Advice on where to stay for IMAZ

I stayed at the best western inn on scottsdale last year. I also have reservations for next year already.

Pros:
1. Not that expensive given it's location and proximity to the race start. About $110 a night.

2. It is literally next door to a denny's which of course is open 24 hours. You have to go through the denny's parking lot to exit onto scottsdale.

3. Across the street is an in-n-out burger.

Cons: Though it is close, I'd say it is not in walking distance nor would it be ideal because the run goes 3 times about 250 feet from the hotel. So, I'm saying if you finished early, I'm not sure how convenient it would be to "walk" back or even if you are allowed to since you will be on the run path. I guess maybe you can walk on the other side of scottsdale. Just a note also, besides the run going 3 times close to the hotel, the swim portion crosses under Scottsdale bridge and then returns back to Mills bridge.

On the map, the hotel is the star to the far left top. The race start (registration, t1, t2, etc) is at Tempe Beach Park on the corner of Mills and Rio Salado.



Edited by auto208562 2007-10-22 8:36 PM






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We're at the hampton Inn, a little up the road from auto.  A little more, but we wanted a place with a full kitchen /fridge setup (location didn't show up, at Scottsdale and Weber)

 

Edited by ChrisM 2007-10-22 11:39 PM

You don't say anything about cost ...

The Courtyard by Marriot is close, nice enough, and IIRC not as expensive as the Tempe Mission Palms which is the host hotel. Both are walking distance to the start. I don't know of any other that close. But anything in Tempe itself is only 15-20 minutes away.

In 2006 I stayed with my family at what is now called "The Buttes, by Marriot". It's fairly expensive but has a cool mountainside location, a great family pool (two of them actually, connected by a waterway). We spent a week there; Spring Break was the week after IMAZ so I flew in on Thursday morning and my family arrived on Friday night.

In 2007 spring break was the week before IMAZ, so we all flew down on Sunday and rented a house for 8 days. Even brought our dog, and we had a fantastic vacation. Beware the "twenty minutes to the airport" BS from condo and house rentals - the house we rented claimed to be in Mesa and it was, but just b-b-b-barely, and way out past the GM Proving Grounds toward Gilbert. The people who rented the house flat-out lied - it was a 50-60 minute drive to the starting line. NEVER AGAIN will I stay that far out.

Next year I want to stay much, much closer - no more than 20-30 minutes out. I'm not sure where yet, but it will be another house and again IMAZ is the Sunday after a week of Spring Break.

I'm staying at the Courtyard Marriott again. I did this year and have my reservation all set for next year. It's a short walk to the race site, and I made many, many trips. It was nice to be able to walk and not have to worry about parking a car.

Didn't Zilla ante up and was going to have everyone stay at her abode, and then she was going to shuttle service to the start?