Hotel Choices

jello4

Hello All,

I am looking at hotels for IMWI and while I realize the choice (cheap) hotel Best Western on the Park is sold out, there are some rooms available nearby. The Monona Terrace is available at $419/night (ouch), I imagine this to be the most convenient :-) choice. The Madison Concourse is available, as is Hampton Inn Madison Downtown. Which of these would be the better choice? Thirdly, there is a Hampton Inn East Towne Mall, which is about 8 miles out, that has availability.

I am looking for some guidance from you folks, I am trying to balance convenience & price - with a slight bias toward convenience.

Thoughts? Any hidden gems?

 

-Mike

mtlarson

I imagine this to be the most convenient :-) choice. The Madison Concourse is available, as is Hampton Inn Madison Downtown. Which of these would be the better choice? Thirdly, there is a Hampton Inn East Towne Mall, which is about 8 miles out, that has availability.

Mike, Concourse is closest and is a few blocks away, very convenient, but can be expensive. Hampton Inn is brand new, I drove by yesterday and it still was not open but they are working on unpacking the furniture. This hotel is about 2 blocks off State St. and would take about 10-15 minutes to walk to the Terrace. It all depends on what you are looking for. Close, out of the fray, by restaurants....There is a Residence Inn right by the Hampton East Towne, which has a kitchen, if you will be here for awhile and want to make your own food. There is also hotel Ruby Marie (more like a B&B with a refrig.) I don't know the prices, but it is about 2 blocks from the convention center and has parking. There is a Crown Plaza on East Washington Ave. near East Towne.

I live in Madison so let me know if I can help further.

SJU87

I stay at the Hampton for work and it is nice, new, friendly and helpful staff. Unfortunately, I am not staying there for the race.  My company dictates we stay at Hilton properties for work, but my wallet dictates I stay at Country Inn & Suites for the race, which will be comfortable if not convenient.

Coach Rich

IMO, Madison is one of those races where it's not a big deal to stay farther out from the race. There is a TON of convenient parking downtown so you'll never have a problem getting a space and walking a couple blocks when doing any Thurs-Sat admin stuff downtown. And then on race day you or your sherpa will be able to park close to the finish. 

IO, no "need" to pay $$$ to be within walking distance, because there is so much downtown parking available. 

lparello

I like staying at the Concourse-I'll be there again this year. It is typically $230ish a night, with a 3 night minimum. It is incredibly convenient, you can walk to everything. But, pricey. There are several surrounding towns that have cheaper hotels-I just personally like being able to walk everywhere.

Eric Rueppel

Coach Rich is right, it is very easy to get around in Madison. Even though it is easy I stayed at the Hilton last time I raced and am staying there again this year. It is very nice to finish the race then go up to the room shower and get back out to cheer on .