Diser's in Amarillo, TX?

[stitchlover]

Are there any Dis peeps in Amarillo, Texas? I am looking for information on the best area of town to book a hotel for a one night stay.

On Saturday, June 30th DH, DD and I will be driving to Amarillo from the DFW area to meet up with my in-laws. We are going to all have dinner together Saturday evening, breakfast on Sunday and then head our separate ways. DD (16 years old) is going back to Colorado Springs with them to spend a few weeks. She loves visiting the grandparents and her cousins.

So to make this long story even longer...we know NOTHING about Amarillo. What is a decent area of town to look for hotels? We don't need to be in the thick of things. It's not like we are look for night life. We just need a nice area of town near some decent restaurants for dinner and breakfast. We are then going to repeat the entire process 1-2 weeks later.

Any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Seriously71]

Hi! I live in Amarillo (have for almost 41 years now) A hotel our family really likes when they come to town is the Ashmore Inn and Suites on I 40 East. They have a very nice complimentary continental breakfast every
morning and there is a Cracker Barrell resturaunt just across the parking lot. Check their website, they have frequent specials!
Hope you enjoy your stay in Amarillo

[mikelan6]

May I suggest checking on tripadvisor.com? They usually have hotel rankings and user ratings.

[stitchlover]

Thanks for the suggestion on the hotel.

Originally Posted by mikelan6

May I suggest checking on tripadvisor.com? They usually have hotel rankings and user ratings.

Honey you know you can always suggest something to me!

[javamoma]

Originally Posted by stitchlover

Are there any Dis peeps in Amarillo, Texas? I am looking for information on the best area of town to book a hotel for a one night stay.

On Saturday, June 30th DH, DD and I will be driving to Amarillo from the DFW area to meet up with my in-laws. We are going to all have dinner together Saturday evening, breakfast on Sunday and then head our separate ways. DD (16 years old) is going back to Colorado Springs with them to spend a few weeks. She loves visiting the grandparents and her cousins.

So to make this long story even longer...we know NOTHING about Amarillo. What is a decent area of town to look for hotels? We don't need to be in the thick of things. It's not like we are look for night life. We just need a nice area of town near some decent restaurants for dinner and breakfast. We are then going to repeat the entire process 1-2 weeks later.

Any ideas and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

That's funny. We do the exact same thing to switch kids for visits! My sister is in Aspen though so we meet in Clayton, New Mexico as our halfway point. Wish I could help with the hotel but we only stop there for gas and sometimes starbucks. But I will say that there are a couple of huge, nice, clean rest stops on 287 as you make your way to Amarillo.

[jkiszka]

Howdy fellow DFW-er! I'm a Dallas (Carrollton, actually) DIS-er, and I go to Amarillo at least twice a year for business. (Usually more than that.) I'll be there next Wednesday, actually.

When I'm up there, I typically stay in the Hilton Garden Inn that's out west of town on I-40. But, I do Hilton Honors and generally try to stay in all Hiltons / Embassy Suites / Doubletrees / etc to get my points. But the HGI on I-40 west of town is pretty new, and has some good chains within a stone's throw. Either way, it has nice, reasonably priced rooms with flat screen TVs.

As for things to do in Amarillo, check the hours of Wonderland and see if you can go. It's a great little park with a bunch of antique coasters that a lot of the locals go to. If you like coasters, these are great, and will provide you an experience like no other. There's also at least one coaster they've re-located here from Astroworld in Houston upon it's closing.

Also, be sure to enjoy all of the Stanley Marsh (artist, not South Park character) regional art--the "Dynamite Museum" (all of the weird street signs randomly placed in people's yards, Ozymandias on the Plains, and (of course) the Cadillac Ranch, a route 66 classic. (The Cadillac Ranch is not far from the hotel I suggested.)

Another geeky tourist trap worth checking out is the helium monument. A huge supply of naturally occurring helium is found under Amarillo, which has a long back story led to this monument.

If you like nature, check out Palo Duro Canyon. It's a bit of a drive from Amarillo, but it's very pretty. I think it's the 2nd largest canyon in the US (after the Grand Canyon.)

Also, drive down the old Route 66. (There's good apps for this on iPhones, if you have one.) This goes straight through downtown Amarillo, and has signs labeling where the route went. Especially if you're a fan of cars, you'll see a lot of "radiator springs" in some of the buildings and faded glory of the route.

As for places to eat, The Big Texan is a classic tourist trap with marginal food, but if you've never been, it's something that you can say you've done. They do have a good (though somewhat overpriced) Texas gift shop.

I would HIGHLY recommend the Stockyard Cafe (in the Stockyards, of course--Best Chicken Fried Steak EVER), Jorge's Tacos Garcia (Tex-mex, get the queso--there is a location also here in Dallas in the Arts District downtown, but I think the Amarillo location is better), The Coyote Bluff (Bring cash and get the Burger from Hell--but only if you like spicy stuff), 575 Pizza (ultra thin-crust / Neo-style pizza) Arnold Burger (hole in the wall burger joint with HUGE burgers--get the Texas burger.)

Additionally, if you like Famous Dave's, you can get it in Amarillo but not in Dallas, if that's your thing.

If you have any other questions, ask away. I like Amarillo--it's a very unusual place with a lot of interesting history.

[stitchlover]

Originally Posted by jkiszka

Howdy fellow DFW-er! I'm a Dallas (Carrollton, actually) DIS-er, and I go to Amarillo at least twice a year for business. (Usually more than that.) I'll be there next Wednesday, actually.

As for things to do in Amarillo, check the hours of Wonderland and see if you can go. It's a great little park with a bunch of antique coasters that a lot of the locals go to. If you like coasters, these are great, and will provide you an experience like no other. There's also at least one coaster they've re-located here from Astroworld in Houston upon it's closing.

I would HIGHLY recommend the Stockyard Cafe (in the Stockyards, of course--Best Chicken Fried Steak EVER), Jorge's Tacos Garcia (Tex-mex, get the queso--there is a location also here in Dallas in the Arts District downtown, but I think the Amarillo location is better), The Coyote Bluff (Bring cash and get the Burger from Hell--but only if you like spicy stuff), 575 Pizza (ultra thin-crust / Neo-style pizza) Arnold Burger (hole in the wall burger joint with HUGE burgers--get the Texas burger.)

Additionally, if you like Famous Dave's, you can get it in Amarillo but not in Dallas, if that's your thing.

Wow thanks for all the information! I'm actually just West of Fort Worth in Aledo. I don't know how much time we will actually be in town but I will think about the amusement park and thanks for the restaurant recommendations. We can definitely use those.

I was actually able to get the Ashmore to agree to match the priceline price on the phone. So I have booked two rooms there.

[jkiszka]

Originally Posted by stitchlover

Wow thanks for all the information! I'm actually just West of Fort Worth in Aledo. I don't know how much time we will actually be in town but I will think about the amusement park and thanks for the restaurant recommendations. We can definitely use those.

I was actually able to get the Ashmore to agree to match the priceline price on the phone. So I have booked two rooms there.

Awesome! Glad to help... As they say, Wonderland is the largest amusement park between Denver and Dallas! (However, I'm not sure of anything--amusement park or otherwise--of notable size between Dallas and Denver, depending on which route you drive, of course.)