kflodin

Author: kflodin
Date: 09/10/2008, 04:22 pm
Hi my daughter and I are visiting Madison for 2 nights 10/8 and 10/9 to tour the university. We've never been to Wisconsin, let alone Madison. Any ideas where to stay. Willing to consider a range of options, but would like convenient to campus, clean and safe.
Author: socialworker
Date: 09/10/2008, 05:30 pm
I am sure that you will get responses here, but I also suggest that you check the university's website and/or call the admissions office (or email them) with your request.
Author: kelliebellie
Date: 09/10/2008, 05:58 pm
I tried to look up where we stayed years ago, but I just can't find it. I can't remember the name, but we opened the curtains of our window to see the beautiful capital dome all lit up. Maybe someone will remember what hotel that is. It was lovely.

Madison rocks!
Author: ChiDad
Date: 09/10/2008, 06:09 pm
Kflodin,

How much are you willing to spend per night? Are you comfortable using Priceline? How important is is to be walking distance to UW? Would 3 miles away be OK?

Once I get your answers, I'll be able to help. There's really only one 3.5 star place in town with a number of 3 star options.

Kevin
Author: CAPH52
Date: 09/10/2008, 06:28 pm
Our son is a student at UW. The first time we went up for him to tour the campus, we stayed at a Baymont Inn and Suites. It was nice but a good distance from the campus.

When we went back for his orientation/registration, we stayed at the Super 8 that's just off the beltway. And we've gone back several times since.

It's certainly not walking distance from the campus. It's probably about a 10 minute drive. But an easy one. There are hotels that are closer to campus. But they're not in our price range!

Super 8 is inexpensive. My husband and I stayed the Sunday of Labor Day weekend when we took the rest of our son's stuff up. With tax, I think it was $72. It's clean, quiet (as long as you make sure to request a room with no connecting door) and comfortable. It has a very nice pool and hot tub. And an okay continental breakfast.
Author: bk123
Date: 09/10/2008, 06:35 pm
I think the hotel kelliebellie may be remembering is the Concourse, which is on the Capitol Square and within walking distance of the UW campus. It's not necessarily a quick walk, but a fun walk down State Street. The Inn on the Park is also on the Square, but not as nice IMO.

There are probably other hotels with better access to campus, but I thought I'd chime in on this one.


Author: kelliebellie
Date: 09/10/2008, 07:36 pm
I think the Concourse might be it. Thanks! It was very nice and kind of in between campus and the Capital.
Author: abram
Date: 09/10/2008, 08:32 pm
Hotels in the DT or campus area include:
Inn on the Park
Canterbury Inn (B&B)
Dahlman Campus Inn
Hilton Monona Terrace
Howard Johnson Plaza
The Concourse
Mansion Hill Inn (B&B)
University Heights (B&B)
Author: mdwest
Date: 09/10/2008, 09:34 pm
Abram has a pretty complete list. I would just add the Edgewater to that.
Author: kflodin
Date: 09/11/2008, 10:03 am
thanks, everyone. Great leads. I'll look into all the suggestions and get back to everyone. For the record, we only have a limited time in madison so I do think we want to be within walking distance of campus.
Author: poudrecanyon
Date: 09/11/2008, 10:55 am
Best Western Inn on the Park is right next to the capitol building and convenient for all the downtown activities. You may also try the Best Western InnTowner and The Highland Club, which others may have mentioned. It's on University Ave and is a common hotel for folks visiting the university. There's also a DoubleTree downtown on W Johnson St. which also is convenient for what you need. It used to be a Howard Johnson's but got bought and renovated by DT a few years ago.
Author: WhereAreWe
Date: 09/11/2008, 12:06 pm
It's a big campus, so I think you'll want to save your walking for the campus itself, not going to/from your hotel. Figure out where on campus you're going and look for the closest parking to that. If you know you're just visiting the southeast area then a hotel on/near State St is fine.
Author: CAPH52
Date: 09/11/2008, 02:46 pm
Good advice, WhereWeAre. Though State Street is very close to the Memorial Union, it's a fair hike from my son's dorm. However, when we did all of the initial "looking" (tour, etc.) I seem to recall that most of it started over in that area of campus. So State Street probably would be fine.
Author: CAPH52
Date: 09/11/2008, 02:47 pm
Oops, sorry, WhereAreWe!
Author: kflodin
Date: 09/11/2008, 05:20 pm
thanks everyone. I remembered we had some points hanging out with the BestWestern progam, so I booked a room for the Best Western InnTowner and The Highland Club, which by all accounts is very convenient. I'm sure I'll check in for more advice on our Madison trip (our first time), but at least I know we have a place to rest our weary heads after all the touring!
Author: SAnParis2
Date: 09/12/2008, 09:53 am
Not sure if the football team is at home, but it is one of the very best places in the country experience a football game. (This coming from an Ohio State fan). If they are not, you may want to reschedule & get some tickets.
Author: SAnParis2
Date: 09/12/2008, 09:56 am
They play Penn St. that weekend + it is Badger Blast weekend, a great time to go...you may want to stay over.
Author: abram
Date: 09/12/2008, 11:19 am
The BW Inntowner isn't walking distance to the heart of campus--it's close to UW hospital, about 12 blocks west of the Camp Randall stadium, which is, itself, west of campus. I would say that it usually takes us about 15 minutes to walk from Camp Randall to Bascom Hill.

Getting a room over a football weekend will be somewhat of a challenge, and all home games are sold out, although there ae often people selling tickets around the stadium on game day.
Author: bethke14
bethke14. hmmm. the bestwestern site made it sound like the inn towner was the right choice, but I do like the idea of the other best western. do you think it's worth switching the reservation? We will have a car, but it sounds like for both the main campus and the rest of the city, maybe the one on state is the right answer...

kflodin

i don't know what the heck happened! I think I inadvertently copied the whole chain of posts. sorry, guys! what I wanted to say was simply this:
bethke14. hmmm. the bestwestern site made it sound like the inn towner was the right choice, but I do like the idea of the other best western. do you think it's worth switching the reservation? We will have a car, but it sounds like for both the main campus and the rest of the city, maybe the one on state is the right answer...

abram

I would agree that the the Inn on the Park has a better location; I like walking down State St from the Capitol to campus.

I mentioned the difficulty in getting a hotel room and game tickets in response to others posters' suggestions that the OP extend their stay to go to the game.

kflodin

ah, well , I just called Best Western to switch reservations, but the BW on the Park have all their rooms sold out for those days, so we'll go with the BW InnTowner. We do have a car and we like to walk (we're New Yorkers), so I think it will all be ok!

SAnParis2

You're looking at a Big Ten school but don't care about football ?! Good luck getting in....lol

kflodin

SAnParis2, I never said we didn't care about football, but you're right, we don't! Yeah, it might not be the best fit, but we're in the region and heard good things about the school, so we thought we'd check it out!

bethke14

I am a UW alum and don't care about football. I had a great time!! There's a ton to do.

If you're a New Yorker and used to walking, it shouldn't be a big deal. The Inn Towner isn't too out of the way. The weather is usually lovely in October!

japw82

Over the summer, we used Priceline for a downtown hotel and ended up at the Sheraton. We had to drive to State St. and campus. So, beware if you go that route because the hotel was a dump but was considered a three star.

itsv

As I mentioned on your posting about U of C, we also took our son to uw@madison (we must be looking at the same colleges. I looked at trip advisor and most of the hotels near the university did not get great reviews and others were sold out so we stayed in Middleton which was very nice, close to the university and less expensive that madison hotels. My husband is from Madison so he said Middleton was a good option. We stayed at the residence inn and simply traveled back and forth on university avenue. it worked out very well. There is also a hilton garden inn plus a lot of shopping and places to eat in the area.

We ate at the NittyGritty-a popular hamburger place near the University which your daughter might like. Also be sure to get ice cream at the Union. Have you reserved our tour online? be sure to do it because they "sell" out about two to 3 weeks again of time. A funny thing happened during my son's tour, as they walked into the "sample" dorm room, the ceiling caved in from water damage. The poor tourguide gets on his walkie talkie to say they have a problem and he then takes them to a second room. In that room, there is a giant water paint bubble which my son wanted to pop, but they backed away before anyone got hurt. Needless to say my son didn't like their dorms.

CAPH52

FWIW, itsv, the sample dorm room is absolutely nothing like the dorm rooms my son has had last year and this. He's been in lakefront dorms both years. Those dorms are old but the rooms are great. We were so impressed with all the built in storage in his room last year. Unfortunately, he doesn't have that this year. But he's in a single room in a very cool old building. That side of campus is also much quieter.

kflodin

Thanks for the advice on NittyGritty and ice cream at the Union. Sounds perfect! As for where we are the nearby BW, it's a done deal and we had points, so we'll make do. We did book the tour on line.