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"We are going to be visiting Charlotte and staying at the BlakeHotel in Uptown. We are considering staying in Uptown and Dilworth.
We currently live in downtown West Palm Beach, FL and literally walk to everything. I have Publix, Macys (and tons of other shopping), Sephora, Cheesecake Factory(plenty of cookie cutter restaurants and some great mom & pop's), Muvico (movie theater), the library, my favorite Irish Bar - O'Sheas, great clubs and bars a plenty, the intercoastal - beautiful stretch of water to walk along with the dog, street festivals, convention center, performing arts, and the list goes on and on, within a 10-15 mintute walk. West Palm is not crazy happening - it's a small city but we like the downtown vibe. We don't want to visit an identical place - but we do want the downtown feel - does Charlotte have this? At least within light rail, bus, trolley, or walking distance?
Is there anything any of you could recommend as a must see/do? We are planning on wandering around and visiting some of my father's friends and just feeling the city. We are only going to be in town for three full days so I know we can't do it all - but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!"
Last edited by SunnyKayak; 08-13-2008 at 08:55 AM..
Reason: per request
Well for starters, I would switch hotels to a better location. The Blake is in about the deadest area uptown. Nothing really but courthouse, jail, government offices. I would suggest the Courtyard, Holiday Inn, Marriott or Omni uptown (among many others). Actually the Blake is one of the few places I wouldn't suggest (along with the other hotel next door.
Dilworth and Uptown certainly fits the bill for a walking community. Personally, I love the SouthEnd area and the access to the light rail w/o the uptown/dilworth prices (still high, just not as high).
You may want to reconsider your hotel. Blake is quite a bit less than nice.
Dilworth and Uptown are great! Freedom Park in Dilworth is a must see. You may also want to check Elizabeth.
The Dilworth Neighborhood website is Dilworth Community Online.
Since you know about fried pickels, head over to Plaza-Midwood. The Penquin has the best << WELCOME to the PENGUIN Drive-In >> (http://www.penguindrivein.com/ - broken link). There are some shops and stuff to check out there as well.
When are you coming? We may be able to give you more detailed stuff to check out.
Holiday Inn uptown is great, not too expensive, and in the middle of the action. This is the only uptown hotel I can vouch for because It's the only one I have stayed in.
I know the Doubletree in South Park is very nice as well.
Ballantyne Resort is fantastic, if you have the cash.
Stay at the Hampton Inn at Phillips Place - definitely not your typical Hampton Inn.
Walk to Upstream and enjoy a wonderful dinner, order the tower appetizer.
We have already booked the Blake hotel - it looks pretty nice online - is it all a sham? How far is it from everything downtown?
We picked the Blake because it has been recently renovated and they offer continental breakfast (coffee) and free apps and drinks at evening time.
Is it an unsafe area?
No, it is a safe area, but you won't really be able to conveniently walk to most of the stuff uptown like restaurants and bars and whatnot. You can always drive, you will just have to pay for parking.
As far as the Blake's condition goes - the rooms are decorated OK, and that is probably part of the "renovations" - but last time I checked, most of the rooms smelled and just felt kind of crappy and gross. They may have renovated some of the rooms since then, but I'm not sure.
One of my friends thought it looked pretty nice online as well. He had heard about some bad reviews of the place and decided to go down there and check it out. He hastily cancelled his reservation after seeing the room that they showed him.
If you can still cancel and switch hotels, I would switch to something else uptown. Like I said before, I have only ever stayed at the Holiday Inn but it was very nice!
Sounds like you live in CityPlace or near it. Uptown Charlotte is quite safe and very walkable. I would also check out SouthEnd. You would be close to Light Rail and have easy access to Uptown. I have lived in Uptown Charlotte since 2001 and LOVE it!.
Not alot of retail yet...it is getting better...but no mall per say in Uptown.
If you will be here on either a 1st or 3rd Friday of the month...don't miss the gallery crawl in NODA (North Davidson Arts District)...only about 2 miles or so North of Uptown.
Also a gallery crawl the 1st Friday of the month in SouthEnd.
GOOD LUCK!
Last edited by Marka; 08-13-2008 at 02:29 AM..
Reason: removed quote per poster's request
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