Topic: Tacoma Hotel Options - 2016 Gathering
in Forum: Annual C3VR Member Gathering
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Well I asked my brother in law that lives in Tacoma for some advice on hotels and here is what he gave me, which is more than I expected. I imagine I may owe him a beer or two after this event actually takes place.
I imagine being in downtown both has appeal especially because it would put you close to LeMay: America's Car Museum. There are a number of hotels that aren't too far away. These are not necessarily in order of your best bet:
1) La Quinta: Pretty close to the Tacoma Dome. The price will probably be about right, though the neighborhood there starts getting a bit of the "spotty" side.
2) Marriott Courtyard in downtown Tacoma. As it is downtown, the price will certainly go up a bit, but they have plenty of access to garage parking that should be pretty secure. The Marriott is right next to the Convention Center
3) Hotel Murano is going to be on the high end expensive side. It used to be a Sheraton, but they redid it a number of years ago and it now has a modern art vibe with lots of glass art in particular. The Marriott and Murano are in great locations downtown where there would be tons of restaurants and museums within walking distance.
4) The Puyallup tribe runs a hotel linked in with the Emerald Queen casino just north of downtown and right off to the west of I-5. To be honest, I haven't been there but I believe they took over a Best Western. They have lots of entertainment that rolls through there and their own restaurant, though being there might limit access somewhat to restaurants other than the ones they have on site.
5) There is a Silver Cloud Inn on the Tacoma waterfront, but the issue there I suspect would be parking. I can't remember if they have their own parking garage. The location is amazing and folks would be within walking distance of a bunch of great restaurants on the water and up the hill off the water as well.
6) There is a Shilo Inn further south from downtown that will probably have pretty good rates and reasonable proxity to restaurants. It is right off of I-5. The location is kind of in an area rife with strip malls and close to the Tacoma Mall, so lacks the "cool" factor of downtown, but I suspect rates are much more reasonable. I think there is also a Holiday Inn Express and Suites really close to the Shilo as well. The Shilo has been around for a long time, but I think the Holiday Inn is relatively new. There might be a couple of other hotels there (Comfort Inn) too.
I would recommend starting with the Courtyard Marriott downtown. It might be pushing the upper limit of what you are looking for cost-wise and just about any downtown place will have an additional charge for parking, but it is probably the best location you could ask for. There are some hotels close to Tacoma Mall like the Hampton Inn that might be in your price range, but once you start getting out where the mall is car safety might become a major concern.
So what does everyone think? Marriott sounds good, but it will be spendy. I just checked for a price quote around our proposed July date and it was $200+/night. I would hope we could get a reduced group rate, but not sure. John (Vman73) is checking on a Best Western in his neck of the woods (just across a bridge from Tacoma) which may produce a better price.
1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.
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As the guy that got the hotel for the last gathering, I wouldn't worry about the listed room prices. Be honest with hotels and tell them who else you are looking at and why. They will make their best effort to get you their best price and accommodations. When I booked ours, the local staff beat the cheapest price I could find by $45 a night. Once I secured the rooms and we started booking Manchestershark(Mark) found a cheaper rate online. Turns out the national headquarters put out a cheaper rate than the locals but only for a couple of rooms at each location. They gave us that rate for all the rooms we needed. If you need any suggestions give me a call or message me.
All those choices sound good to me!
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This will be a 3 to 4 week vacation for me with about 6000 miles total. I will probably stay at several KOAs going out and coming back, plus 4 to 6 nights visiting my sisters in CA and NV.
If the hotel is in the $90 to $130 per night range, I'm in. Higher than that I will be looking for a nearby campground.
Just remember guys, you can please some of the people some of the time, but someone will always complain (DaveC). 
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This hotel looks relatively new and completely acceptable, and Hotels.com has it starting at $76/night. Which I would think you could get at least that rate as a group (or better!) This is for 7/6-7/10/2016:
-Adam Wartell
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Adam Wartell said: This hotel looks relatively new and completely acceptable, and Hotels.com has it starting at $76/night. Which I would think you could get at least that rate as a group (or better!) This is for 7/6-7/10/2016:
I can't remember if it was Pacific Ave or Pacific Hwy. That use to be a seedy area when I was there back in '88-'98. Hopefully it's been cleaned up since then.
Remember Boss, looks on the internet are deceiving. Look at the City of Dunkirk during our travels in Buffalo. Hotel looked great, the area was a dump.
I have trust in the guys that live around there will do a fine job of recon/scouting out the area to get a good balance of hotel requirements. 
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Adam Wartell said: This hotel looks relatively new and completely acceptable, and Hotels.com has it starting at $76/night. Which I would think you could get at least that rate as a group (or better!) This is for 7/6-7/10/2016:
I think if you guys want to stay in "Tacoma proper" we'll be looking at $120/night minimum. If you want lower than that, it should probably be a suburb (such as Fife) but we'll just want to make sure it's in a decent/safe area. Gig Harbor (where John lives) may be a better bet. I'm sure many attendees that are bringing their cars (me included) will not want to park them in an open unsecured lot in an area with a high crime rate. My factory alarm system does actually work, but not sure that 60s/70s tech will keep it safe 
Keep the opinions and ideas coming!
1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.
I'm staying an Extended Stay hotel tonight in Des Moines. I stay here 4 times a year...1/2 the price of the Holiday Inn I used to stay at. They do not serve a "hot" breakfast. That last photo in the link is the total breakfast area. The have a coffee machine, granola bars & fruit. They sit next to the front door in a tiny lobby....no chairs, no tables. If you're looking for a nice place like we had in NY...keep looking, this chain is about a nice place to sleep with no frills.
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Adam, thanks for the input regarding the Extended Stay in Fife. Know it well, stayed there for 3 mos. when I relocated here in 2009. A bit rough then but I think it's been remodeled so I'll check it out. The price is certainly right !!! While I stayed there, parking lot was a decent size and security was not an issue, but Pacific Avenue and Fife are not anything glamorous. The area is bordered by I-5, the very busy working port, a bunch of car dealerships and the Indian Casinos.
So here are the updates that Dave076 and I have on the other Tacoma/Gig Harbor venues. Please give us some feedback on pricing. We certainly want everyone to enjoy the gathering at the best location we can afford. Comfort, security and a pleasant location are at the top of the list.
Tacoma Marriott Courtyard
Hi David,
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a block of rooms for the C3VR Annual Gathering. Were excited that you’ve considered Tacoma and we would love to provide overnight accommodations at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel!
Your group will love our newly remodeled cozy guestrooms, complimentary Wifi, Starbucks Bistro, and easy downtown location. Our regular rate is $209 but with a block of up to 30 rooms July 13th – 17th, we can offer a special group rate of $179 for a king or double queen room. The hotel shares parking with the Greater Tacoma Convention Center so I’d like to talk with them about securing covered parking for the cars.
Best Western Plus Wesley Inn and Suites
This is my first choice in Gig Harbor, it has great rooms, plenty of parking and great outdoor space. Very nice area with the small town feel. Very short drive to everything GH has to offer (www.gigharborguide.com). They won't be able to quote me a price until 10/26 when they set their 2016 rates. Lady at the desk thought they would ballpark a group rate between $150 to $180, very close to the price of the Marriott Courtyard in Tacoma.
Inn at Gig Harbor
This is my second choice in Gig Harbor. Equally nice hotel, but without the outdoor space and parking that may be a little tight. The hotel also runs an Enterprise Rental Car office out of their lobby and the local airport shuttle to SeaTac picks up there so they have a very busy parking lot. I explained my concerns to the manager and he stated they could block off a section and use an adjacent area for our event if necessary. The good news was their ability to give me a rate, I took a guess at 15 to 20 rooms. Their group rate was $149 plus tax for all of the rooms and they have availability for our dates. I thought that rate was starting to sound more reasonable and I'm going to use that as my benchmark for a competitive price at the Wesley Inn noted above.
The Westwynd
The last hotel we have Gig Harbor is the Westwynd, located just five miles away it's address is still Gig Harbor but it's on the north end in an area referred to as Purdy. This hotel was probably built in the 60's or 70's and may have been a Best Western or something similar at one time but now has no national affiliation. It's a little rough around the edges and most of the rooms have been converted to one or two bedroom apartments that offer monthly rates. They still have eight standard hotel rooms available. While probably not big enough for the whole group it may be an alternative for a few that are okay with being just up the road and don't want to afford $150 a night. Their rates were $75 plus tax for one of the eight standard queen rooms or $90 plus tax for one of the six one bedroom "suites". Again this place is pretty small and a bit "rustic" and not my first choice. Given the information Adam found on the Extended Stay in Fife, I think I would go there if it has been remodeled.
I'll know more on the 26th when I get the rate from the Wesley Inn.
John Sigmund
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Well I'll go first I guess. Your first choice is fine with me.
|UPDATED|10/16/2015 5:30:47 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
Also my thoughts of staying in Gig Harbor would make more sense, since you live there John. No need for you to spend money on a room when you live right in the area. I did the same thing with the Buffalo Gathering. I was 5-10 mins away from the hotel. We took some flak from people for not being at the hotel, but I could' t rationalize spending money on a room when I was around the corner. So we won't b**ch. Thank you for the info.
Thank you for the info. |UPDATED|10/16/2015 5:30:47 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
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in Forum: Annual C3VR Member Gathering
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