Best Hotel to stay for first Visit to Roanoke (party, noise)

[Teebyrd86]

Originally Posted by matthews1965

Hi - check out the Colony House on Franklin Rd for a clean nice - very reasonable place!!
It's been there for many years and has maintained integrity and a loyal following. The location is very central - once again it is very reasonable,charming and a GREAT location for traveling to check out the city!!! Hope this helps - welcome!!

My landlord put me up in the Colony House for a weekend last summer due to a maintenance issue. I was very impressed. It looks dumpy from the street but it is far from that. I would recommend. Not sure of the price since I did'nt pay for it. Plus the location is safe and convenient.

[fourkeys]

Hello Chaoticnot - My wife and I will be in Roanoke no later than mid May to find rental housing (house/duplex). Can you share any insights you acquired when looking for rental housing (best resources, best areas)? We are "swimmers" and I just discovered that the Roanoke AC has a pool and similar facilities as the YMCA. Do you or any of the other thread posters have any thoughts on the RAC vs. YMCA (w/pool)? Fitness is a high priority and we want to be located reasonably nearby to the facility we join.

Originally Posted by Chaoticnot

I have visited Roanoke thee times, in September, October, and the first week in January, my hotel stays were paid for by the company recruiting my husband, and I stayed at Hotel Roanoke. It was very easy to get around from, and easy to walk across the walkway and go to restaurants in the downtown area. The hotel itself is very nice, and I really don't know what the room rates were, as it was corporate paid, but I think it was in the low 100's, with a very nice room, nice bed with high thread count white sheets, and lots of feather pillows on the bed. They also have complimentary, yummy chocolate chip cookies! My last visit was to find a rental house, which I found in Southwest County of Roanoke. We don't have kids in school, but the school district is Cave Springs High School, which I understand is a very good school district. Also not too far from North Cross School, which I drove by multiple times in my driving around. It's convenient to Sun Tennis Center, where I hope to get involved in playing tennis, and aboaut 3.5 miles to Roanoke Athletic Club, which I joined while I was there. We are moving to the area around February 23-25, depending on when the moving truck gets there!

[roanoker 4]

For a first time visitor Hotel Roanoke is a must. Because of its downtown location it has the best access to the museums, shops, market and the new trolley. Roanoke is not a giant sprawling mess of highways, traffic, etc so if you stay at the many chain hotels near the Airport/Valley View Mall area the area is still compact and easy to explore. I don't share the enthusiasm for the Holiday Inn/Tanglewood. It is located on a busy highway next to a rather bland shopping mall. It is close to the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway so it might be fun.

[Chaoticnot]

Hello Fourkeys,

I found my rental house on Craig's List. Just be careful. I don't know much about the YMCA, although on a recent visit to the Jefferson Center to see David Sedaris, we peeked in the window to look at the pool at the Y. My husband is a swimmer, and we joined the RAC, as we get a discount from Carilion. They have an indoor pool, and the outdoor pool is opening May 1. I think it will depend on where you live, I like the proximity of the RAC, it takes me 8 minutes to get there.

It looks like a lot of homes are for rent that have been for sale for a while, so you might want to check with a realtor for rentals. Good luck, and PM me if you have any specific questions.

[headnsouth]

Originally Posted by fourkeys

Hello Chaoticnot - My wife and I will be in Roanoke no later than mid May to find rental housing (house/duplex). Can you share any insights you acquired when looking for rental housing (best resources, best areas)? We are "swimmers" and I just discovered that the Roanoke AC has a pool and similar facilities as the YMCA. Do you or any of the other thread posters have any thoughts on the RAC vs. YMCA (w/pool)? Fitness is a high priority and we want to be located reasonably nearby to the facility we join.

Fourkeys, in addition to the Y and the RAC, the aquatic center at North Cross school has a "masters" swim program for serious but noncompetitive swimmers.

Brandon Avenue has a bunch of duplexes on it. I'm not sure if any are for rent at the moment, but I know a couple are for sale. It's a great neighborhood, central to everything & you can walk to Grandin Village.

I found my house on Craigslist but there were slim pickings online compared with what I saw when I got here. Take your time to look around, there are lots of "for rent" signs in front yards that aren't advertised anywhere else.

[fourkeys]

THANKS Chaoticnot and headnsouth! You both offer good advice and recommendations.

We are anxious to get to Roanoke, having planned and looked forward to it for a long time. The postings on this forum are very encouraging regardless of the thoughts and opinions that are expressed and whether they agree with each other or not. There are no "right" answers, only the "right" questions from the perspective of the person searching for answers. To that end all comments are welcome and will be taken seriously and treated with respect.

[Erin1264]

Hi,

Just thought I'd put my 2 cents in about the fitness facilities. The YMCA and the RAC/BAC are all beautiful facilities! I think it really comes down to convenience/proximity to your home or work.

There are also Gold's Gyms in the area, you may want to check them out as well.

[fourkeys]

Does anybody have an opinion on the Extended Stay - MainStay Suites Airport? We'll be in Roanoke for the last two weeks in May and after calculating the cost of eating in restaurants for at least two meals a day, the benefit of having a suite with kitchen and amenities makes it the most economical way to go unless there is a compelling reason to stay away.

MainStay Suites Extended Stay Hotel in Roanoke, Virginia

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

[roanoker 4]

Yes, a very nice choice. It is adjacent to Valley View Mall which is the regions' premier shopping area. It is convenient to everything here! It is a Choice Hotel.

[fourkeys]

THANKS Roanoker 4! 10-14 days in a lousy hotel would be a real nightmare and finding an alternate at the last minute would be a real problem. Now we can look forward to our trip (to find housing) even more.