Arlington to Mandarin Oriental Hotel: Taxi or Valet Parking? (house, luxury)

[Carlingtonian]

Please advise: The wife and I are going to an event at the Mandarin Oriental, just across the 14th St Bridge from Arlington. Parking in the hotel garage is $30 plus tip to the valet (a couple of bucks). Or we could park at my relative's house in Lyon Park (near 395) and take a cab from there, which is just about 5 miles--so almost exactly the same price round-trip. (Taxi for two if I use an Arlington cab company is $3.75 plus 2.10/mile and 15% tip.)

Anyone have any experience with parking at the Mandarin? I'm wondering if one option will be more tedious or stressful than the other. (I don't want us standing around waiting for the valet, nor do I want to be waiting behind a line of cars to get away from the hotel.) Thinking of calling Red Top and making a reservation for both ways. (VA cabs can pick up in DC if requested via reservation.)

Thanks for any thoughts.

[themommy]

I'd cab it just so I didn't have to worry about driving back to Arlington after a few drinks. Not that I'm a big lush or anything, but the downtime in the cab = better safe than sorry.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by themommy

I'd cab it just so I didn't have to worry about driving back to Arlington after a few drinks. Not that I'm a big lush or anything, but the downtime in the cab = better safe than sorry.

Good point, but one of us is a non-drinker.

[bmwguydc]

The cab will likely be faster at the end of the event, unless you are somehow able to sneak out early, because there are never enough valets when the majority of guests are in the process of leaving. Depending upon how buried the car is, etc., it can take a good 15-20 minutes of waiting for your vehicle to finally reappear, likely when you have consigned yourself to the fact that there has been some sort of accident and the valet is so terrified that they have scratched your vehicle that they have fled the city. Also, it's always so awkward to me, socially, to reengage conversations with people to whom you may have just said your goodbyes, when you invariably encounter them at the valet line. You cannot ignore them with your iPhone, yet you don't want to continue earlier conversations...

A car service may offer a bit more luxury, but you have to pay for driver wait times, so it would be multiples of the quotes above, hence I'd take the cab, but confirm the details, so that you don't end up waiting anyway.

[Carlingtonian]

BMWGuy, thanks! (The "goodbye again" dilemma sounds like a Seinfeld/Curb episode.)

Just went over there now (on an errand) and discovered there's a garage next door--$10 for one evening, self-park! So we'll probably do that.

[Carlingtonian]

Just following up for posterity: Garage self-parking was definitely the best option. I felt sorry for the gaggle of people waiting for the valets when we left. The only difficulty was getting around the loop, because the hotel had basically commandeered the street, using one lane of traffic for valet parking and leaving just one for traffic--which was mostly cabs. Fortunately, we have a small car, so I managed to dart through and around all the buffoons.

[bmwguydc]

That's good, and you were able to miss all of the forced togetherness after bidding adieu indoors. It can be most fun when you have to wait around for your car, after tipping the valet on the way in to keep it up front, with your ex-fiancée (still a good friend) and her new husband who can barely stand to be in the same room with you. Oh, happy times...