown. The pandemic has left Dupont Cicle a little worse for the wear, but it's a largely residential area and there's no shortage of neat shops and restaurants, including the famous Kramerbooks. Also, you'll be close to the Red line, so you'll have easy access to NW DC and Embassy Row, and the Zoo (if it reopens). The Downtown RI is not as close to a metro - it's betweenish Farragut North and Mt Vernon Square - but it's another mostly residential area. You'll be walking distance to Logan Circle, and a little further away U Street and Shaw, so again, lots of restaurant options.
I also just want to point out what was previously mentioned that everything in DC remains closed. Indoor dining is still very limited and there's not much outdoor dining available because of limited space. Many restaurants went into hibernation for the winter and we still don't know what will come back. The Smithsonian museums also remain closed and have not said when they will reopen. Everything I've heard is the Smithsonian itself is being overly cautious and they do not want to close back up after reopening if at all possible, so it may be quite a while before they're back. And it doesn't take 4 days to see the monuments - you can see most in a day. Just a few things to consider.
very out of character for my normally optimistic self.
