The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Finally booked my airplane tickets. Arriving Wednesday (7/15) at noonish, leaving Monday (7/20) afternoon.

Has anyone looked into a shared house or hotel room or whatever? I'd rather not end up in the Downtowner again.

Also I haven't rented a car. I guess that's another thing that we can all collectively work out the details of when we get closer to the time of the event.

Erin and I are currently thinking we'll road trip up to Spokane (by way of Bend, OR, where I have some family). One upside of that plan is that I could bring some gear along, if need be. Are there any major pieces of gear that aren't 100% accounted for yet, like guitar amps, etc.?

A keyboard?

OK, so I think I need to make a hotel reservation soon. All I've managed to learn so far is that I don't want to stay at the Downtowner. Are there any other places I should be avoiding? I'd like to stay within walking distance of the venue, and since this is probably my only vacation this year, I can justify to myself spending a little extra to stay somewhere decent. (I'm not made of money, though!)

Any suggestions?

Seconded on the walking distance to the gig. Also would be nice to be in a neighborhood where going out for a beer isn't a 4 hour excursion.

fluffy wrote:Finally booked my airplane tickets. Arriving Wednesday (7/15) at noonish, leaving Monday (7/20) afternoon.

Has anyone looked into a shared house or hotel room or whatever? I'd rather not end up in the Downtowner again.

Also I haven't rented a car. I guess that's another thing that we can all collectively work out the details of when we get closer to the time of the event.

Yeah, I've been dreading the three one way ticket ordeal but I will be purchasing my tickets tonight.

Also, yeah @ walking distance, I don't want to rent a car for two days. Whats the bus situation?

inevitableguy wrote:OK, so I think I need to make a hotel reservation soon. All I've managed to learn so far is that I don't want to stay at the Downtowner. Are there any other places I should be avoiding? I'd like to stay within walking distance of the venue, and since this is probably my only vacation this year, I can justify to myself spending a little extra to stay somewhere decent. (I'm not made of money, though!)

Any suggestions?

Hey there all, I have been hunting down some hotel info to try and help everyone find a nice clean place to stay while you all visit our fine city. I would MUCH prefer you all find places far better than The Downtowner. The doggie kibble on the floor could be a nice touch if Fido is coming along for the ride but I am thinking we can come up with a few better suggestions.

So here we go:

The Montvale Hotel is a tad more spendy but a very nice hotel and pretty darn close to the venue. Prices appear to be around $119.00-$150.00 according to the website depending on what you want. Estimated Time from venue: 0.50 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 0.15 miles.
http://www.montvalehotel.com

Rodeway Inn looks nicer online than it appears in real life. IF the rooms themselves are actually as nice as they say online it could be a more affordable choice and is still very close to the venue. Prices from around $60.00-$110.00 roughly. Estimated Time from venue: 0.70 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 0.22 miles
Web address to check out the spokane location:
http://www.rodewayinn.com/hotel-spokane ... ype=&map=n

Hotel Lusso is another very nice hotel choice that is pretty close to the venue. This hotel is definitely one you would want to go with if you have LOTS of money to burn. It looks like you'd be looking at a cost of around $300.00. Ridiculous? Yeah I think probably so unless you bunk up with some buddies then it might be a real nice time! Estimated Time from venue: 1 minute Estimated Distance from venue: 0.33 miles
http://www.hotellusso.com

The Davenport is the cream of the crop and one of the most fabulous hotels I have personally ever seen. It is truly an experience. Prices really vary with this hotel. They have a lot of options ranging roughly around $190.00-$400.00 but they appear to be booking up fast for summer so if you want to consider this swanky hotel ya best get crackin'!This hotel is truly a treat in itself. Even if you do not end up staying here you should really go and just check out the artwork and craftsmanship. They have some very nice bars, clubs, and shopping as well. The Peacock Room is especially cool! Estimated Time from venue: 1 minute Estimated Distance from venue: 0.33 miles
http://www.thedavenporthotel.com

The Red Lion Hotel at The Park is a real nice alternative that potentially could be a somewhat more affordable and has nice rooms though sadly their website is down right now and they were getting a system update so they could not quote me prices over the phone. This hotel is at W 303 North River Drive, Spokane, WA 99201. Call (800) RED-Lion for prices maybe sometime tomorrow. Estimated Time from venue: 4 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 1.21 miles

The Ridpath Hotel is also decently close to the venue but it appears that they seem to be pretty well booked. Another swanky lil hotel so I imagine they'll be a little more pricey. They are located at 515 W Sprague Ave., Spokane, WA 99201, phone # (509) 838-2711. Not sure it will even be worth checking into but there ya go. Estimated Time from venue: 2 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 0.67 miles
http://www.theridpathhotel.com

The Ramada Limited Spokane Downtown looks pretty nice and is another affordable one worth checking in to. It is located at 123 South Post Street, Spokane, WA 99201. Phone # (509) 838-8504.Rooms appear to be around $70.00- $110.00. Estimated Time from venue: 1 minute Estimated Distance from venue: 0.32 miles
Check out this link to get a peek at their rooms/prices/availability:
http://www.ramada.com/Ramada/control/Bo ... tyId=10046

Travelodge is another affordable choice with rooms around $70.00-$110.00. It is located at W. 33 Spokane Falls Blvd.,Spokane, WA 99201. Phone # (509) 623-9727. It's pretty comfortable inside. I ahve actually stayed in this specific location before and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Estimated Time from venue: 4 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 1.15 miles
Check out the Spokane location here:
http://www.travelodge.com/Travelodge/co ... andInfo=TL

The Econolodge appears to be pretty affordable between $60.00-$110.00. They are a lil further from the venue at 4212 Sunset Blvd , Spokane, WA, US, 99224. Phone # (509) 747-2021. Glenn and I stayed at an Econolodge in Eugene, Ore., that was really comfortable and pleasant so we have had a good experience with this company. Estimated Time from venue: 6 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 2.40 miles
Here is a link that tells about the Spokane location:
http://www.econolodge.com/hotel-spokane ... &nchild5=0

Holiday Inn Express is a lil further yet from the venue with prices between $120.00-$160.00 roughly. It is located at 801 N Division St Spokane, WA 99202. (877) 863 4780 for reservations. Estimated Time from venue: 5 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 1.64 miles
Check out this link:
http://www.hiexpress.com/h/d/ex/1/en/ho ... ms?start=1

The bus system is Spokane is pretty stellar really... You can check out the Spokane Transit Authority website http://www.spokanetransit.com to get further info. They have routes and fares all listed. It is decently affordable if you decide to ride the bus. And the bus plaza is located right downtown near the venue at 701 West Riverside Avenue
Spokane, WA 99201. Estimated Time from venue: 1 minute Estimated Distance from venue: 0.45 miles

I hope this helps give everyone some options. We are really looking forward to having you all here for some good times and great memories! There really is a lot of neat things to do here and especially if you stay near downtown there is usually a lot of art and music, loads of bars, pubs, and clubs. Lots of fun stuff for the under 21 crowd especially if you like out door type stuff. LOADS of good eats and fun little small businesses tucked in here and there that hold little treasures that are unique to Spokane. The Flour Mill would be a fun place to visit for lots of unique shopping, Riverfront Park is tons of fun too, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, The Arbor Crest Winery, The Jundt Art Museum, and lots more...

I am sure if some of you decide to go with a hotel a lil further away Glenn and I will be glad to help where we can to get to and from within reason.

Happy travel planning gang!!

Rachael Layne wrote:Estimated Time from venue: 4 minutes Estimated Distance from venue: 1.15 miles

Sadly I don't have the legs to break the four minute mile barrier.

Glad to see the place I booked (rodeway) making the list. I figured why pay over a monkey for the week when it's just somewhere to crash.

Rodeway seems acceptable. Anyone want to split a 2-bed no-smoking room with me? It'd be $40/person that way.

Thanks, Rachael. Cross-posted to http://www.songfight.org/sfrr/misc.php

SPUD

fluffy wrote:Rodeway seems acceptable. Anyone want to split a 2-bed no-smoking room with me? It'd be $40/person that way.

I'd do it.

I'm only going to be in for Friday & Saturday night though, is that what you're lookin' at?

EDIT: I see that you're coming in Wednesday

Keep me in mind, but if somebody else is going to be there longer, they may be a better fit. Otherwise, I'd totally split the cost for Friday & Saturday night.

inevitableguy, you're going to get there Wednesday too, right? Want to go halfsies?

Thanks for the offer, Fluffy, but I think I'm going to go solo.

fluffy wrote:Rodeway seems acceptable. Anyone want to split a 2-bed no-smoking room with me? It'd be $40/person that way.

Hey fluf, I'll split that room with you if no one else has offered yet. I'm doing Wednesday through Monday as well.

Works for me. I'll reserve it now.

I talked to Frisbee, and it sounds like we are able to do a Thank Glennny for the Frisbee set. Is there a slot we could squeeze into still?

glennny

I just tried to book a flight and it came back with the wrong return date. So less than 5 minutes later I'm on the phone with Expedius explaining the deal. They told me that I searched and confirmed the wrong date and that (even 10 minutes later) I'd have to be charged $150 for any changes to my itinerary. (I know I didn't SEARCH the wrong date but it is possible I CONFIRMED the wrong date if my search came back 'wrong'.)

The only other thing they would offer was a courtesy cancellation. So I can get my money back... that can take up to 7 business days. So I did that.

I still think its somewhat humorous that they would rather give my money back than to simply change the date less than 20 minutes after I booked it.

Anyway, I still have intentions to come but I'm running into a brick wall here. I may have to borrow money from Amscott to buy a plane ticket while I wait to get my money back for this one.

Expedia, Orbitz, and the rest of the online booking agencies all treat their customers like crap. I booked direct through Delta, and god help me if I need to change anything. I wonder whether more people would fly if booking a plane weren't so intimidating?

Generic wrote:Expedia, Orbitz, and the rest of the online booking agencies all treat their customers like crap. I booked direct through Delta, and god help me if I need to change anything. I wonder whether more people would fly if booking a plane weren't so intimidating?

I usually do that too, I usually just shop using those sites and then go to the airline's site to actually book. In this case I needed to mix and match for a decent price.

Whats funny, is I went to US Airways... the airline that the return trip was going to be on, the one that moved my date back a full week, and I did a search on their site. Their search is down, which probably means the database is down, which means that Expedia's search engine pulling from the same database received errors or somehow got errant information from it.

Hoblit wrote:

Generic wrote:Expedia, Orbitz, and the rest of the online booking agencies all treat their customers like crap. I booked direct through Delta, and god help me if I need to change anything. I wonder whether more people would fly if booking a plane weren't so intimidating?

I usually do that too, I usually just shop using those sites and then go to the airline's site to actually book. In this case I needed to mix and match for a decent price.

Whats funny, is I went to US Airways... the airline that the return trip was going to be on, the one that moved my date back a full week, and I did a search on their site. Their search is down, which probably means the database is down, which means that Expedia's search engine pulling from the same database received errors or somehow got errant information from it.

Later I learned (when US Airways DB was back in service) that the lady who said flight 349 doesn't fly on July 19th so *I MUST HAVE* made the mistake was wrong. That flight does in fact fly on the 19th as well as the 26th. Expedias screwed me out of $45. That's how much more I had to pay to buy a ticket TODAY rather than yesterday for the same round trip.

ANYWAY, I've now got my tickets and I will be arriving kind of late on Friday the 17th and leaving really early on the 19th. I only need one (Friday) night in a hotel...so, if anybody needs any hotel room subsidizing for the single night of Friday, July 17th, I'll have a few bucks for ya. I'll basically just need a place to crash after the festivities of Friday night. I'll be heading right back out after the festivities on Saturday night.

Can't wait!

Hm. The Montvale must have dropped their prices a bit...if you book through their website, it's down to about $94 a night for a standard room.

If you want to stay at a nicer place, now appears to be the time to jump on it.

Okay, I finally booked my flight, so I'm definitely going.

Did everyone pick a hotel yet?