[Gloria J]

Hi Ari,

I've gone to NIH fairly often in the last two years, and found that I could always get a good rate, even last-minute, ($50-70 range) for hotels rated at least 3 stars through Hotwire. I enter 'Bethesda MD' for the search area, and have always been pleased with the accommodations, even though you don't find out where you will be staying until you actually pay for the room with Hotwire.

We've always had a car with us, so I can't comment on shuttles to NIH. But the center of Bethesda is only a 5-10 minute drive to the Clinical Center.

As Laura commented, NIH will most probably reimburse you for hotel and mileage on your car, just go to the Travel Voucher area (right next to Admissions on the right side of the Clinical Center first floor) and fill out the paperwork. If you have someone with you who can do that while you're being seen, very often a check or cash will be ready for you by noonish.

Do be wary about staying too far away from NIH, the traffic there can be awful in the early AM, also the traffic down from NY. Definitely go around Baltimore and Wilmington, especially if you are coming through during the morning rush hour. Since they generally want you there early in the morning, we always drive down the night before and miss that traffic.

Good luck at NIH, they are wonderful there, and will treat you well.