Nobody wants to give away their secrets?

This past week I stayed in Saranac Lake at Hotel Saranac. It's about a 7 mile drive into Lake Placid and it will save you some money. Very cute historic hotel with nice places to eat right around it. You will spend most of your time in Placid anyway, but to save a few hundred dollars it's a good idea. I will book my rooms there for next year too.

However, it is VERY nice to stay in Placid too. You will never need to drive and it's the cutest town I have ever seen. I definitely fell in love this past weekend. Just decide on a budget and go from there. Look up the visitors bureau website for in town places to stay.

I would recommend somewhere close to the transition area. That way you can park your car and forget about it and you won't have to have someone drop you off on race morning; you can just walk down to the T area. (L.P. is very hard (if it's possible at all??)to drive into and out of during race day.)

Only drawback is you're not going to find anything for under $200/night that close with a min night stay (4 or 5 days).

Last year we stayed at the Holiday Inn on top of the hill for $250 + four night min ( I qualified late for IMLP at Muskoka). But, it was worth in because we were right in town close to everything. Didn't have to worry about driving for 4 days. Plus my wife could take the kids back to the hotel for some rest every few hours without the transportation problem.

Greydog,

What was your impression of driving into/out of Lake Placid on race day?

Trevor,

Thanks for the advice.



I've been on the Lake Placid visitor's site alot but it just seems so overwhelming with all of the choices. Anyone else with personal experiences?

Check out: http://www.rockandriver.com, about 11 miles off down in the downhill section of Keene.

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“You can't coach desire.” --Dathan Ritzenhein
http://xtreme4.com/ -- an extreme ride for extreme change: go green

Driving into down on race morning is not a problem. You can be dropped off by the special needs bag drop-off by the lake and walk in (about 1 mile)... After the race it's not to bad either.

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“You can't coach desire.” --Dathan Ritzenhein
http://xtreme4.com/ -- an extreme ride for extreme change: go green

I agree with Trevor. Stay right in town and park the car for the duration. Especially with wife and kid, it is great that they can head back to the hotel between the six fleeting moments over a 9-17 hour day that they see you on race day. The family does a hell of a lot of standing around on race day for a total of perhaps 60 seconds (6x10 seconds) that they actually see you whip by. It is worth the $$$ to make their logistics simple. As far as I am concerned, I could do this race sleeping upsidedown in trench with rain pouring down the night before the race so I am not too picky (must be all those exercises in the military), but it is worth every penny to keep your family well taken care of, because if they are, selling the concept of future Ironmans becomes a lot easier...and in the end, that might be the biggest value of the whole race weekend :-)

Good stuff, keep it comin'!

So with all this advice to stay in town, where do you suggest? Looks like the Best Western may already be full?

totally no big deal!

I'll second the Hotel Saranac. In addition to the benefits already stated, you can take the back road to the race site and save all the headaches of navigating the main roads of Placid.

I totally agree with the concept of staying in town. My brother in law and I did the race in 2003, and staying at the Holiday Inn at the top of the hill was great. We were able to walk to morning swims, walk to registration and the transition area/village and our travelling party (families) had somewhere to go to get out of the rain between their sightings of us during the race. They got so wet watching the race, I think our families changed clothes 3 times each that day.

If you stay there, the only things you have to drive to are the carbo dinner and awards banquet which are a few miles away from the village at the horse show grounds.

One negative is the walk up the hill to your room after the race.

Jeff

Don't go by the internet. Call the hotel (any of them) directly. Also the closer to race day the more cancellations there are. I didn't book the Holiday Inn until July last year and there were several cancellations.

Has anyone stayed at Mirror Lake Inn? It looks expensive but seems good for families. Is it close to transition? Crowne Plaza came up in conversations as well.

I stayed in Woodlake Motor Inn this year 4 nights for $88 per night. (10-15 minutes walk from the transition) In the morning of the race there's multiple shuttles that picks athletes in the way to the transition so you don't need to walk. If you don't like to walk there's free public transportation that goes all day in Lake Placid from main street to Saranac Lake avenue.

You have the coolest bike shop in Lake Placid one block from the Motel, they show the tour the france everyday (taped early in the morning).

I would rated 7/10.

       I've stayed in all the major hotels in LP and the Mirror Lake Inn is the nicest place in town. It has a great restaurant, plus the Cottage for sandwiches and snacks, tons of atmosphere, and beautiful views. It is expensive, but if it's within your budget, it's worth it. If your budget is tight, I've also stayed at the Eidelwiese, one of the rinky-dink hotels if you go straight at the traffic light leaving town and down go downhill like the course. I stayed there by myself for IM99 for about $40 per night with no minimum. The owner even let my friend who was staying in Saranac park her car for the day in her lot. It's so close I was able to get marked on race day then go back and lay down for a while before the start. Just a couple of options I can remember from the past.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

I stayed at the Crowne Lake, which is just up the hill next to the Olympic Center. Easy walk to transition, bike and run special needs, etc. On the downside, they charged $269 per night, 4 night minimum, paid in advance, no refund. The accomodations were fine, but I'm not so happy with their policies so if I ever return to IMLP I'll be looking somewhere else.

Town and Country Motor Inn is under $100 and is about 1 mile out of town but easy walk or the Northwoods Inn which is right in town and under $200.

Thanks. Appreciate the info.