Debden

I've been looking at reviews for hotels in and around the Cedar Point Amusement Park area and none of them sound good at all! I picked out the Comfort Inn Cedar Point Main Gate which is approx. 1/2 mile from the entrance but the reviews on this hotel are awful! I went to trip advisor.com and cannot find one good review on any of the hotels in that area.
Can somebody suggest a hotel in the area that my family and I can stay? I'm just looking for a basic room to sleep in but we want it 'CLEAN' and 'In a safe area'.
Any suggestions would be appreciated...
Debbie

audra

The lodging around cedar point consists of mostly chain motels, with a few mom and pop places sprinkled in. I can't tell you specifically which one will be the best inside, but they all look clean and well maintained outside. Theres a Best Western very close to the entrance, that has a Perkins inside, which looks nice from the street. It IS a safe area however, very tourist oriented, so i wouldn't be concerned about that aspect.

If you want to be right in the park, i would choose the newer Sandcastles Resort property, which is lake front and very nice. I would definitely choose it over The Breakers, which is older and past its day (think Old Faithful Inn, but not as well kept). Breakers Express looks like a chain motel, and is the next closest property, but you will still have to drive into the park. But I've heard their rooms are clean and nice.

The Radisson Harbour Inn is also very close but will be a bit more expensive than the other chains nearby. Its on the water, and is at the entrance to the parkway.

I don't live nearby but have occasion to be there quite frequently. In fact, I will actually be there again next week. I will ask around a bit more, and report back here, if you haven't already found a place.

Is this your first trip to Cedar Point? You will LOVE it. Truly an AMAZEMENT park

cd

Debbie
The above poster gave you good advice. I would stay INSIDE the park. It will be really handy to be able to walk back to your room, have a beach, a pool, etc if you want to take a break in the afternoon before going back to rides and shows.

buckeyemom

audra's advice is right on. The Breakers is an old hotel with rooms on the smallish side.

I would go ahead and book now instead of waiting. Things fill up pretty fast around CP.

Deborah

My sister stays at the Holiday Inn Holidome w/her kids a lot. I am staying there in July. Here is their link.

http://www.holidayinn-sandusky.com/index.htm

Here is another link to local hotels:

http://www.sanduskyfunspots.com/funspots/accomsan.htm

buckeyemom

The Holiday Inn is located on Rt. 250 which is a traffic nightmare. And it is very hard to make a left hand turn out of there to go to Cedar Point. Another new hotel on 250 is Great Bear Lodge. They have an indoor water park and rooms are supposed to be family friendly. Again, it is located on 250 which is a traffic nightmare.

amelie

Definitely stay IN the park, that makes all the difference in the world.

When I was there last summer I ate dinner at TGI Fridays at the Hotel Breakers and it looked remodeled to me (compaired to when I stayed there 10 years ago). It seemed nice, but I didn't see the rooms.

I still think it would be better to stay there than outside of the park.

~Amelie

Debden

Hi Everybody,Thanks for the great replies! This is our first trip to Cedar Point and we can't wait.This trip is my nephews HS Graduation present!We plan on going May 25-28th.I read somewhere it's better to go to the park on a weekday so we arrive on Tuesday and go to Cedar Point on Wednesday and Thursday then return home Friday.
I looked into the hotels and the Breakers was too expensive,Sandcastle Suites is booked for our dates and the Breakers Express is available and reasonably priced but I noticed there are no shuttles to the park for Breakers Express and there is a parking fee.Can someone tell me if its possible to walk to the park? and also how much is the parking fee? I like to get as much information as possible before I make a decision.
I did look at the Holiday Inn Holidome and it looks great but I think we want to be as close to the park as possible.
As everybody stated its more convenient that way.
Any more suggestions or help would be great.
Thanks,Debbie

audra

Buckeyemom is right. I'd forgotten about the stretch of motels along Rt. 250. However, plan on spending at least between 30-60 minutes in traffic getting to CP from that point. There are countless restaurants and tourist attractions there, along with Sandusky's one and only mall. It is indeed a traffic nightmare!

The Great Bear Lodge is amazing, quite a resort in and of itself (massive indoor waterpark) with rooms starting at $250 or so. Theres also a Clarion Hotel, formerly a Sheraton, which caters more to the business traveler.

I would still recommend staying in the park if at all possible, or one of the chains along Cleveland Ave. (Radisson, BW, Breakers Express etc)where you'll be a mere 5-10 minutes away.
A day at CP is similar to a day at Disneyworld; with 15 coasters (maybe more now) and a zillion other things to do, you will be glad to have your room nearby for a break!

audra

Hi Deb, Parking last year was $7 or $8. Breakers Express is too far to walk, but is no more than 3-5 minutes max from the entrance. Theres a McDonalds right across the street, that has pull-up boat docking.

The Greentree is also right there, directly across from the Radisson Harbor Inn. Its older and the rooms are small, but their sign used to say: "If you wake up any closer, you'll be on a roller coaster." Its true!

Deborah

I have been going to Cedar Point for years and haven't sat in traffic for that long on 250, but it's up to you if you want to stay close to the park. The Great Bear Lodge is very expensive and I think geared toward younger kids. My sister didn't care for it last year.

slipperblue

We stayed at Breakers Express a couple of years ago. Very nice & clean. We drove to the park, and you have in and out privledges for the day. We went back to the hotel for a swim in the afternoon and drove back around dinner. It was not a big deal - and the savings was worth it to us.

cd

Debbie
Be sure and catch the shows at Cedar Point. They are fun and provide a rest from walking and if it's a hot day the air conditioning is refreshing.

amelie

I second what Deborah said, I've never sat in traffic that long either and I've been going to Cedar Point for years (I've lived in northeast ohio my whole life).

I still think staying in the park is ideal though.

It was so nice the year we stayed at the breakers. We had our pjs on and couldn't sleep so we decided to head back to the park for one last ride. We also were able to relax at the hotel in the afternoon for a bit, and then just walk back over.

~Amelie

buckeyemom

You must have really been lucky to avoid Rt. 250 traffic. I am from the area and worked at CP in college and traffic is always bad on that stretch. Rt. 4 is a much better alternative than 250. Another option is to stay at Sawmill Creek Resort east of Cedar Point on Rt. 6 near Huron.

Debden

I am so happy with all the suggestions and comments from everybody!
The Great Bear Lodge and Sawmill Creek Resort look wonderful!
Right now we are leaning towards the Breakers Express.The parking fee isn't bad and the in/out privelidges sound great to me.We were hoping to shuttle it to the parks but we can live with a 5 minute drive to the park.
Any more comments or suggestions are certainly welcome.
Thanks to all helping me out!
Debbie

Deborah

If you stay at Sawmill Creek, you can take the causeway into Cedar Point. It's a much more scenic drive than the other way. I prefer that route and have never sat in traffic going that way either. I also grew up in Ohio and go back several times a year. I haven't been inside the Breakers Express, but have been in their parking lot. It looks nice and clean from the outside and it's only a short drive to the park entrance from there. The rates at Great Bear Lodge are way too much money in my opinion. Not sure when you are going, but rates in June come up over $300 a night! Enjoy your stay at Cedar Point.

buckeyemom

Deborah is right about the causeway or the Chausee as the locals call it. A cop was arrested last year for groping women in the hot tub at Great Bear Lodge while his family played in the pool. IMO, the place is over priced and over rated because of the indoor water park.

dpcta

If you, or anyone else decides to stay at the Breakers, avoid the rooms in the older area of the hotel. We reserved the cheapest room we could get there last summer. It was still pretty expensive and old and very outdated. It wasn't very clean either. We were switched to another area. We ended up paying more, but there was no way that I was going to stay in other section. I would go to the Breakers Express. The Breakers was convenient, but wasn't all that great for the price.

ellen_griswold

As the others said, its much better to stay IN the park.

We've stayed at both the Holiday Inn Express (located behind the HI Holidome) on Rt 250 and also Breakers Express. I would definitely go with the Breakers Express. I've had meetings at the Radisson Harbour Inn - lovely waterfront location and also very close.

The Breakers Express is practically IN the park anyway - you can't get any closer outside of the park.

Also, if you have a chance, the beautiful Lake Erie Islands (Kelly's Island and Put-in-Bay) are beautiful and make wonderful day trips. Rent a golf cart for a few hours and go exploring. Perry's Monument Nat'l Park is also on Put-in-Bay.
BTW, Buckeyemom is an excellent resource person about the islands.

Have a great time, Cedar Point rocks!