Campus Inn Ann Arbor, MI
 

Has anyone stayed at the Campus Inn in Ann Arbor? I've been staying there for work because I can park for free and walk to the medical clinic that I work at. Some things about it I do not like: it's expensive for Ann Arbor, no coffee in the room (9$ for a pot) and I wind up going to State Street to find something to eat anyway. Any comments? Is the free parking worth it?

http://www.campusinn.com/

Thanks.

Steve

I think your main problem is lack of choice if you need to stay downtown. It is either Campus Inn or the Bell Tower. At least at Bell Tower you could eat at the Earle, but the hotel is probably at least, if not more, expensive than the Campus.

I haven't stayed there, but I did a lot of investigating into the Ann Arbor hotel situation for my wedding last summer. We ended up sending people to the Ypsi Marriott. I just didn't think Campus Inn was worth it. There aren't many better options if your goal is to stay within walking distance of the med center though. The Bell Tower and Campus Inn are both owned by the same people and I liked CI better. It lacks free parking, but a less expensive option is the Michigan League. If you want to go further out, I think the Holiday Inn on North Campus has a free shuttle to the med center (a lot of patients stay there).

I usually send visiting fireman to the Hamton Inn on Plymouth Road -- there's also a motel cluster near the Briarwood Mall and there's nothing wrong with Webers.

Many of the motels here run shuttle vans --- including Holiday Inn North which also has an Avis rental car outlet. There are three or four places to eat within walking distance of it, but some of the places downtown run cicles around them -- try the Earle, the Grizzley Peak, Zingerman's, the Red Hawk, Cottage Inn and the Gandy Dancer etc. etc.

Ann Arbor has probably the best mass transit system in the State of Michigan... and there actually are three of them here if you count school buses, AATA and the U of M system (which is free to all).

Bob H

Thanks for all the recommendations. The differrence in price between the Campus Inn and the other hotels that have been recommended is almost -$120 a night on the day I am visiting, with free cofee and internet! I always have a rental car so maybe I'll try driving to campus if I don't get their early enough to enjoy State Street. I hear that you have to get to campus early to get a parking spot. If you take a shuttle to the campus, how do you get back? Will they come and pick you up?

Steve

The thing about getting to campus early to get a spot relates to using staff parking lots - they do fill up by about 9:30 and the ones closest to central campus fill before that. I'm assuming that you'll be at the med center - and I have never seen their visitor lot completely full (the one I use is adjacent to Taubman Center, but there are others). If you pay for parking, you shouldn't have a problem.

Yes, if you use the hotel shuttle, they will pick you up at the end of the day (they don't leave you stranded on campus!). I think the HI has a scheduled pick up time at the med center, and they arrange for pick up at other locations.

In the evenings, parking is not usually a problem either downtown (Main St area) or in the State St area because the structures empty out after work on weeknights. Occasionally there are concerts or something else going on that affects that availability, but I have never not been able to find a spot.

Since I was arriving at midnight and checking out at 8:00 am, I tried staying at the HI Express at the Briarwood. It looked like there were alot of fun things to do around there. It was very close to Taubman, my destination, and I was able to park in the nearby lot $.90/hour, which seems like nothing to a Chicagoan, where it's $23 for the first hour at Northwestern. The Taubman parking lot says it has a 2-hour time limit but they don't enforce it.

The walls at the HI Express were thin, but the free breakfast was all that I needed, compared to a $30 breakfast at the Campus Inn. For a quick trip it was OK. Campus Inn is good if you are entertaining guests or have a breakfast meeting. Next time I think I'll try one of the other hotels at Briarwood if I'm on my own.

Thanks for your help.

Steve

So.....
 

"I think the Holiday Inn on North Campus has a free shuttle to the med center (a lot of patients stay there)"

So should I assume that the Michigan Medical Center is so bad that patients run off to a Holiday Inn. ;)

Is it as bad as Michigan's record against Jim Tressell???

This HI was built to Marriott standards, has shuttle vans and is about 10 minutes from the U of M medical center.

Bob H

As you have discovered, there are alternatives by Briarwood. However, staying at Campus Inn gives you the ability to enjoy campus life within a short walk of where you are.

There is so much on State Street:
- Stucci's
- Mr. Greeks Coney Island
- Amer's
- a ton of places to get coffee if you don't want to pay $9/pot

If you wake up early, try breakfast at Angelo's on 1100 East Catherine Street. You won't regret it.

Schurr, I'm glad your trip worked out! For the future, here's a few more tips:

If you park in a public non-UMich garage, always ask whatever restaurant or store you patronize that day if they'll validate your parking. Most will validate for half or a full hour, which can save you a little dough over time. All street parking is free after 6 p.m. every day, and it's free all day on Sundays. Many UM lots are also free after 6 p.m. although the Taubman lot isn't one of them. If you felt like driving down to State Street for dinner, though, the Thayer Street blue lot and the Thompson street lots both drop enforcement at 5 or 6 p.m.

If you paid more than $60 per night for that Holiday Inn stay, check out the "Michigan - Outside Detroit" forum at www.biddingfortravel.com and get a handle on how to use Priceline for Ann Arbor hotels. Folks there regularly report $35-$55 per night winning bids for 2.5 and 3 star Ann Arbor hotels, and there's even a list there to show you which hotels you're likely to get in a given star class. The hotels listed are overwhelmingly in that Briarwood cluster near the mall.

If you're a coffee drinker, there's a cafe on State Street (I want to say it's the Espresso Royale) that will fill up your travel coffee mug for peanuts. Try going in there and asking about it.

If you're interested in saving while eating out in A2, try www.myclipper.com and enter zip code 48109. That should pull up the A2 coupon page. Among the State Street business with coupons there are New York Pizza Depot, Mr. Greek's Coney Island, and Cottage Inn Pizza. There are also several joints that are cheap in their own right: Try the $5 lunch special at Silvio's Pizza on N. University near Michigan Book and Supply, which includes a slice of pizza, a soup, and a soft drink. Potbelly's at the corner of State and Liberty prices all of its subs at $3.79 and they're delicious. Pita Kabob Grill near State and William also serves some wonderful Middle Eastern pita wraps for under $4.50, although make sure you've got some mints to cover your garlic breath!

And if you ever find yourself with time to explore the town or campus, check out the online events calendars at www.arborweb.com/todayindex.html and www.events.umich.edu.

Formerly a Marriott?

Yes, albeit a long time ago.

Bob H