Toronto to...Memphis?! (Germantown, Collierville: to rent, lofts, house)

[Pearlbob]

You can rent cars at the airport, yes.

From the airport, go up on Airways to the 240 interstate loop (right there). You'll go EAST (right) on 240 towards Nashville. It will take you around the city, and althought I have no clue where that hotel is, you can get off on Poplar or Walnut Grove going east, I assume the hotel is around there somewhere.

[Pearlbob]

Are you talking about the one on Poplar Pike? Get off on Poplar like I said, go east, and then Poplar Pike is paralell south, the hotel looks to be between Ridgeway and Massey.

Be warned...there is an active train line RIGHT there and it is LOUD. Hard to sleep around that area.

[AznTO]

Yep, the one on Poplar -- well, Beale is loud too...anyhow, I rather be closer to work since I'm not arriving until midnight and I don't want to have to wake up too early in the morning....

I'll probably end up cabbing it at that hour too....

[Pearlbob]

Beale is loud but most hotels downtown are not. Just the Hampton Inn really. I'd really recommend renting a car. I just don't know how you'd get around otherwise. That hotel is pretty much in a residential neighborhood. It's also quite a ways from the Fed Ex as well, if you're talking about the Collierville one. If the company is footing the bill...can you get somewhere else? the Embassy Suites in Germantown is very nice.

[AznTO]

Mmmm -- we have a corporate rate with the Marriott, so that's where I'll be staying - maybe the hotel will be able to arrange for the car rental for me for when I get there - I don't like driving in the middle of the night in my own city, much less in a foreign city

My goal is to narrow down on the place I want to rent - hopefully I can find a furnished place so that I don't have to buy so much

[Pearlbob]

I wouldn't rely on a hotel arranging for a rental car. Especially since that hotel is so far out, not in a touristy area where people typically come in from out of town flying and need to rent. Just go ahead and do it now yourself so you don't spend a whole day messing with it when you get here. If you're flying in, it's really just easiest to pick a car up at the airport, as long as you're not getting to town after the rental agencies close.

There is a Residence Inn downtown that would be soooo much nicer, just FYI.

[AznTO]

I'll stay there when I come back after the weekend if the one in Germantown sucks

[Pearlbob]

Oooooh...you're staying at the Germantown one? There are 2 on Poplar Pike...I was thinking the East Memphis one, that's the one I explained before. The one you are at is past Forrest Hill Irene...that's WAY out there. WAAAAY out. A cab would be a very expensive ride to downtown. I didn't even know Poplar Pike went out that far!

[AznTO]

9314 Poplar Pike
Germantown, Tennessee 38138 USA

That's the one I'm staying at (does this mean that there's no train every hour? :P)

The site said $35 cab ride

[Pearlbob]

No, the trains run next to Poplar Pike the whole way.

My deal with the cab is that you basically have to take it from Point A to Point B. You can't get in a cab and ask him to drive around Memphis all afternoon and show you the neighborhoods. And downtown is really the only area where you could get out of a cab and wander around on your own....even then downtown encompasses about 2% of Memphis.

In a lot of cities, you can get out and walk for miles, or take the subway around to other areas. Not so in Memphis. Downtown is really small, so you could walk all the way around in a couple hours. There's not much to "see" either...like most downtown condos are on the south end, where you can't really walk around (it's so industrial).

Believe me, I like downtown and would recommend any young person to live there. But for a short trip to Memphis, downtown is just a small part of the city and you really need a car to be able to drive and explore. That's really the truth about any city, unless you are specific about where you want to live (ie..I want to live in South Beach, Miami).