Ten straight days at one address
The Coastal Athletic Association brings both conference basketball championships to CareFirst Arena in Congress Heights for ten consecutive days. The men's bracket runs Friday 5 March to Tuesday 9 March 2027, and the women's bracket runs Wednesday 10 March to Sunday 14 March. Each champion takes an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The arena seats 4,200.
The venue address is 1100 Oak Drive SE, Washington, DC 20032. Build the stay from the brackets.
The ten nights the calendar supports
One check-in on Friday 5 March and one check-out on Monday 15 March covers all ten game days and the Sunday night of the women's final. That is ten nights on a single confirmation.
Two separate bookings put a traveller back at the front desk on the crossover day, 9 March, when the men's final has just ended and the women's field is arriving. A ten-night stay spreads the rate risk across one negotiation.
Add Thursday 4 March for a night before the opener, and the same stay runs eleven nights. Ask the property to price the eleventh night on its own, because a ten-night booking can cross a rate band.
One bracket only? The men's week from 4 March to 10 March is six nights. The women's week from 9 March to 15 March is six nights. Both include the night of the final.
Two published costs for the same ten days
CareFirst Arena sits directly beside the Congress Heights station on the Green Line. The arena puts the walk at three minutes, signed through the Kiss & Ride lot, past the Blue Lot and right onto Oak Drive SE. Metro Rail fares run $2.25 to $6.75 one way on a weekday and $2.25 to $2.50 at weekends, so ten round trips for one rider come to between $45 and $135.
Driving carries a published charge. On-site parking is limited to the Green Lot at Malcolm X Avenue and 8th Street SE and the garage behind the arena. The Green Lot, entered at 2915 8th Street SE, charges $20 per car on event day. Ten event days come to $200 for one car, before the garage and before any pre-paid space through Parkwhiz.
A room near a Green Line station removes the $200 and the queue, and its rate carries whatever premium the market holds. A room off the line adds parking or a rideshare each day. Ask the property for both numbers before comparing two rooms.
Two arena rules that change the arrival plan
The arena bans bags, backpacks, purses and luggage. Wallet-size clutches up to 5 by 7 inches are allowed, as are medical and parenting bags up to 14 by 14 by 6 inches. There is no re-entry during an event.
A travel day that lands before check-in needs the hotel to hold the suitcase. Ask for that in writing with the reservation.
Door times vary by event and the arena asks guests to confirm them on the event page. Budget the walk from the station and a security line, and treat the door time as unpublished until the arena posts it.
No block is published, so request one
The CAA's tournament pages, its June 2026 championship schedule and the arena's own pages carry no hotel, no room block and no booking code for either bracket. A ten-night stay is worth putting to several properties at once: hotelhuddle sends one free request to 50 or more hotels, and hotels answer within 24 to 72 hours with terms and rates side by side.
Group rates apply to a block of 10 or more rooms. A single ten-night room may never clear that threshold, so ask the property what it can do for a long stay and compare its answer with the published nightly rate.
What to put in writing
State the dates twice, once as dates and once as nights, so the confirmation cannot drift. The District's transient accommodations tax is 15.95 per cent, extended through 30 September 2027 by the Office of Tax and Revenue, so it applies to a March 2027 stay. A $250 night becomes $289.88 with tax. Ask for the tax-inclusive total for the full stay.
Ask for the cancellation deadline and the fee after it. Ask whether the rate holds for all ten nights or re-prices at a band change. Ask when the property releases unused rooms. The answers decide whether to hold ten nights now, 132 days before the opener, or to hold a shorter block nearer March.