ST,
This will be my first IM, so please excuse any green questions. I noticed that WA is only ~20 mile drive from Cd’A and wanted to see if anyone opted for staying there rather than in Cd’A. I would have my own car and my wife to drive if need be. I plan on staying in the area for 3 days pre race and a few post. Any other suggestions/tips around accommodations would be greatly appreciated!
Cheers,
Chipper
Don’t stay in Spokane. I highly suggest staying in CDA.
I would say stay in cda so you have to go back and forth if you want to soak up the IM atmosphere (which highly reccomend for your first and for cda in particular as the town is buzzing with tri all week). I did not stay at the resort area and stayed up near the highway. it was much cheaper and it was a quick ride/drive down to the race area. had no trouble parking on race day either. I would shy away from the resorts because of price, but the conveinence of being right at the start and finish could be worth it to you.
I live in Cda and do the Ironman here most years. I would suggest staying in Cda if you can. You will have more fun. You could easily stay in Spokane, Post Falls, or Spokane Valley and race but it is a big change of scenery. Good luck
Spokompton is basically one big trailer park with a couple gas stations and a meth lab or two. At least with CdA you have a nice lake view.
Thanks for all the great feedback! Looks like I’ll be staying in Cd’A.
Also look for rentals in Hayden - easy to buzz into town and still get the atmosphere - also generally a little cheaper. Have fun! Great race in a great town!
La Quinta Inn and Suites on Sherman is great. One block from the bike and run course and approx one mile from the finish. Fantastic breakfast and the place will be FULL of triathlete. It’s not the Ritz, it’s not the Resort, but they LOVE their IM athletes. Karen is manager. Ask for her.
Just got to say, I live in spokane and if you’re looking for a place in Spokane, the Mirabeau Park Hotel is fairly nice, has a nice restaurant, and is right next to the on ramp to get to CDA. Either way you go should be nice. But it’s a fairly relaxing drive to do at 4 in the am. You get the moon going down, sun coming up a few minute later, pretty surreal IMO.
I got a couple of friends together and we’re renting a pretty awesome house - if you can get a group together, you can have pretty darn nice accommodations for less than the price of the typicaly Ironman hotel room rate (which is about 200% of the normal rate, at least).
For Lake Placid one year, I actually got together with a group of folks through Slowtwitch - worked well.
How is your budget?
The hotels in CdA are expensive, crappy, or far away from my experience and unlike Placid you have some flexibility of a “big” town nearby. I also found the dining much better in Spokane especially by Gonzaga.
When I did CdA I stayed at the Motel 6(2.3 miles) and my sisters stayed at the Fairfield in Spokane. My room was inexpensive but smelled like smoke. I was able to get a ride to race morning with no problem. People see triathletes walking and are guaranteed to offer even males a ride.
Even in my first IM(Florida) soaking up the atmosphere was secondary to eating healthy, relaxing, and getting a good nights sleep. I soaked up the atmosphere after I finished(FL and LP) by going back after a shower and dinner to cheer the midnight finishers.
Stay in Post Falls–at the Quality Inn (or Comfort Inn–I forgot which), but join Choice Hotels (online) first–it is FREE to sign up & my room cost me about $60/night race week. There is a bike path right outside the door of the hotel heading towards CDA, so you can run & bike there without any issues or traffic each day if you like. The highway is a block away & it was quiet. I clocked it at about 10 minutes to drive to CDA but saved a sh*t ton of $$$. Breakfast included, hot tub…pool (not a lap pool). Only two blocks away from BUCK KNIVES H.Q. if you’re up for an interesting tour. I highly recommend it. No need to pay premium price for a CDA hotel. Plus the traffic is nuts in CDA. Unless you don’t care about wasting an extra $70+ a night on a room to stay there.
Hoopfest (one of the largest 3 on 3 basketball tournaments in the country) is going on in Spokane that weekend, so I would stay away from Spokane. Done the race 3 times and have stayed in CDA each time (Ameritel). When I left my Garmin in the hotel room last year I was very glad I didn’t stay in Spokane (or even Post Falls). Stay close and book soon.
Stay in CDA if you can. I stayed in Spokane due to free lodging (parents), but it was a bit of a pain to keep going back and forth between Spokane and CdA.
I did the same and it worked out great, getting in and out of town was easy and no issues with parking on race morning. Also a few restaurant and supermarket options nearby up by the highway.
we stayed at the holiday inn in spokane valley… it was great. It was nice to get out of the triathlon hub to relax before the race. That hotel is really nice, and alot of triathletes stayed there, and it was waay cheaper (in fact I think I booked on hotwire)… drive in isn’t too bad, 20 minutes on the high way.
x2 on staying in Post Falls, Id. I stayed at the Comfort Inn when I did my first Ironman. They catered to the athletes and had way cheaper rates. It was a 10-15 minute drive into town. Parking at the race site was a breeze, even on race morning. I’ll stay there again if I ever make it back to race CdA
How is your budget?
The hotels in CdA are expensive, crappy, or far away from my experience…
When I did CdA I stayed at the Motel 6(2.3 miles) and my sisters stayed at the Fairfield in Spokane. My room was inexpensive but smelled like smoke. quote]
So let me get this right, you stayed at a Motel 6 and label all the hotels in CdA as crappy?
It is a requirement that all Motel 6 rooms be small, stinky, smoky and have a mattress similar to a 3/4" sheet of plywood. Oh yes, the towels have to feel like 80 grit sand paper. If your room lacks one of the above, congrats, you might be in a Super 8.
It is a requirement that all Motel 6 rooms be small, stinky, smoky and have a mattress similar to a 3/4" sheet of plywood. Oh yes, the towels have to feel like 80 grit sand paper. If your room lacks one of the above, congrats, you might be in a Super 8.
Lol…actually small, stinky and smoky would meet my expectations of a Motel 6…