Luggage storage at destination station?

I searched the forums for an answer, but the search function and I don't play well together.

Later this summer two friends and I are taking train #20/Crescent to DC, sleeper tickets. Can we store our bags at the train station and then sight-see for a few hours before retrieving them and going to our condo? If so, would the best place be in the Club Acela lounge, or in a different location in the station? We are not checking any bags.

We've stored bags between trains on other trips, but DC is our final destination this time.

Likewise, could we store them at the station for a few hours before our return trip on #19 if needed?

Also--

Is the Circulator bus a good choice to go to some of the memorials from the station, and then back to the station?

Is a taxi the simplest way to go from the train station to the Georgetown area (22nd St. NW) for three retired females?

Are there any expected changes in the next month or so to the delays #20 has been recently experiencing?

Any other Crescent news we need to know?

We are looking forward to our trip and getting to enjoy meals in one of the new VL dining cars.

Thanks much, as always!

Searching the forum:

Go to Google. Use "site:discuss.amtraktrains.com" (without the quotes) as one of your search terms and it will search this site only.

Bags:

If you're arriving or departing in a sleeper, you have lounge access all day. You can store bags in the lounge.

Monuments:

Take the circulator's National Mall route.

Georgetown:

Take the circulator's Georgetown route. It crosses 22nd St NW at K street. Where exactly are you going?

Timekeeping:

Data here:

https://juckins.net/amtrak_status/archive/html/average_delays.php?train_num=20&date_start=05%2F31%2F2018&date_end=06%2F30%2F2018&df1=1&df2=1&df3=1&df4=1&df5=1&df6=1&df7=1&stat=avg&chartsize=2&dfon=1

Plan on being late.

Its not clear where you are getting on, but if you can check your bags before you board the train, they will be held for you automatically in DC and you can just pick them up whenever you want later in the day.

The Circulator is a great deal for most sightseeing. Depending on where you start and where youre going in Georgetown, one of the 30-series Metrobuses (30, 32, etc.) may be a good option heading that way too.

Google "Old Town Trolley". They have a hop on-hop off method & they pick up in front of the station! Also,when I was there, they had a booth inside the station where you bought your tickets. Nice open air Trolley!

You are allowed to. Anyone with access to a lounge can leave their bags there the day they have access. So just get your bags drop them off in the lounge, and you should be all set!

Take the NM Circulator (National Mall). It stops at the top of E St. NE (end of the line) which is out front of the station, a little to the right and just beyond those curved streets (Columbus Circle). Then it makes a right-hand U turn and goes down Louisiana Ave toward the Mall. Cost $1 and you can get on and off for 2 hours for no further cost. It circles around the Mall to all points of interest and comes back to Union Station. There are maps onboard, also online. http://www.dccirculator.com/circulator-map-and-information-guide/

The Crescent has become such a crap shoot. Friday a friend took 20 to PHL. 20 arrived in CVS over 5 hrs late and then sat in DC for 2+ hrs so she was over 7 hours late arriving PHL. Yesterday 20 was only about 1.5 hours late into CVS and today 34 minutes late. Go figure

cpotisch said:

You are allowed to. Anyone with access to a lounge can leave their bags there the day they have access. So just get your bags drop them off in the lounge, and you should be all set!

Click to expand...

I'll just add to make sure that you return before the Lounge closes for the evening.

I think it depends on the station. I've left luggage in the Metro lounge in Chicago no problem. It was free. They do warn that it's at your own risk, but people need to pass the desk to get there and they are pretty rigorous about checking tickets.

Another time, I was taking the EB from MSP to CHI, it was about 5 hours late, so I left my luggage at ticket office and went off to explore on foot, eat breakfast etc. They held it for me, no charge and were very friendly.

On the other hand, there is no lounge (that I know of) in Seattle and I wanted to drop off my luggage at the station (EB sleeper), return my rental car less than a mile a way, walk back (less than a mile) and wait for the train (I was about 2 hours early.) They stored my medium-large duffel bag and camera pack for me at the ticket office off the main waiting room but charged me about $10. I don't know if they would have charged me if I had checked it, but I my clean clothes (EB connecting to the LSL) were in it, so I needed access.

Hope this helps... TLDR: ask people who know your particular station.

John Santos said:

TLDR: ask people who know your particular station.

Click to expand...

Said people who know the station answered 8 posts above...

Yes, they did. But the topic isn't specifically luggage storage in DC, it's a general question and people reading this thread are far more likely to need to know about other stations. I wanted people to know that policies seem to vary with the station. I admit I expanded the topic slightly to include storage while awaiting departure as well as after arrival (like no one has ever done that before in the Internet.)

John Santos said:

Yes, they did. But the topic isn't specifically luggage storage in DC,

Click to expand...

Since the OP was specifically asking about D.C, it sort of is. Not to say that no one cares about what one can do at other stations, but WAS is really the focus here.

Thanks, everyone, for all the info and suggestions for us! Re storing our luggage, that was the answer I was hoping to hear.

We will go with our plan to take the Circulator/National Mall on our arrival day, if we have extra time before check-in.

I'll try to answer the questions posed.

We are staying on one of the condo floors ("District") in the Embassy Suites at 1250 22nd. It looks like we are a couple of blocks north of K St. Normally we could walk that with our roll-aboards, but one of our party is having some major back issues right now, so we may need to save our walking "allowance" for when we're actually seeing the sights. We'll play that by ear, but it may rule out the Circulator, Metro bus, and the Metro too, defaulting to a taxi. The Old Town hop-on/off sounds like a good plan beginning on our second day.

Thanks for the reminder about the lounge hours. More than likely we'll be ready to go check in fairly early in the evening so no problem there. The delays on the Crescent may make storage a moot point anyway. We are hoping for the "2-hour" type of delay, which would still give us several hours before checking in at our hotel. We are not counting on an on-time arrival!

We are leaving from Anniston, AL, which doesn't have checked luggage. Also, we are only taking a small carry-on size suitcase each, and we need our stuff overnight. We each have a roomette so space for that isn't a problem. (We've each used almost all of our remaining AGR points for this trip, so sadly it may be our last overnight train trip due to the combination of "you can't get there from here" and the high cost in both $$ and points for sleeper tickets--sigh. Hopefully we'll still make a few all-day coach trips to NOL, though.)

Re the search feature, I get a drop-down and can choose this forum only, but I still get lots of unrelated results. I haven't tried going to Google first, though. I'll try that next time, thanks.

One more question:

We were able to get White House tour passes, so that will be an extra attraction for us. Does anyone know of a nearby locker for storing our purses? There are none at the tour, and only wallets/ID and phones are allowed inside. We don't want to go the rest of the day without at least a small purse, and are trying to avoid unnecessary trips to/from the hotel.

Again, thanks everyone for all your helpful replies and suggestions!