The Endless Quest for a Cheap Hotel

I hate paying lots of money for a place to lay my head and shower in the morning. I never spend time at the hotel when I'm traveling. It makes no sense in my mind to travel 3000 miles and spend time at some non-descript building when there is always something new and interesting to see, do, taste or explore elsewhere.
I've looked into couch surfing- staying for fee at someone's place- but most of the people on the website are 20 somethings, mostly male, and it doesn't seem safe to do that with an attractive teenage daughter in tow. Hostels are out for the same reason, we're too old and she's too cute. So were stuck leeching off our friends or finding the cheapest hotel we can that promises to not give us infectious diseases or contribute to our untimely demise. This is the story of this week's lodging adventure.
On Expedia I found the cheapest hotel in the DC area. It was a Comfort Inn- a reputable chain- so I wasn't particularly thorough when checking the reviews, however they were mostly positive- no talk of cockroaches or biker bars next door. My biggest concern was being able to get there with public transportation.
I found the route- the metro from the Smithsonian to the end- then a quick 1 1/2 miles by bus- easy and cheap.
The DC metro is clean, efficient and inexpensive and seems safe enough. The metro ride went without a hitch. When we went to the bus stop we quickly noted that our ethnicity was in the minority. In fact, we were the lone representatives of said ethnicity. We were out of our element- but that can be a good thing- especially when trying to reinforce color blindness in our children. But despite our attempts to be color blind we stuck out from the crowd, getting a few strange looks from our fellow rider, who didn't seem to be as color blind as we were attempting to be. One nice lady guessed we were going to the Comfort Inn and told us where our stop was located. I'm sure our destination couldn't have been more obvious if we'd have tattooed in on our foreheads.
When we got to the hotel the most telling detail of the type of neighborhood was the front desk. Completely surrounding the entire front desk area was a bullet proof glass shield like you could find at a bank. Usually that isn't the best way to instill confidence in your guests- by protecting the hotel employees with an impenitrable barrier while leaving the rest of the hotel open to whomever wants to roam the halls.
However, despite the unwelcoming architectural addition, the room was clean, the staff was nice, the breakfast was fine, and we found out that the other guests were mostly European tourist who must have arrived by rental car. That mode of arrival would have given a completely different feel, in that the hotel was just off the freeway and you wouldn't have known about the neighborhood by seeing only one block of it. That is, if you didn't notice the 2 inch think glass barricade.