Indianapolis 500

[David 1980]

I am looking for a nice hotel close to the speedway that will not cost me an arm or a leg. I see rooms going for $190.00 per night and that will not do. I need something that is in a safe area of Indianapolis but also will not break the bank. Thanks Dave

 

[goofymom23]

Sorry Dave but the bad news is you are probably not going to find it. In fact upto a hour away charges outrageous prices. Maybe you could priceline something. Check out the town of Kokomo. Its about 45min. away and a very easy drive into the speedway. Have fun!

 

[kgle]

Around race time you are not going to really find decently priced hotel rooms at all. I would bet Motel 6 which is probably the closest budget hotels hikes up their prices. I wouldn't suggest staying in Kokomo and Kokomo is also more like an hour away from where I live...meaning its a good 1 1/2 hours from the track. The drive into Indy on race morning is HORRENDOUS and they shut down most major streets and turn them into one ways. I would suggest finding something in the burbs or northern Indy and see what you come up with, but nothing around the track or in Speedway is going to be cheap.

 

[TrolleyGirl]

I just checked the Fishers area for 5/22 - 5/25 the show openings at the Holiday Inn for $119/ night. Fishers is a nice area, plenty of dining and shopping. Very safe. My SIL lives there and goes to the Indy 500 every year.

 

[pednurse]

Can't vouch for prices in Fishers, but that's where I grew up & it is a nice, safe place to stay. Just leave yourself plenty of time to get to the track.

 

[Geoff_M]

Things have gotten a lot easier for finding hotels for Indy. The room inventory is Indianapolis has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 10-15 years and interesting in the 500 has slackened a bit too. The Carmel and Fishers areas will be your best bets as the area immediately around the IMS grounds ain't the best part of town. And yes, with Castleton being next to Fishers, there's shopping galore. If you want even cheaper, try Anderson.

 

[luvmy3]

My FIL and MIl stayed at some dive in a horrible area because they didn't want to pay the outrages prices. They said they would never do it again and just bite the bullet and pay the $ for a nice safe place.

 

[Dodie]

Just understand that if you choose a hotel in Fishers or Carmel that you will not be CLOSE to the track and will have to plan accordingly. As in 45 minutes away on a good day, likely hours away on race day.

Any downtown hotel or west side hotel will have elevated prices for the entire Memorial Day weekend because of the race.

 

[Geoff_M]

Just understand that if you choose a hotel in Fishers or Carmel that you will not be CLOSE to the track and will have to plan accordingly. As in 45 minutes away on a good day, likely hours away on race day.

It's not THAT far away. As a preface, I've worked at the 500 for the last 19 years. On a non-race days I can get from the parent's house in Muncie to the track in around 1:10. I-69 is Exit 37 on 465 and 38th St is, what?, Exit 18. That's 19 miles and the track is another 5-10 minutes tops.

As for race, I stay with friends that live in Broad Ripple. They've found that after the gates open at 6 AM (used to be 5) there's an initial traffic jam that lasts about an hour or two. After that, the traffic is pretty "light". We have infield parking passes and my friend each year leaves his house around 8 AM and is able to drive straight to the track and generally only has to stops for lights. It used to be a lot worse, but that changed when IMS put in the PGA golf course and added the F1 track that greatly reduced the number of public parking spots in the infields. Traffic used to line up overnight to fight for a spot when you could pull up to the infield fences, now the only public parking is in the Turn 3 infield. Everything else is by permit only.

 

[onelilspark]

My friend got married the weekend of the Brickyard in Indy. It was awful trying to find rooms and then heading back up to the airport.

Fishers & Carmel is a nice area, but it will take you a while to get to the track the morning of the race.

 

[Galahad]

It's not THAT far away. As a preface, I've worked at the 500 for the last 19 years. On a non-race days I can get from the parent's house in Muncie to the track in around 1:10. I-69 is Exit 37 on 465 and 38th St is, what?, Exit 18. That's 19 miles and the track is another 5-10 minutes tops.

I live in Geist (The Indy side of a lake in the Fishers area). It takes 35-40 minutes from here to the Speedway if everything is perfect. Though most of the hotels will be on the Interstate - cutting your time a bit. On race day, from 38th street to the track is a wee bit more that 10 minutes though.

 

[Geoff_M]

I live in Geist (The Indy side of a lake in the Fishers area). It takes 35-40 minutes from here to the Speedway if everything is perfect. Though most of the hotels will be on the Interstate - cutting your time a bit. On race day, from 38th street to the track is a wee bit more that 10 minutes though.

I agree, but I was talking about "non-race days". My point what that the scary 500 race-morning traffic that most of us grew up with (we used to leave Muncie at 3 AM) hasn't been around since the mid-1990's. However, a lot of people seem to remember that time and still show up at the gates at 5:30 AM... but once that crowd has been parked, things thin out for a mid-morning lull.

As for hotels and commutes, unless you're willing to stay in a dive of a Motel 6 or Super 8... you're gonna drive 20-30 minutes in light traffic at a minimum.

I know where Geist is, my wife has family in Fortville.

 

[Galahad]

I know where Geist is, my wife has family in Fortville.

We are on the Indy side of the lake, but close to 96th street (County Road 1000 to Fortville). We have a lot of friends in Fortville.

The Fortville part of Geist is home to the recent notorious Investment scammer/pilot that tried to fake a plane crash in Florida or Alabama to fake his death. What a treat. He used to be prominently featured in the HOA newsletter. Now, embarrassing silence. Should be a soap opera here really.....