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Where to stay during Challenge AC?
Hey Team! Does anyone have a recommendation on where to stay for the race? I would probably be coming up to AC on Thursday and the rest of the family (wife and 2 kids) on either Friday night or Saturday morning. One thing that helped me with IMAZ was making sure I stayed somewhere that had a kitchenette in it so that I could cook/prep my food leading up to the race.
Any suggestions/help would be greatly appreciated, especially those of you familiar with AC, the Boardwalk, etc since I've never been there. Thanks! 
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Hi,
I have not looked into places yet, but one word of advice I can give is the closer to the boardwalk that you stay the costly. Exactly like the game of Monopoly, the neighborhood starts to change the further from the boardwalk you get. Also Typically on the weekends in AC, the price for each night changes with Saturday night being the most expensive.
However, being right on the boardwalk there are more dining options, as well as easy access to the beach and a short trip back to the room afterwards if you are going the full triathlon. The starting area, and T1 & T2, at Bader field is a couple miles away from the hotels at the boardwalk and I am waiting to see if any information gets put up on their web site to see if there is going to be any transportation or shuttle bus or something to go back there from the hotels at or near the finish line area for spectators or athletes the morning of the event and afterwards to get their gear from the transition area.
For me, since I am only doing the aquabike I might only stay over Saturday night and might stay at the Residence Inn in Little Egg Harbor Township, it is about 6 or 7 miles away about a 10 minute drive. The rooms there typically have a full kitchen, but that place is in a location where there is not anything to do without having to get into the car. On race morning I was planning on just driving over to, and am hoping to be able to park at, the start area for the day.
Good luck, sorry I could not help more.
Hey John, thanks for the reply! I just booked a room for Thu through Mon at the Tropicana. It is seemingly centrally located (e.g. 1/2 mile from race finish) and had the option to put a fridge in the room (good for me for my food needs for race prep) and had a pool out by the boardwalk for the kids and the run route goes right by the hotel as well. Spoke with a friend of mine who encouraged me to book a room ASAP (anywhere, although he also recommended the Tropicana) since it's the first weekend after schools get out and the weekend leading into the July 4th week. He said things will book up quickly, so I jumped on it.
Hope you're having a great weekend!
I am procrastinating for some reason with just about everything lately.
@John, Rob - I emailed them a few weeks back and the race director replied almost immediately....there will be def be shuttles to/from Bader from various hotels/points along the boardwalk. I just booked a room at Harrahs for Saturday night, had to pay dearly for the convenience factor :-)