It's not obvious, as they just launched the lodging page.

Luckily I was playing on the Hilton site in September and got a reservation at the HGI in a suite for the weekend... at a cheaper rate than the regular rooms are currently going for. That helps me a lot though since I'll be racing with a 3 yr old in my room.

I did the same thing and will be staying at the HGI. Glad I booked when I did because it sold out less than a week later

Does IM just buy up all the hotels for the race? The last two years for the 70.3 I could book a room directly through Marriott about a month out. Does IM just have the whole hotel blocked off for a certain amount of time to see if they can sell them? I mean damn they are charging $319 a night for the Courtyard and Residence Inn WTF?!!

For the 70.3 Worlds in Chattanooga I stayed in this AirBnB and it was wonderful:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13958929


It is five miles north of town up a windy mountain road, but it is quiet and secluded, which helps me a lot before races and when I am anxious and neurotic. It also was pretty inexpensive and the hosts were nice.

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2018 Races: IM Santa Rosa, Vineman Monte Rio, Lake Tahoe 70.3

I always book something immediately at a decent price point when I am over 50% chance of going. Its always a cancellable reservation where you pay at the hotel. Sometimes I switch to an airbnb about 60 days out if I see something I like or I know I want more than 1 br.
If no airbnb I periodically check in the run up to the event and see if something better comes up. I also do it with car rentals and you can just double or triple book them if you want since you dont get charged unless you pick up a car.

They don't buy them up, but the tourism commission does control them for special events. Its a bit of a benefit as you can see all hotels available and their rates at one place vs going to all of the hotel sites (and controlled by the city, so they get a cut instead of Kayak, TripAdvisor, Expedia, etc).

About a month out, all unreserved rooms (if any) will be returned to the hotel to book direct. They'll be at max rate though.

The first year of IM Choo, the Read house had the rooms on the block site, as well as rented direct. Everyone that booked direct found out about 4 months from the race that their reservations had been cancelled, as Sheraton was required to honor the block reservations. Was a pretty contentious time.

At the 70.3 WC, I stayed at a cheap place about 10 miles out of town. It was easy to get in and out of the city, and I never had to pay anything other than a meter when parking. Very easy

It's not the price per night that's the problem, it's the 4 night minimum that sucks.

Look again, only the Marriotts are 4 night minimum, the Hiltons are 3 and the Holiday Inn is only 2.