First, I want to thank you for posting this thread. I knew in the back of my head that I should have thought about this when I registered for the race, but of course I put it off.
I called both The Best Western and the Holiday Inn this morning, and here's the deal:
The Best Western has a 5 night minimum, and is currently sold out. They have a wait list starting in January(If you call before me, I'll smack you.), and said that they get cancellations up to the day before the race. The room rates are $199 lakeside/$189 villageside. The woman I spoke to was very friendly and helpful.
The Holiday Inn has a lot of rooms available. The woman I spoke to said around 175 are available. They have a four night minimum, and start at $239/night, plus 10% state room tax. They have a $100 cancellation fee, and will charge the full amount with no refunds one month ahead of time. The woman I spoke to made it very clear that if you book with them that they are getting some money. Specifically, she said, "If you book with us then you should be very sure where you will be next year". Zoiks! Um, I have my race entry, but I can't promise that I won't get hit by a car in the next 11 months.
So it looks like you will end up paying about the same amount whether you stay in one or the other, if you stay the minimum nights. When I stayed up there for Tupper Lake, I found 3 days was plenty, but want to stay four days so I can go to rolldown(Ahh, delusions of grandeur!) IMHO, LP is not exciting enough to stay any longer.
I would encourage people to check out some of the places a few miles away. I stayed in Saranac Lake, less than 8 miles away, for under $100/night for Tupper Lake. I don't know whether people are up for driving a few miles after racing an Ironman, but $1,200 for 4 nights in Lake Placid is a crapload of money.
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