I’m in for next year but I hear Panama City is a bit of a dump. Anyone got any comments or sugestions of where to stay.
Boardwalk should have all of their rooms renovated by then but there are plenty of other decent possiblilities. I am not advocating Boardwalk whatsoever, they lied to me several times regarding my reservation for a renovated room and when I was checking in they looked at me like I had two heads when I demanded a renovated room; as I was told I would have. I walked out and ended up down the street. Theres tons of construction going on and those buildings should be finished as well. I stayed at Sunbird; about 1/8 mile away and was less than 1/2 the price of the boardwalk. I don’t have the ladies email (I’m on my laptop in the PC airport now, the email is in my desktop at home) but she was very nice, reasonable, fixed the ‘issue’ I had with the condo immediatly; overall a good experience. PM me a reminder and I’ll send you her address when I get home.
Congrats on getting in for 07.
We have stayed at the Summit Condos. They are about 400 metres from the start, have nice pools, ocean front and well priced. We will be staying there again in 2007. In my opinion the Boardwalk is waaaay over priced.
The place is GREAT for what it is, why may i ask did you sign up with such negativty about the place your going to train for a whole year?
t~
It’s quick…!
It’s quick…!
It’s quick…!
nah,that a MYTH!
Late in the season for maximum fitness, mild temps, flat one loop bike course, easy to get to, plenty of places to stay, IM branded just in case.
I’m in for next year but I hear Panama City is a bit of a dump.
Well it is true that Paris Hilton has not asked to be buried there, but you will never forget how the people of this town turn out for YOU–to volunteer (I think there were about 3500 this year), and to cheer you on up and down the street. When we checked out today, the lady at the hotel was very proud to tell us that she and her daughter had been volunteers.
Excellent point Monk and thanks for pulling us back on course…
As for accomodations, the best was the Americana, but you’ll be hard pressed to find that on the map these days. Anybody know if the owner invested in other property? Perhaps the best service available to a triathlete.
A kudos goes out to Edgewater. A lil farther walk down the beach, but a nice place with a somewhat swimable pool to escape the jellyfish and stingrays…
Thanks for the advice on lodging. Is the summit right next door to the Race condo? I need a place that my wife can be based out of with 2 little ones. I was thinking of staying at the race condo but the price seems steep. I try to make going to TRIs enjoyable to my wife and kids so convience is a must.
Top o’ The Gulf is the condo right next to transition. Older and a bit more run down. The Summit is a few hundred feet further down the road. The Sunbird is the best/most reasonable condo walking distance for spectators IMHO. If you can get in the East tower, you can see the swim from the balcony.
IM Florida is great for places to stay. It is a resort town so there is condo after condo. It is really during the off season there as you look down the beach it is high rise condo going up after high rise hotel. The old hotels are being bought up by investors torn down and renovated. There is no shortage of places to stay. I found one one www.vrbo.com stayed in a beautiful quiet two bedroom condo for 10 days 1000 bucks. It had two bathrooms as well. I was impressed that is why I’m back after doing it in 2004.
I stayed at the Hilton in Madison 2 rooms three nights 1300 bucks. I don’t think I would stay in a hotel as there are plenty of hotels. However that is my opinion only.
PCB is weird I’ve never seen a town with seasonal taco bell, wendy’s etc. Usually just places like dairy queen.
Good luck you got plenty of time.
I stayed at the Summit as well and it worked out perfectly with my grandparents being able to make the short trip out there to watch the runners. Plus, it saves money because it has a full kitchen. We ended up payin $274 for two night (total) and it slept six. The smart thing I think I did though was staying at a Hampton Inn about 20 minutes away for $79 a night on Wednesday and Thursday and then moved down to the beach for Friday and Saturday. Saved a little money and was located next to better restaurants.
i stayed at the long beach resort. pcbeachreservations.com it was a bit dated, but a 2BR with a kitchen, washer/dryer, and a beach view for ~$140/night is pretty good. it was 7/10 of a mile from the start. i walked there race morning and rode home afterwards.
if you needed to, you could sleep 4 athletes in the condo. we had two and our girlfriends.
PC was great, sure the area is not super high end, but the people were great and beach is nice before and after the race.
I stayed at the Boardwalk condos. I heard the rooms next door at the hotel were a mess as renovation was supposed to be done, but wasn’t. But I can’t recommend the condos more highly. Mine was absolutely beautiful. They just built it a a year or two ago. Not that I care or need nice stuff, but it had beautiful granite coutertops, washer/dryer in the unit, side-by-side fridge with ice and water through the door, fully stocked with plates and silverware, all that. Even a 32" TV with a DVD/VCR in addition to the TV in the bedroom. I was on the top (22nd) floor - beautiful view overlooking the gulf and the race start.
All that was nice, but the best part and the reason I stayed there was when you got off the elevator you walked about 10 yards and you were at the expo which was on the parking deck of the building. Finish line was in the same place. I could have been on the elevator to my room within 30 seconds of finishing. Takes a lot of stress out of the week, and even if you are only a half mile away, walking that back and forth a couple times a day with all there is to do pre-race can wear you out.
It was $149/night (plus the $8/night “amenities fee” they don’t tell you about that they stick you with when you get there) - but compared to Placid where I did my other two, this was a bargain. Up there you can’t get a dumpy hotel room within 10 miles of the race for that price.
The Travelodge on Front Beach was $40/night.
Tough to beat assuming you just want a clean room with a bed and privacy.