Where to stay in Detroit?
September 16, 2015 7:51 AM Subscribe
Pretty much what it says on the tin--heading to Detroit for a weekend in October, wondering where to target our hotel search. Recommendations from Detroiter Mefites and regular visitors? Greektown? Waterfront?
Looks like the last time AskMe answered this was in 2012, and I know the city has changed enormously since then.
We're headed there to see some punk shows which are all in various scattered parts of the city, so we'll have a car. Still, we'd rather not stay in the burbs, because we'd like the option to Uber if necessary and don't want to just sit in a car a bunch. And we'd love to be able to walk from our hotel to a decent breakfast and coffee--bonus if we can walk to other stuff as well.
That said, price is a little bit of an object--definitely like to stay under 200/night if we can. (From my brief Orbitz and Priceline searches, though, it doesn't look like that's too hard to do.) Thoughts?
Looks like the last time AskMe answered this was in 2012, and I know the city has changed enormously since then.
We're headed there to see some punk shows which are all in various scattered parts of the city, so we'll have a car. Still, we'd rather not stay in the burbs, because we'd like the option to Uber if necessary and don't want to just sit in a car a bunch. And we'd love to be able to walk from our hotel to a decent breakfast and coffee--bonus if we can walk to other stuff as well.
That said, price is a little bit of an object--definitely like to stay under 200/night if we can. (From my brief Orbitz and Priceline searches, though, it doesn't look like that's too hard to do.) Thoughts?
I'm a local, not a traveler, so I don't know about how much/how nice most of these hotels are, but I can tell you what they're near:
The Inn on Ferry Street is a B&B-type hotel that is in Midtown Detroit. That will put you in walking distance of things like the the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Detroit Historical Museum. It is also practically in the campus of Wayne State University. One potential drawback is that it is about a block from Woodward Ave. which is being torn up right now for the M-1 Rail Project. On the plus side, there are a lot of little restaurants within walking/cycling distance, especially if you go down Cass. As for breakfast, there is a diner called Campus Restaurant within about a block or so, which serves standard diner fare at reasonable prices.
Another option would be the Westin Book Cadillac, which is in the downtown area. There is one quite good/fancy breakfast/brunch spot within walking distance, The Hudson Cafe. I believe it is also near the feuding neighboring coney island restaurants, American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island.
A possibly shaky option is The Leland, which houses the goth-industrial City Club. I have been to the club, which I found to be sort of oddly gross (crumpled up sleeping bags on stair landings?), but have never stayed at the hotel. I make no claims that the hotel is a good or nice place to stay. It's also a bit further from places to eat and do things than the other two hotels.
I'm less a fan of the options that you get closer to the river. There are parts of downtown that are really sparsely populated with businesses open after 5 PM, and the closer you get to the Renaissance Building, the worse that tendency is.
Midtown is probably the best place to stay in terms of restaurants, walkability, and so on. Downtown has sprung up a lot of new restaurants and bars, but are often expensive and somewhat pinky-up. Greektown is also an option, but judging only by your statement that you are attending punk shows, I don't think it's quite the spot for you. It tends to attract a lot of suburban folks for the casinos and restaurants, and doesn't 'feel' like the rest of the city.
If you get a chance, I strongly recommend taking your car down Grand River from downtown to around I-94 or so to take in some of the high quality street art that lines most of the buildings down that road. It will also give you a chance to see some little art spaces that are outside of the most built-up areas.
Other cool stuff of note:
John King Books, a very large used book store, housed in an old glove factory. Downtown.
The Guardian Building, which is just a really pretty old building once you get inside. Downtown.
The MOCAD, where there is also often live music in addition to contemporary art. Midtown.
posted by palindromic at 4:38 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Inn on Ferry Street is a B&B-type hotel that is in Midtown Detroit. That will put you in walking distance of things like the the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Detroit Historical Museum. It is also practically in the campus of Wayne State University. One potential drawback is that it is about a block from Woodward Ave. which is being torn up right now for the M-1 Rail Project. On the plus side, there are a lot of little restaurants within walking/cycling distance, especially if you go down Cass. As for breakfast, there is a diner called Campus Restaurant within about a block or so, which serves standard diner fare at reasonable prices.
Another option would be the Westin Book Cadillac, which is in the downtown area. There is one quite good/fancy breakfast/brunch spot within walking distance, The Hudson Cafe. I believe it is also near the feuding neighboring coney island restaurants, American Coney Island and Lafayette Coney Island.
A possibly shaky option is The Leland, which houses the goth-industrial City Club. I have been to the club, which I found to be sort of oddly gross (crumpled up sleeping bags on stair landings?), but have never stayed at the hotel. I make no claims that the hotel is a good or nice place to stay. It's also a bit further from places to eat and do things than the other two hotels.
I'm less a fan of the options that you get closer to the river. There are parts of downtown that are really sparsely populated with businesses open after 5 PM, and the closer you get to the Renaissance Building, the worse that tendency is.
Midtown is probably the best place to stay in terms of restaurants, walkability, and so on. Downtown has sprung up a lot of new restaurants and bars, but are often expensive and somewhat pinky-up. Greektown is also an option, but judging only by your statement that you are attending punk shows, I don't think it's quite the spot for you. It tends to attract a lot of suburban folks for the casinos and restaurants, and doesn't 'feel' like the rest of the city.
If you get a chance, I strongly recommend taking your car down Grand River from downtown to around I-94 or so to take in some of the high quality street art that lines most of the buildings down that road. It will also give you a chance to see some little art spaces that are outside of the most built-up areas.
Other cool stuff of note:
John King Books, a very large used book store, housed in an old glove factory. Downtown.
The Guardian Building, which is just a really pretty old building once you get inside. Downtown.
The MOCAD, where there is also often live music in addition to contemporary art. Midtown.
posted by palindromic at 4:38 PM on September 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
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I was also driving all over town and found Greektown made a good central location.
posted by Cosine at 9:45 AM on September 16, 2015