Starting to despair here. I’m looking to book a chalet/condo/something-with-a-kitchen to house two of my race buds and myself/partners for IMLP 2008. We’ve looked on the Adirondack By Owner site, asking for a rental from the Wednesday through Monday (but willing to do Monday-Monday). No dice. 7 rejections, saying Saturday-Saturday only. Which would mean having to pay for two weeks rental to be there for 4-ish days.
You’re likely all grinning, thinking ‘Hey NOOB, no kidding’, but I’ve gotta figure that somebody knows their way around this, or has some coaching about how to not pay for two weeks to get four days. Any thoughts, all would be appreciated at this point.
I think, unless there is some odd circumstance or whatever, you’re stuck going to a hotel. The folks up there, bless their souls, apparently know how to milk participants for lodgin money and it is what it is. So, I’m guessing you either make it a two week deal or get three hotel rooms…
The 5 day minimum stay is pretty standard regardless if you go the condo or the hotel route. What surprises me is that you these places aren't flexible on the Saturday to Saturday. IMLP week is probably the only week that Lake Placid is close/at capacity as far as housing is concerns. I doubt they have a fresh group of people coming in the following week so that condo-owners need to stick to the Saturday-Saturday schedule.
For IMLP this year, we were able to contact the owner directly and work with them to give us the condo from Thursday to Thursday. I’d keep looking around, find someplace you like and work with the owner to let you rent it off of the Saturday to Saturday schedule. I’m sure some owners want to stick with the Saturday to Saturday, but most are willing to be flexible.
Now, if you are approaching the condo owners saying that you only want to rent for only four days…yeah, good luck with that! You are going to suck it up and pay for those extra days for your Ironman-branded experience!
BTW…you aren’t early with worrying about this…you are actually kinda late as most people work this out as soon as they sign up…you shouldn’t have any problems finding a place though…you just gotta keep beating the bushes…
Good Luck…if you were like me, you now realize you could probably could have done a European IM for the money you will fork out for IMLP!
I just went through the process of trying to find a place for about 20 people for LP 2008.
First thing to know: Forget about staying in Lake Placid. You’ll need to look at the surrounding area. There are probably condos left in the Lake Saranac area.
About two weeks ago there were places available at Ampersand Bay. Here’s there website:
I wish I had your problem. I had to cancel my IM LP 2008 plans due to a change in dates for a work-related meeting for that same weekend. Luckily I hadn’t paid the entry fee yet when I found out.
Check out Pine Hills Condos to see if they still have anything. Another option is the Prague, which is right along the bike/run course. They don’t start taking reservations for IM week until after January 1st.
I also understand that mid-June things open up a bit as all the 30-day cancellation folks call in and cancel due to injury, life getting in the way, burnout, work conflicts, etc…
Nothing like having hypertension for a full year prior to the race. Better take your cat to the local organ bank and see what you can get for a couple of kidneys.
My sister-in-law rented a place in Jay for the week. It was 1/2 mile from the bike course. They stayed Monday to Monday and it worked out perfectly. She got it from this website:
My family and I stayed at the Brookside Motor Inn in Upper Jay. They have suites with two bedroom and a common room (that also has a pull out couch and another bed), plus a kitchen and two bathrooms. It’s right on the bike course. Obviously, it’s a little bit of a hike (about 20-30 minute drive, depending on which way you go), but I prefer to stay away from the bustle near the race site.
I had no trouble getting in or out of Lake Placid for registration/training/race day and my family had no problem watching the swim start and then heading back to the hotel to watch me come by on the bike (they saw me a few times out on the course at different points).
For me, the big plus was also the cost – $75/day. No minimum stay (although I did book around this time last year).
Brookside sounds like a good option, thanks Were the beds comfortable? (I’ve had bad experiences with motor inns this year)…
Everything was nice (enough… it’s not a four star hotel). I had no trouble sleeping, at least, not because of the beds.
Between everyone in my family, we had four rooms. No one complained (and my uncle has some back trouble). There were some other IM folks staying there, including at least one Kona qualifier. Clearly, his hotel selection was solely responsible for his performance ;-).
I stayed in a house in Wilmington that I got off the Ad by Owners site in 2006. I am staying there again next week and they rented from Thursday to saturday for me.
