We are trying to find a hotel for the weekend of May 8th and 9th for IU%26#39;s 2009 graduation. I realize that we are just plain out of luck for anything in the immediate area - even waiting lists require full advance payment over $300 per night for rooms. Can anyone recommend a place within 20-30 minutes of Bloomington where we might find a decent place to stay? THANK YOU!
IU Graduation Weekend May 8-9, 2009
The bad news is that everyone else wanting to go to the graduation is in the same boat, so you may find the close options also full/expensive.
Here%26#39;s a few towns that are roughly a half-hour drive of Bloomington (give or take a little):
Martinsville - a little north;
Nashville - a little east - it%26#39;s a rustic/artist touristy area - in addition to a few hotels/motels, you might be able to find a tourist home (like a B%26amp;B only without the breakfast) as an option;
Bedford - a little south;
Bloomfield - a little southwest;
Spencer - a little northwest.
There are some other towns within this 1/2 hour circle which might have a motel/hotel, but these are the main ones. Also, there are likely a few ';standalone'; hotels/motels scattered among the various highways (but would expect most of these to be listed under either Bloomington or one of the above towns).
Good luck with these - if you don%26#39;t have any luck with them you%26#39;ll have to widen your search.
When you expand your ';time circle'; to a hour or so you get to add Indianapolis, Columbus and a fair number of other towns. Not sure you%26#39;ll be able to find something in the 1/2 hour range, but can%26#39;t imagine you wouldn%26#39;t be able to find something in the 1 hour range.
Hope this is helpful,
IU Graduation Weekend May 8-9, 2009
You might want to google for hotels around Franklin, Indiana (on I-65, it%26#39;s south of Indianapolis and wouldn%26#39;t be too bad a drive for you.
Franklin (and lots of others) certainly would be an option. I will however, point out that it is farther than the 20-30 minute circle you mentioned and, because much of the (shortest) drive to Bloomington is 2 lane state highway and not anything close to direct, the driving time is longer than you might imagine based on ';as the crow flies distance.';
Driving from Franklin I%26#39;d allocate at least an hour, probably longer because there will be traffic. In fact from Franklin, it might as quick to take the longer route and drive north (on I-65) to Indianapolis, go west (I-465) and then drop down on SR 37 as this is 4 lane all the way (a good portion restricted access interstate).
If you%26#39;re going to consider Franklin (which isn%26#39;t necessarily a bad idea), I think there are a bunch of other towns you should consider as well (many of which are less/similar driving times than/to Franklin). A few that come to mind are Columbus, (southern) Indianapolis, Greenwood, Mooresville, Edinburgh and Seymour.
Lastly, it%26#39;s a probably a longer drive than you want, but you might look at French Lick/West Baden Springs. If you%26#39;re wanting something special (read fancy and depending on what you%26#39;re used to real expensive). Each town (really 1 twin town, they%26#39;re that close) has a very nicely renovated resort hotel (major resorts ~75 to 100+ years ago, before the depression and cheaper travel (car/air)).
One of them (West Baden Springs Hotel, built circa 1900) has a dome which was the largest enclosed free span space in the US until the building of the Houston Astrodome in the 1960s. Bottom line if you%26#39;re inclined to spend an extra day or two, want something memorable (beyond the graduation) and money isn%26#39;t a major concern, I%26#39;d suggest you consider these as an option.
My guess on driving time from the French Lick area would be ~1 hour to ~1.5 hours.
Again, hope this is helpful and if you want more information on any of these options go ahead and ask.
Just wondering what you ended up doing?
Posting your experience, decisions, etc will be helpful to others in the future in general as well as allowing those of us who are local to have better information.
Hope you reply . . . .
We decided to stay in Indy for the graduation weekend. I had Hilton points and was able to reserve a room for 2 nights at no cost, and the 1+ hour drive isn%26#39;t that different from some of the ';closer'; towns. Thanks for all the advice!
Thanks for the reply. Certainly can%26#39;t argue with your logic - think you made an excellent decision.
I%26#39;ll just add that you should allocate plenty of time for the drive from Indy to Bloomington as there will be very likely be heavier than normal traffic that day (doing the same thing you are) and there can be delays (particularly as you approach Bloomington and in town).
we are planning to go to seymour in june hope so i do believe that is the town mellencamp is from what would bew the closest motels to stay at what townsa thank you connie
Connie,
First it would probably have been a good idea to have made your question a new posting. If I hadn%26#39;t been set up to have e-mail alerts on responses it might have been awhile before I noticed it and it%26#39;s really not related to the original topic.
Yes, Seymour is the town where John grew up, although he lives in (outside) Bloomington now.
While not certain, I imagine Seymour is large enough that you will find a selection of hotels/motels available, particulary since it is on an interstate highway.
If you don%26#39;t find anything available or to your liking in Seymour, Columbus is probably the next place to try. It%26#39;s ~15minutes/mile north on the interstate amd I know it%26#39;s got a cluster or two of hotels/motels located at it%26#39;s exit(s).
Hope this is helpful,
Chris
Connie,
I suggest you post on the Seymour Indiana forum (just checked there is one). It has even less traffic than the Bloomington forum, so I%26#39;m not sure you%26#39;ll get a response there and/or it may take awhile. Thus, I%26#39;d tell you to post ASAP.
Also, looked at what TA had for Seymour hotels and they list 10 of them. Didn%26#39;t look at the reviews or anything, but did notice the (2?) forum postings for Seymour were related to hotels.
I%26#39;d check out the TA reviews and then see what%26#39;s available based on your timeframe/budget.
Good luck,
hlo
