Where to stay for an event at Iowa Events Center (Des Moines: 2013, rental)

[CAtoNY]

I am considering taking a weekend trip to Des Moines to attend an event at the Iowa Events Center. My plan is to fly into DSM and rent a car. I would like to stay somewhere that is not too expensive and safe as I will be travelling alone. So the hotel doesn't have to be super close to the Events Center but I don't want to drive too far either.

What cities or areas should I be looking in. Also, what kind of things are there to do on a Saturday night? I'm not a club or bar type person.

Thanks for the info!

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by CAtoNY

I am considering taking a weekend trip to Des Moines to attend an event at the Iowa Events Center. My plan is to fly into DSM and rent a car. I would like to stay somewhere that is not too expensive and safe as I will be travelling alone. So the hotel doesn't have to be super close to the Events Center but I don't want to drive too far either.

What cities or areas should I be looking in. Also, what kind of things are there to do on a Saturday night? I'm not a club or bar type person.

Thanks for the info!

The Des Moines metro is pretty easily accessible, so you could stay almost anywhere in the area and still have a fairly easy commute to downtown. The airport is about 10-15 minutes south of the events center (I assume you mean Wells Fargo Arena?) so you could even stay at a hotel near the airport if you like, or venture out to West Des Moines, etc. There are nice hotels all over the metro.

What there might be to do might depend on when you are here. What weekend are you planning to visit? For instance, the weekend of Sept 20-22 the World Food Festival is going on in the East Village downtown. If you are here before the end of October, you could check out the downtown farmer's market on Saturday morning.

You aren't a bar/club type of person, so what do you like to do? Do you want to be near shopping and restaurants or near walking trails? That might help to figure out where to stay.

[CAtoNY]

I will be in town October 4-6 for the AQS quilt show, so not a very long time. I like shopping in artsy shops and I like museums. I would definitely check out the Farmer's market.

I was thinking about trying to find a little bit larger hotel with an airport shuttle and maybe just skipping the car and taking public transportation to the show but that will depend on what time I can get there on Friday. I don't like to be limited to what I can do though and I never know what might strike my fancy.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by CAtoNY

I will be in town October 4-6 for the AQS quilt show, so not a very long time. I like shopping in artsy shops and I like museums. I would definitely check out the Farmer's market.

I was thinking about trying to find a little bit larger hotel with an airport shuttle and maybe just skipping the car and taking public transportation to the show but that will depend on what time I can get there on Friday. I don't like to be limited to what I can do though and I never know what might strike my fancy.

Public transportation is not the greatest here, honestly. I would probably just rent a car if it were me! Des Moines bus service: http://www.ridedart.com/

You would probably enjoy the East Village and Valley Junction

Historic East Village

Historic Valley Junction West Des Moines, Ia

The East Village is just down the street from the Iowa State Capitol and State Historical Society museum. I highly recommend the capitol. It is a beautiful place! There is a downtown shuttle that runs from the capitol and makes a loop of downtown (https://www.legis.iowa.gov/DOCS/Reso...ineTrolley.pdf) but I don't know if it runs on the weekends.

State Historical Society of Iowa

https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Resources/tourCapitol.aspx

Des Moines also has a great art center
Des Moines Art Center

As for where to stay, there are several nice hotels downtown and near the airport. I assume many offer airport shuttle service. If you stayed downtown you could walk most of everything I posted above with the exception of the art center and Valley Junction. Des Moines has a very extensive skywalk system, so even if the weather is bad (early Oct can be iffy) then you could get around easily that way.

[NLDad]

Not sure what your view on "expensive" is. West Des Moines has some nice new hotels and is very safe, but they are also the pricier hotels (but that's by Des Moines standards, not Chicago?NYC/San Fran standards) There's a Drury Inn that is pretty new, easy on/off the interstate that books for about $140 a night, but they'll feed you breakfast and dinner. Now, that's not worth much if you're planning a nice dinner out.

I echo ElleTea's recommendation of the Farmers market, great time. Saturday night? um, kind of depends on what you like to do....

I know there are cheaper rooms out Altoona/Ankeny way that should be safe areas I just haven't stayed out there for a while and can't vouch for it.

[capitalcityguy]

Originally Posted by CAtoNY

I will be in town October 4-6 for the AQS quilt show, so not a very long time. I like shopping in artsy shops and I like museums. I would definitely check out the Farmer's market.

I was thinking about trying to find a little bit larger hotel with an airport shuttle and maybe just skipping the car and taking public transportation to the show but that will depend on what time I can get there on Friday. I don't like to be limited to what I can do though and I never know what might strike my fancy.

A lot depends on how mobile you want to be. If you want to explore, using public transportation makes that challenging (unless you're willing to call a cab).

If you want to do as little driving as possible but still explore , I'd suggest staying at a downtown hotel. If you stay at a suburban hotel, you'll essentially have to drive to everything (less a chain restaurant or two that might be walkable). All of the downtown hotels are either connected to the skywalk that leads to the Iowa Events Center and the rest of downtown or are close enough to either walk directly (or to skywalk access). In addition to being close to your quit show, staying downtown also offers these advantages: some of the best locally owned restaurants, Saturday morning farmer's market (a lot less of hassle if you can walk vs drive to this) just named #2 on list of 101 top farmer's markets in the US, shopping and restaurants at the Historic East Village, walking along Des Moines Riverwalk, taking in the Pappajohn Sculpture Park. I'd suggest checking out West End Salvage which is the setting for the HGTV show of the same name. Beyond the East Village, there isn't much shopping downtown, so you will have to drive if you want mall or big box store shopping.

The closest (and probably cheapest) downtown hotel is the Quality Inn. The closest full service hotel and probably best located regarding being in the middle of everything, is the Renaissance Savory. This is approx 4 blocks from Iowa Events Ctr, one block from Court Avenue Entertainment District (where Farmer's Mkt takes place), and 4-5 blocks from East Village. You'll also find a Marriot, Embassey Suites, and other hotels to choose from. Note: the downtown Holiday Inn is convenient to the Iowa Events Ctr, but it located on the other side of the interstate so the walk to other downtown amenities isn't as convenient as other downtown hotels.

Downtown also has bike rental kiosks if you're into biking at all.

Here is helpful downtown website you might want to check out for ideas as well: Home