My DH and I will be spending a long weekend in Charlotte NC and want to know about the area around the merchandise mart. Our trade show will be there, and we would like to stay fairly close by, but wonder what the neighborhood might be like, since there don't appear to be any "better" hotels there. Any advice?

Nearby Ramada is already booked full. What about Star Choice or Masters Inn. Both are available. Those seem to be the only ones I could find. Is the neighborhood BAD?

Thanks for the help. Suggestions?

I would rather stay in a dumpster than stay in the area immediately around the merchandise mart.

Stay downtown or by South Park Mall. Lots of options there.

Thanks for the reply. I was concerned about the lack of decent hotels in the merch mart area. Your comments confirmed my suspicions, I'm afraid.

We shall look into the South Park area.

Thanks for the reply!!!

Also, check downtown - new Westin is great. Very nice resturants, bars, etc. - good area to just walk around.

Stay downtown - much closer to merchandise mart than SouthPark. Charlotte's downtown is surprisingly pleasant - lots of restaurants/bars/entertainment.

The Westin is nice, but slightly off center. Check out the Hilton (not Garden) or Omni or Marriott or Courtyard to be a bit more central.

Thanks everyone! I shall do a hotels.com search today and make up my mind. Looks like downtown might be the better option.

I appreciate everyone's help.

I agree with GoTravel - I wouldn't stay in that area on a dare. I had family in town a few years ago, and they stayed at the Masters Inn....at least the first night. I won't go into the hory gory details, but I will mention that there are plenty of "loiterers" in the parking lot.

Southpark area is very nice, as is downtown. I work in the same building as the Hilton uptown, and I have stayed in the Omni (bachelorrete party). Both are very nice and are in secure, safe buildings. Another area that may or may not come up while if you run a search on "uptown" Charlotte hotels is Gateway Village. It's a nice business park area with hotels. I have heard that the Doubletree in Gateway Village is very nice. There are a couple of shortcut roads which will take you from there to the merchandise mart; the hotel staff should be able to direct you.