Anyone from Indianapolis? Please help.

[PhotobearSam]

We are going to Indianapolis from April 20 to 25, 2005 and are looking for accomadations and are looking on Hotwire.com.

There is a great deal about a 3 star hotel in East Indianapolis but we are unsure if we should take it or not...

Here are the questions..

1. Is there a part of town that you would not stay in? Which one? Is there a "Bad" part of town?

2. The convention is Downtown but the hotel is in East Indianapolis, will it be hard to get to downtown? Is the city easy to navigate?

3. Is there a site for the local bus system? Is it good to use? Do the buses run often?

4. Of these areas, where would you stay?

-Downtown Indianapolis
-East Indianapolis
-Indianapolis Intl Airport IND
-Keystone - Carmel
-NE Indianapolis
-NW Indianapolis
-South Indianapolis
-West Indianapolis - Speedway

Please explain your advise.

5. Is driving around easy or is it bad traffic and confusing roads? We do Orlando very well but I would not go into New York City by car if you paid me if that tells you what kind of drivers we are...

Any other help would be appreciated. The convention is at the Indianapolis Convention Center. We don;t mind staying a few minutes away and we would even take the bus from the hotel but want to make sure we are in a safe place.

Thanks for any help.

Edited to add that we really like the deal for the East Indianapolis one and are just concerned that it's a bad neighbourhood or is really hard to navigate from there.

 

[Pongo69]

Hi

I would definitely stay downtown Indy. Not only will you be in walking distance of the Convention Center, your also surrounded by eateries, Circle Center Mall which house a movie theater, The Canal where you could rent the little minnie paddle boats,White River Garden's, Imax, Carriage Rides, Monument Square, The Childrens Musuem which is a good 5 to 10 minutes from downtown depending on traffic and the Indianapolis Zoo which is also a good 5 minutes. Imho, I believe you would find it very convenient.


If your staying out east by Shadeland Ave or anywhere east of downtown, I do believe you will have a drive on your hands everyday when traveling into town.

As far as the danger aspect, yes there are bad areas throughout Indianapolis just like any other city. Regardless of where you stay be careful and have a nice time.

 

[Indyman]

Originally posted by PhotobearSam
We are going to Indianapolis from April 20 to 25, 2005 and are looking for accomadations and are looking on Hotwire.com.

There is a great deal about a 3 star hotel in East Indianapolis but we are unsure if we should take it or not...

Here are the questions..

1. Is there a part of town that you would not stay in? Which one? Is there a "Bad" part of town?

2. The convention is Downtown but the hotel is in East Indianapolis, will it be hard to get to downtown? Is the city easy to navigate?

3. Is there a site for the local bus system? Is it good to use? Do the buses run often?

4. Of these areas, where would you stay?

-Downtown Indianapolis
-East Indianapolis
-Indianapolis Intl Airport IND
-Keystone - Carmel
-NE Indianapolis
-NW Indianapolis
-South Indianapolis
-West Indianapolis - Speedway

Please explain your advise.

5. Is driving around easy or is it bad traffic and confusing roads? We do Orlando very well but I would not go into New York City by car if you paid me if that tells you what kind of drivers we are...

Any other help would be appreciated. The convention is at the Indianapolis Convention Center. We don;t mind staying a few minutes away and we would even take the bus from the hotel but want to make sure we are in a safe place.

Thanks for any help.

Edited to add that we really like the deal for the East Indianapolis one and are just concerned that it's a bad neighbourhood or is really hard to navigate from there.

Photobear,

I'd have to have a little more specific info on the East Indianapolis hotel before answering if it's a good location or not. I can make assumptions on which area it is but I may or may not guess right.

1) There really aren't many "bad" parts of town where there are hotels, but there are certainly better parts of town. I'll answer this more in #4.

2) The city is fairly easy to navigate. I70 runs east/west right through the middle of town. I65 and several main city streets run north/south, and I465 runs a loop around the city. You can normally get to downtown from anywhere in the city within 20-30 minutes.

3) I don't ride the bus, so I can't answer to the quality. You will find more info at IndyGo.

4) Keeping downtown access and off convention things to do in mind my top three locations from your list would be.

Downtown
Keystone
NW Indy

These three locations probably have the most to do outside of your convention. There is a large variety of restaurants, shops and other things to do that some of the other areas have.

East Indy would probably somewhere in the middle of the pack. Actually if you are not driving yourself, East Indy would move lower on my list due to a lack of other amenities like the one list for my top three.

5) Driving is pretty easy, but as expected can slow down some during the rush hours. Unless there is an accident on your route, though, traffic will generally keep moving. Most downtown traffic lights are programmed so it you keep travelling in the same direction, you can catch a wave and not get a red light for awhile.

 

[Galahad]

Another vote for downtown. Lots of great stuff to do downtown. Indy has a great Downtown! The east side can be hit or miss. Not particularly "bad" neighborhoods....just not much to them and like Pongo said, a bit of a drive downtown. We don't have a commuter train system, etc. so you'd be stuck driving downtown for the convention. Traffic is not bad in Indy at all compared to other larger cities. The far Northeast side of town will have the worst traffic, but if you are here on a convention you probably won't be going up there anyway. Bus system is decent, but this is definitely a "car city". Buses will work well when you are close in, but less well if you are going out away from downtown as they will run much less often. I'd definitely say take advantage of the stuff to do downtown near the convention center by staying close by.

Edited to add that the Pacers are still playing that time of year at Conseco field house downtown....also within an easy walk from the convention center as is Victory field, the home of our AAA baseall team.

 

[PhotobearSam]

Thanks for the advice. We don't plan on doing many other activities other than the Convention as it's all for my DH as it is a Star Wars Convention and he is going to meet a lot of the people he talks to on his boards from all over.

We are going to have a car and 20-30 minutes is not too bad for us.

The hotel we found in East Indy is a 3 star and only $37 a night on Hotwire (They list Holiday Inn and Doubletree as examples of 3 star properties) These are the amenities they list Selected amenities include: Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Business Center, Laundry Facilities (self-service).

There is a 2 star Downtown that is $68 a night that list the amenities as Selected amenities include: Suite, Complimentary Breakfast, Fitness Center, Kitchenette, Laundry Facilities (self-service). (no pool) but we are not too keen on a 2 star but it being downtown is a plus. I am sure downtown is large and we might still need to have a car... Are there BAD parts of Downtown? Or is it all within walking distance?

It's a toss up. We are really only going to do things at the convention and go out to eat with his friends downtown afterwards...Not sure what to do?

Any ideas on what hotels these might be?

What is the weather like at the end of April?

 

[Serena]

Where are you wanting to go?

Like Pongo said, I'd stay downtown. There is a lot within walking distance. And it's not difficult to get to where you want by car from there at all.

 

[Galahad]

Originally posted by PhotobearSam
Thanks for the advice. We don't plan on doing many other activities other than the Convention as it's all for my DH as it is a Star Wars Convention and he is going to meet a lot of the people he talks to on his boards from all over.

We are going to have a car and 20-30 minutes is not too bad for us.

The hotel we found in East Indy is a 3 star and only $37 a night on Hotwire (They list Holiday Inn and Doubletree as examples of 3 star properties) These are the amenities they list Selected amenities include: Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, Business Center, Laundry Facilities (self-service).

There is a 2 star Downtown that is $68 a night that list the amenities as Selected amenities include: Suite, Complimentary Breakfast, Fitness Center, Kitchenette, Laundry Facilities (self-service). (no pool) but we are not too keen on a 2 star but it being downtown is a plus. I am sure downtown is large and we might still need to have a car...

It's a toss up. We are really only going to do things at the convention and go out to eat with his friends downtown afterwards...Not sure what to do?

Any ideas on what hotels these might be?

What is the weather like at the end of April?

Wouldn't be surprised if the east side hotels are near the I70/I465 interchange. Those would be your average chain motels like you listed. Should be decent and safe. Weather is pretty good the end of April. The usualy "April showers" risk. Temps in the upper 60's to low 70's are typical during the day that time of year. Occassionally warmer.

 

[Galahad]

Just saw you are from New Brunswick. DS is working on a school project for Social Studies to write a children's book about New Brunswick. He's having a great time with it (he loves eating up lots of time doing the illustrations.....probably will forget to do his math.....)

 

[PhotobearSam]

The parts of town that come up on Hotwire are 1 place in Downtown, 3 in East Indy, 2 in the airport area, 3 in keystone Carmel, and a one star in South Indy...


Just a side note...Nothing came up for the other parts of town.

 

[Galahad]

Carmel is a a far northside suburb....very popular....lots of traffic. You won't want to fight that drive if your convention is downtown. The Airport would work fine.

 

[PhotobearSam]

Tell him to check out www.shediac.org for info on the Lobster Capitol of the World...That is where I am from and we own a motel there too.

Weird that he would be doing a project on a Canadian Province. I think that is really good.

 

[Galahad]

Originally posted by PhotobearSam
Tell him to check out www.shediac.org for info on the Lobster Capitol of the World...That is where I am from and we own a motel there too.

Weird that he would be doing a project on a Canadian Province. I think that is really good.

Thanks. He's a H.S. Freshman. The course is called Modern World Studies. They each have to pick a Canadian Province for this project. (Just a plug.....in addition to a great downtown....schools in the Indy area are good too...)

 

[Indyman]

The only East Indy hotels in the class you mentioned are a Holiday Inn on Shadeland Avenue, and a Sheraton on Pendleton Pike. The Holiday Inn has a Damon's on site and the Sheraton has a Bennigan's. Both hotels have very easy access to roads to take you downtown. As a matter of fact they are both practicall on the highway.

 

[Pongo69]

Correct my if I'm wrong ,but there is also a Courtyard Marriott just a wee bit across from the convention center. I can't remember the street it's on, but I do know TGIF is located within the hotel.

Just a thought, but have you tried going to other hotel websites instead of Hotwire. Sometimes Marriott offer some fantastic deals.

 

[Indyman]

You're right Pongo.

 

[PhotobearSam]

Because of the convention, most have their highest rates listed. Most are going for over $150 a night. With our exchange rate, not a very good option.
The courtyard is going for $104 a night, not a bad price but was hoping for better.

 

[Serena]

Ahh, I see.

I think you're ok taking the hotwire hotel. If I were on that side of town, I'd check on it for you.

I know Dan has stayed on the SE side of town a few times, maybe he knows the area you're talking about. I live on the West side and rarely go over that way.

Regardless, it's not that far at all and should have no problems. This isnt' a big city.

 

[PhotobearSam]

anyone else with anything more to add?

 

[Indyman]

Originally posted by Indyman
The only East Indy hotels in the class you mentioned are a Holiday Inn on Shadeland Avenue, and a Sheraton on Pendleton Pike. The Holiday Inn has a Damon's on site and the Sheraton has a Bennigan's. Both hotels have very easy access to roads to take you downtown. As a matter of fact they are both practicall on the highway.

I drive by the likely East Indianapolis area. There are actually three other potential hotels, a Fairfield Inn Suites, a Marriot, and a Ramada Limited. All of these have easy I70 access.

The other consideration is parking downtown. You will likely not be able to find parking on the street as that is a very popular convention, and the normal traffic will have all street parking taken. There are plenty of parking garages, so be prepared to pay 5-10 dollars per day.