Where to stay in D.C.
As you know, choosing a hotel is an incredibly important decision when it comes to enjoying your stadium experience. But where should you stay? Near the ballpark? Closer to downtown? At the airport? Near other attractions? Well, as with anything, the answer is: it depends. It depends on the price, availability, what your priorities are, what time the game(s) are, transportation mode… it just depends!
This chapter will help you make the best decision for you when it comes to visiting Washington DC to see Nationals Park.
Where Nationals Park is located
First things first: let’s talk about where Nationals Park is. It’s located in the Navy Yard neighborhood of DC, which is on the southeast side of the city. Once upon a time, this was a bit of an empty landscape with nothing to attract tourists. But today, after 15 years with Nationals Park as an anchor of the area, Navy Yard is thriving and has a little something for everyone. It is home to bars, restaurants, hotels, a riverfront walking trail, a few Michelin-star restaurants, and even another stadium (Audi Field, home of MLS’ DC United). Plus, it’s also a residential and commercial neighborhood. In a nutshell, Navy Yard is now somewhere that you absolutely can stay and explore if you want to.
Deciding where to stay for a Nationals Park visit
As we said, where you stay really depends on what your goals are. So let’s break down your choices.
Staying at the ballpark / Navy Yard neighborhood
Are you most interested in staying within walking distance of the ballpark? If so, that’s a perfectly fine decision and you’ll find plenty to do nearby. As we said, it’s a great neighborhood, and staying there makes gameday an easy experience – you can wander over to one of the bars early and enjoy the atmosphere, or head into the ballpark at gates open to roam around. After the game, there’s no need to bother with subways or buses or traffic … you can grab some post-game refreshments in the neighborhood, or just walk back to your hotel. It’s also convenient if you want to do a gameday ballpark tour, or want as much hotel time as possible prior to the game.
There are ten hotels that are easily and appropriately walkable to Nats Park, and most of them are midrange options.
The absolute closest hotel to Nationals Park: Hampton Inn & Suites Washington DC/Navy Yard
It’s about 600 feet from the entrance of the hotel to the centerfield entrance to the ballpark, which means you are literally a two-minute walk away. It was built in 2015, so, by hotel standards, it’s still pretty new, and we found it to be completely consistent with what you’d expect from a Hampton Inn: decent rooms with consistent service and quality. Even better, it has a great outdoor rooftop deck/bar that overlooks the ballpark. You don’t need to be a guest at the hotel to access the rooftop, but it sure does become convenient if it’s an elevator ride away. While we certainly recommend pregaming in the neighborhood, it’s hard to argue with such a great spot, so if you’re catching more than one game, we say that enjoying the pregame from the rooftop deck for one of those games is a great idea.
Aside from the convenience and roof deck, the hotel also offers free breakfast, so if you can get a good rate, the Hampton Inn is a great place to stay.
The almost closest hotel to Nationals Park: Residence Inn Washington Capitol Hill / Navy Yard
Ok, it’s not as close as the Hampton Inn – it’s an extra one-minute walk away. So yes, it’s essentially just as close. And like the Hampton Inn, we found the hotel to be completely consistent with what you’d expect from a Residence Inn. It was built in 2017, so it’s also what we would consider to be “relatively new”. The benefit of this property is that each room has a kitchenette, as well as a pull-out sofa, so if you’re traveling with a family or extra people and want to try to limit yourself to one hotel room, the Residence Inn may be the answer for you.
It also includes a free breakfast, so really, with the exception of the rooftop deck, it’s very comparable to the Hampton Inn.
Homewood Suites (.2 miles, 5-minute walk)
Homewood Suites is located directly across the street from the Navy Yard metro station at the end of the pedestrian walkway that leads to the stadium, so it’s as easy of a walk as the Hampton or Residence Inns. Like the Residence Inn, these rooms have a kitchenette and a pull-out sofa, so they’re great for having more people in the room. And it also includes a free breakfast.
Hotels that are within a 10-minute walk to Nationals Park
The Thompson Hotel (.2 miles, 5-minute walk)
The Thompson Hotel is part of Hyatt – it’s one of their boutique properties. Built in 2019, it’s a pretty darn new hotel, and more upscale from the ones right next to the ballpark.
What we really like about this hotel is that one block further to the east is a small stretch of restaurants and bars that are easily accessible and can be a great place to pregame/postgame with slightly less foot traffic than some of the bars immediately adjacent to the ballpark. In addition, there’s a Harris Teeter’s grocery store two blocks away from The Thompson, so if you’re someone who finds value in that, the Thompson is incredibly convenient. The hotel also has a nice rooftop deck, but while it can see Nats Park, it doesn’t actually have a view inside of the stadium like the Hampton Inn does. And it also doesn’t include a free breakfast, so factor that in accordingly.
Lodging – Single Photo
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