Haven’t been to NCAAs in St Louis yet. Looking to get a room before things sell out. Any recommendations? Would be nice to be within walking distance, but gets pretty expensive - not that it is prohibitive, but wondering if there are better options available. Transportation and other hotels close?
St Louis 2021
- Thread starter Jackhawk87
- Start date
Many take the light rail to the airport where hotels have free shuttle service. Rooms much cheaper. The light rail is 200 feet from the arena.
Get any hotel near a metro station. The metro is great in St Louis. You can purchase a metro pass for 15-20 dollars which is good for Wednesday through Sunday(event pass). It includes all transit during the 5 days as well as transit to and from airport. If driving to St Louis, get hotel away from downtown to get free parking and use metro for transportation to arena and to restaurants.
Very hard to get rooms within walking distance because NCAA takes all those rooms. Last time in St Louis, we had rooms across the street from arena, but I had a connection.
Very hard to get rooms within walking distance because NCAA takes all those rooms. Last time in St Louis, we had rooms across the street from arena, but I had a connection.
Hotel indigo downtown it's walking distance they've rooms for around $200 night.Also Chase Park Sonesta downtown has rooms for around $180.Go to Agoda and search downtown St Louis
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Make sure they have a good refund policy.
I'm staying with Daniel Dennis in his truck. Short walk to the arena.
Thanks. I went with the Indigo as well. Looks like there may be a few of us there. Taxes are expensive. Getting a refundable room costs more. Still looked like the best option if you want to be downtown though.
Got mine through booking.com. 2 people, 2 beds. Refundable. $206/night. With 2 breakfasts/day it was $219 before taxes.
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Glad I was able to help a few people.Its always nice to be within walking distance
I have been to many in St. Louis and they do a fantastic job!!
Agree they do.Not sure if people actually like St Louis or if we have just gotten used to it
I would rather it be in St. Louis than Minneapolis of course I would like to see it go back to Omaha.
You think STL is a dump? Wait til 2022 NCAAs.
St Lois is the best venue. I have been to 45 NCAA’s and St Louis is my favorite place to have it. The worst was in Detroit.
Curious as to why you thought Detroit was the worst?
It was actually held at a venue roughly 21 miles north of Detroit. The surrounding suburbs and the county for that matter are in the top 5 richest areas in the country. So it definitely was NOT a dump.
Now, admittedly there was little to do within close distance of the Palace, but that is because the Detroit Pistons owner at the time, wanted it that way. He didn’t want people going somewhere close to eat and drink before/after. He wanted them doing it THERE.
The only other issue I could see would be public transportation. Being the motor city, before UBER, getting a cab was very unlikely and it being in a distanced suburb of a Detroit there is no bus service or people movers.
With that said, was it one of those I listed, or a combination that made you feel the way you do? Was it something I didn’t list?
Finally, the venue will be drastically different in 2022. It will be held in a new stadium in downtown Detroit. Having 3 casinos in the area and tons of bars and restaurants will give you a much closer experience. However, DO NOT wander. As much as downtown Detroit has truly blossomed, the rest of the city is still a DISASTER.
So with that said, if why you didn’t like Detroit the 1st time is due to what I listed, you may actually really like it this time as long as you like everything to be as localized and short distanced as possible!
The Target Center floor space was not large enough to properly handle 8 mats. Sight lines were blocked, out of bounds line/circle on the 4 corner mats (next to the sides where bleachers were pushed in) was about 2 feet from the wall - very unsafe for the wrestlers!!!
There was nothing near the arena in detroit(auburn Hills). No hotels, no restaurants, and no activities around. Most everyone had to drive for a half hour or so each session. You pretty much listed the problems.
Gotcha. Like I said, when they built the Palace Davidson pretty much made sure the surrounding area wasn’t built up, essentially forcing those attending games to spend their money on entertainment inside the venue.
As such, the Palace wasn’t designed for those visiting to stay close, eat close and drink close. Now, for me, it was IDEAL. 10-15 minute drive, easy parking in and out and the Palace itself fit the mats very well and made for easy viewing.
Now, all of the things you didn’t like will change this time around, as long as you book a room early enough(I recommend the Marriot inside the renaissance center). The only thing I am not sure of is how the layout inside will look for both the wrestling and viewing as well as getting in and out between sessions.
But, if your main delight is the downtown feel and reasonable proximity, I think you will be happyvv
thom67, My brother in law and I stayed maybe 15 minutes from the place in Auburn hills. We stayed at a motel that coast $38.00 a night! We were over charged
the place was a dump... and they had 19 inch tv's for our viewing pleasure of the ncaa basketball tournament. We did not see one female at this motel, because no female would stay there! However there was a bar across the motel parking lot called Martin's. The bar was great and filled with Wrestling fans. . My brother in law and myself thought the bar was called martini's until Saturday when we left! We gave away our finals tickets to a guy who said he would love to take his son. Said his son was a wrestling fan. Had a twelve hour drive so we thought we would try and get closer to home. Got a nice hotel and enjoyed the finals on ESPN. By the way my brother in law was driving a 1 year old Cadillac, yep he was nervous in our hotel parking lot in Auburn Hills. We always found it fun to find a cheap place to stay! auburn hills good memories!!!!!!!!!! Now our wife's have starting coming and we have to get a nice place. That doesn't suck either.
the place was a dump... and they had 19 inch tv's for our viewing pleasure of the ncaa basketball tournament. We did not see one female at this motel, because no female would stay there! However there was a bar across the motel parking lot called Martin's. The bar was great and filled with Wrestling fans. . My brother in law and myself thought the bar was called martini's until Saturday when we left! We gave away our finals tickets to a guy who said he would love to take his son. Said his son was a wrestling fan. Had a twelve hour drive so we thought we would try and get closer to home. Got a nice hotel and enjoyed the finals on ESPN. By the way my brother in law was driving a 1 year old Cadillac, yep he was nervous in our hotel parking lot in Auburn Hills. We always found it fun to find a cheap place to stay! auburn hills good memories!!!!!!!!!! Now our wife's have starting coming and we have to get a nice place. That doesn't suck either.
Wasn't there a huge landfill right behind the Palace? One of the main reasons St. Louis is a preferred venue is because of the transportation and hotels close to the venue. The last time it was held in St. Loui, my buddies and I found a cool blues bar not far from Busch stadium. Great places to eat in St. Louis as well. So there you have it, easy access to the tourney and airport, great food and entertainment. Many times I've heard, "The tourney should always be in St. Louis."
Great story! We have had some stories like that over the years.thom67, My brother in law and I stayed maybe 15 minutes from the place in Auburn hills. We stayed at a motel that coast $38.00 a night! We were over charged
Its actually a couple miles north of the Palace, but it definitely is visible. I drove dump trucks in the summers during high school and college so I was there a LOT.
Still, the fact that it was there doesn’t mean the surrounding areas aren’t nice. It just means it is VERY old and was there long before they built up that area.
I didn't think there was anything wrong with the area. There just wasn't anything around it so The tournament didn't have the feel which most do. The buzz of the tournament wasn't apparent. Seeing all the fans in a collected area if you will.
They're still waiting to see if anyone will be alive in 2021. Depending on your "News" source, looks to be 50/50 if anyone survives.
The Metro in St. Louis is great and free if you want to take the chance of riding without a ticket since there are no turnstiles to go through and not getting caught in a ticket check.
