Holiday Inn Express - East Cary Street

We are looking to stay in Richmond for 2 nights starting on 18th June 2008.

Most of the downtown hotels seem too expensive ($200+ a night) but I found the Holiday Inn Express for £120 a night. I%26#39;ve read some mixed reviews for it on Tripadvisor but it seems OK.

Can anyone let me know if the area is OK to walk around at night (say 9.00 p.m) or should it be avoided?

Any comments/other accomodation ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks

Holiday Inn Express - East Cary Street

May I ask what is attracting you to the downtown area?

The reason I ask is that depending upon why you want to be in the area it may or may not be a good location for you. I wouldn%26#39;t characterize as a bad area, a number of new classroom buildings for Virginia Commonwealth University just opened within a couple of blocks. The rest of the area is mostly small offices, and not many shops. After about 6 PM, especially in summer when school is out, this will be a lonely part of town. You can walk around but there%26#39;s really nowhere to walk to.

The entertainment/restaurant areas are far to your east on the other end of downtown, and it%26#39;s a long uphill walk back to your hotel. There%26#39;s some new bars and restaurants due north of you on Broad St that are quite nice, but also a pretty far walk. If you end up having to drive to get to where you want to go, you may as well be in another part of town that is closer to more things. If you want to be in this area to be close to bars and other nighttime activities, it is not the right area.

Holiday Inn Express - East Cary Street

Thanks 22Tango for your reply.

I guess I was looking at staying downtown as I expected there to be resturants/bars nearby.

I%26#39;ve read that Shockoe Bottom is where there%26#39;s a lot of bars/restaurants but I don%26#39;t seem to be able to find any hotels in that area.

Would somewhere like the Berkeley hotel be better?

Thanks again.

Shockoe Bottom is an area of older warehouse and commercial type buildings turned into restaurants and bars, and you%26#39;re right, there are no hotels down there. It%26#39;s an Historic District, and they probably can%26#39;t tear down to build a new hotel. Maybe soon someone will turn one of the old warehouses into a boutique hotel, but most of the larger warehouses are being turned into residential properties...apartments and condos.

The Berkeley, at the top of Shockoe Slip, is your best bet in terms of location. I see King rooms for your date for $219. The Omni, across the street, is higher, but appears to be booked for your dates. The Crowne Plaza is a few more blocks away to the west, but is no bargain at $235. There really isn%26#39;t anything else within convenient walking distance to the Bottom. Out of this group, I would choose the Berkeley if you want to walk.

Your other option if you don%26#39;t want to drive (and parking is a problem anyway in Shockoe Bottom) is to take a taxi from wherever you stay outside of downtown. There are plenty of places in more suburban areas for around $99-149 a night, and you could used a little of the money you save to pay for a taxi. If you have your hotel call you one, the driver will give you a card you can use to call the same firm back when you%26#39;re ready to go home.

Thanks again 22Tango for your reply.

I think the best one for us then is the Berkeley hotel as we like to be able to walk to bars/restaurants.

I%26#39;ve had a look at Google maps for locations of bars/restaurants and there do seem to be a number very close to the hotel which is ideal.

Thanks again for your responses.