where do you live? Seriously, I don't know. We NEED to update our maps, I don't know where anyone is anymore weeps
Dallas until shrift smites it. It's not ideal, but I know where all the cool bits/times of year are. For instance, if anyone wanted to come down for St. Pat's we live a block off the parade route and have a ginormous party every year.
Hey, I tried! Our phones hated each other!
And I highly recommended you!
Texas scares me. There's a lot of bad hair there.
Houston is a lot less stereotypical Texas than some places. It's not Austin, but it's got plenty of funky counter-culture people.
See I find Texas sort of exciting, in a QuintessentialAmericanCliche way. I mean, it's
Texas!
Where they have cowboy hats! And, presumably, cowboys! Which, from my perspective, is like saying space aliens. Hell, in Houston they also have space ships!
...
...I'm only just taking on board that that is an actual place that (presumably, possibly?) has
both
cowboys
and
spacemen!
Wow! It's like
Toy Story!
Texas scares me. There's a lot of bad hair there.
Dallas is...well NSM with the bad hair. It wants to be like LA, but without the California "liberal" attitudes. It wants to be cultured like NY, but without being multicultural. It wants to be both cosmopolitan and small town all at the same time.
This all leads to insane behavior and near constant hand wringing over something or other, but it's always a blast to watch. It also makes for quirky little inner city neighborhoods with huge old money mansions backed right up against $350 a month crap apartments.
Just so's everyone has an idea of relative costs, the hotel room prices I've been getting quoted range from $89 a night to $139 a night.
The $89 place Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel is on the far east side of town, which really doesn't have a lot to recommend itself. The hotel is very pleasant, we had my mother's memorial party there and they did a good job with the catering. Just, it's far out and there's not much around it in the way of food/shopping/etc. The number 6 bus runs right in front, though, and that will take you straight downtown.
The two places I like the best for location are the:
Best Western InnTowner. It's on the west side of the campus, within walking distance of State Street (about 25 minutes), the Monroe street area (about 15 minutes) and University Station (about 10 minutes.) All nice shopping areas with plenty of good restaurants to recommend themselves. Room rates are $109 per room, flat rate up to four people per room. The Highland Club (which is part of the hotel) has fancier rooms starting at $149. Of note, this is a non-smoking hotel.
Best Western Inn on the Park. Right on Capitol Square, which anchors one end of State Street. Close to all the museums, bunches of restaurants and stores, bars and pubs galore and on Saturday a huge ass Farmer's Market that is set up all the way around the Square. Rooms are running $119 for a single (1 bed, 1-2 people), $139 for a double (2 beds, 1-2 people.) We had one of my high school reunions here. Can't say I remember much of it, but it's nice enough and the location is prime.
There's a third hotel I like, but the location isn't optimal. It's the Candlewood Suites. It's in Fitchburg, which is an up and coming part of town, so this hotel is fairly new. Rooms are $109, single and double. It's got a very good restaurant, I was quite impressed the one time I was there for dinner. It's close to some newer shops, more restaurants and a brew pub. I'm not familiar with the bus routes, so I have no idea how hard it would be to get to the downtown area for fun and games.
I've gotten a few more proposals, but I'm not at home so I don't have them handy. The ones I listed are the ones that I've printed out hard copies of the info for side by side comparison.
Oo, I'm loving the Best Western on the Park. So cool that it's in such a great location, too!
My guess on Houston hotel prices (based on some googling) is that to stay within literal walking distance of the Galleria would probably involve at least $100/night.
However, I also think you could easily get something very close (either a shuttle ride or a cheap cab ride away) for $75 or $80.
