Good evening!

I will be in the Hartford, CT area this September and am considering CT Grand Hotel. Its only for one night ($75) so Im looking for something thats pretty much just clean and in a relatively safe area. I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has stayed here! Also, if youve had a good experience with another hotel in the area please feel free to make suggestions! Thanks in advance for your help and have a pleasant night! Sincerely, Carrie in PA

Hmm, I live in the Hartford area and I've never heard of the Grand!! Best hotel in town is the Goodwin (Mick Jagger stayed there last week), and the Hilton is newly renovated and very nice. But what kind of place are you looking for? Budget or Grand?!!

Marriott is opening a brand new hotel in Hartford in September, and may offer some deals...

Dear SB_Travlr,

Thanks for the reply! I found CT Grand Hotel through expedia (link below) which gave surrounding area hotels as well as those in the city I named (ie I entered Hartford and it gave me Waterbury which it states is about 20 miles away).

My mind says Grand but my wallet says Budget-hee hee! Maybe like no more than $100 for the night. The purpose of my trip is to see VAREKAI at CIRQUE DU SOLEIL HARTFORD so Im looking for something in that general area (like maybe within 30 minutes or so from the show). I will check out the hotels youve mentioned (think Mick Jagger ever goes budget?) and also perhaps see if you have further suggestions based on the information Ive provided. Thanks again-the help is greatly appreciated!

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll...=&itty=&from=f

There are a couple of Priceline reports on Biddingfortravel.com. 3* Crowne Plaza in downtown Hartford for $65-70 plus tax and fees. You may want to give it a try.

The 20 miles you mention from Waterbury to Hartford is a longggg 20 miles on a highway that has lots of traffic. The area of I-84 where the "Grand" is located is a construction area. The Grand is an old hotel where, from the appearance, they have shaken out the curtains and turned over the mattresses and now call it "new".
If you are going to an event in Hartford, stay there, not as far away as Waterbury.

The Marriot opened last weekend, and is on the Plaza in downtown Hartford. It is lovely, and we walked for an hour or so in the Plaza itself. It is strange, Hartford is absolutely vacant of people midweek (this was Thursday night), but the restaurant, Slis, was wonderful, and the jazz group outside on the Plaza a delight.

Hi Naturegirl
Some better deals to be found downtown, close to the circus location, would include Holiday Inn Express (the one on Asylum Street), Crowne Plaza, and Residence Inn, as well as the new Marriott.

Priceline might be worth a try, but you risk ending up in Waterbury -- as Roy says, definitely NOT where you want to be! Downtown Hartford is trying to revive, and there's lots of construction, but it's a struggle. We have good theatres and restaurants, things to see besides the circus!

If you luck out downtown (but you should find something) and will have a car when you're here, there are loads of hotels along Rt 75 in Windsor area near Bradley airport, or some south of the city in Rocky Hill. There's also a Sheraton in East Hartford, just across the river from the circus location. It's not grand, but it would be close and can be reasonable.

By the way, the restaurant that Capecodshanty referred to is Spris -- haven't eaten there, but hear very good things about it.

Enjoy your trip!

If you bid the downtown zone of Hartford on Priceline, you'll be in downtown Hartford. No way you'll be in Waterbury, unless you do something really really wrong.

Also, if you bid 3* Downtown, you can have three "free rebid zones" - E. Hartford, Hartford S., & Southington. So, 4 chances to get a good price on the Crowne Plaza (or the Hilton - the other hotel having reported). I don't see how one can go wrong here.

Oops... Sorry, the three "free rebid" zones if you bid 3* should be Hartford S, Manchester & Southington.

E. Hartford has 3*, so don't bid there.