Where to stay in Georgia?

[LoriLea]

Hi everyone. New here - actually have been quite obsessed with these boards for a couple of months now. We are driving to Disney from Kitchener (I-75 route) the last week of August and expect to be somewhere in Georgia for our first night. Any recommendations?

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Welcome to the dis!

Get Dave Hunter's Along the I-75 book. He details what's available at each and every exit. There are usually lots of different hotels at each exit so if you want to stop at a particular brand you can just look in the book and figure out at what exit it is. Great book.

 

[Snowwark]

Welcome LoriLea! We're very glad to have you join us!

DH and I have only driven down to WDW once, but when we did, we stayed at a Holiday Inn in Valdosta, Georgia. This was many years ago, so I don't remember exactly what it was like. I do remember though, that Georgia seemed to go on forever, billboard after billboard after billboard.

I agree with Fiona's suggestion to get Dave Hunter's book. Money well spent!


Kim

 

[LisaSt]

We stop at the bottom of Georgia at the Fairfield Inn in Valdosta. We leave from London usually around 7 Pm the night before and drive all night the kids sleep well in the car so it makes the driving easier for us and we can cover a larger distance without many stops. We usually hit Georgia at 7 or 8 AM and stop for breakfast then get the kids dressed and head out again. We stop for lunch at the Macon bypass at the rest area there and arrive at the hotel around 3 in the afternoon. The kids get to run around and have a relaxing night. We head ot at about 8 AM the next day after the free breakfast the hotel we then make a quick stop at the Florida welcome centre for our customary glass of orange juice and Disney park maps and schedules and the FLA UAS window sticker. Hope we have helped and sorry this is so long.

 

[jersey shark]

Re: Hotels in Georgia

What I would suggest is you go for the CHAIN you want and plan around that....for example, in my books the best places to crash for the nite when travelling with the family (and we tend to be picky) are...

a) Fairfield Inn by Marriott
b) Residence Inn by Marriott
c) Courtyard by Marriott
(notice the attraction for all things Marriott?)
d) Country Inn & Suites
e) Hampton Inn

These are all high quality "interstate" places that you can trust and most will give you pools, free breakfast and be clean. Some even offer a guarantee for your satisfaction! Earn Marriott points at the first three as well!

We don't even bother with Ramada, Howard Johnson, Super 8, Days Inn, Motel 6, Red Roof Inn, Comfort Inn, Econolodge etc...as they are too inconsistent in quality and while there may be nice ones out there...why gamble?

So, if you know roughly where you'll end up at the end of day one on the road....do a little website homework and you'll likely easily find your options.

Good Luck!

PS....I travel frequently in Canada and love the Kitchener area...the freeway running through town is oh-so-rare for Cdn cities...if only London or Winnipeg or Edmonton had something like that!

 

[LoriLea]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I had already purchased Dave Hunter's book and plan to use it for the trip.
Thank-you for the suggestions Jersey shark - we are picky too! Glad to hear you like Kitchener -so do we.

 

[LisaSt]

We just want a better transit system in London I have been to winnipeg and thought the ring road was a waste of pavement. We have some really nice streets inLondon Wellington is getting much better for a north south and Commissioners is alot better now that it is 4 lanes just about the entire distance. Back on topic we prefer the Fairfield inn in Valdosta very clean and nice rooms and teh free breakfast is usually not to bad. It also has a pool for the kids and is very close to many restaurants.

 

[tci1212]

We stayed at the Sleep inn off the first exit in Georgia off of I-95.
It was a nice hotel, our room was clean and we had no complaints.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

LoriLea - If you can, my suggestion would be to either make a reservation a head of time for a room if you know where you'll be, or remember to call the morning you plan to stop.
We just returned from driving to/from Georgia to Canada, and found that some of the better I-75 hotels were sold out when we arrived (around 8pm)
You can always cancel before 6pm. We found in the summer months hotels book up quickly.
Also remember - don't go on the Atlanta bi-pass (I-285) - follow I-75 through Atlanta, using the HOV lane. (That's the special communter lane for 2+ people in the car - it's the far left lane) It's much faster and less truck traffic, even during rush hour. However, make sure you go with the flow of traffic on the HOV - even if it is around 75 mph. Regular HOV users really hate it when a slow driver gets in that lane
Also, watch your speed south of Atlanta to Florida - many many speed traps along that route.
Happy driving!