OT: Question about hotels near the Palace

[raps95]

Hi there, my wife is coming to an event at the Palace later in the year and needs to find a hotel. What would the consensus suggestion from here be?

Not saying I want to break the bank or anything, but price isn't really the driving force here. The most important thing is the hotel being in a safe area and then convenience in terms of proximity to the arena. Actually, that leads me to another question. Is the Palace, itself, in a good area? I've never been to Detroit before so I have absolutely zero knowledge on any of this. She would most likely be driving down herself.

Thanks very much in advance for any assistance you can provide.

[MotownMadness]

Yeah its safe out that way just kinda boring. Nothing like being in the slums of Detroit if thats what your worried about

[NMerch]

The Townsend in Birmingham is nice (the Lakers/ other NBA teams stay/ed there a few times the last few seasons), kind of pricy. There are a lot of nice hotels up there. Not much to do but a few malls such as Somerset, and Great Lakes Crossing. Auburn Hills is 30 mins out from Detroit so you're pretty safe. If she's trying to go downtown Detroit, stay on the freeways if you're/she's trying to avoid bad parts.

[dVs33]

The palace is in a very safe area. It's in the suburbs.

There's plenty of business type/simple hotels in the area which are fairly cheap and close to the arena.

I've stayed at the SpringHill Suites a few times and it suits me fine. I don't spend much time in the hotel when i'm down there, so i just need a clean comfortable place to sleep and i've never had a problem there. Plus if you're having a few drinks, it's walking distance from the palace. Not a fancy place by any means though.

[raps95]

Great feedback folks. Thanks very much for the help.

Have a great day.

[Manocad]

Like people have already stated, there's not a ton of stuff to do in Auburn Hills. It's pretty much the same bars/restaurants you'll find in any decent sized city. Great Lakes Crossing is a big, newer mall right up the road from the Palace and there's a fair amount of shopping/restaurants in the mall area. There's also the Chrysler museum if you like cars. Auburn Hills is a bedroom community; the bulk of it is residential with a touch of office/industrial due to automotive suppliers. The Palace sits in a rather remote part of Auburn Hills and there are zero safety concerns.

Even though I live closer to Auburn Hills than downtown Detroit, I'd love it if the Pistons went back downtown. There's a helluva lot more to do in downtown Detroit than there is in Auburn Hills.

On a related note, it's the neighborhoods in Detroit that are dangerous. The entertainment district (Ford Field, Comerica Park, Greektown) is fine. I've walked by myself at night more times than I can remember going to games, the casino, or just knocking around. I will carry a knife if I'm by myself but have never been assaulted or even bothered by anyone in any way.

[cochiseuofm]

Let me caveat two things - one I stay in hotels 200+ nights a year for work so I am extra picky about them and two, my recommendations are based off of my coworkers as I was on a local project (for me) in Auburn Hills for three years in which they stayed at nearly every hotel in the area.

The fact that they moved around so much should speak to the quality of the hotels (we had a strict budget so they couldn't stay in nicer areas like Birmingham). They are all supposedly terrible. They spent the most time at Springhill Suites because of its location relative to the Palace but I heard horror stories about the cleanliness, the thinness of walls, etc., etc.

My opinion is stay in Birmingham or somewhere nicer in the area and spend a little more / make the drive to the game. Auburn Hills is a safe area but there is nothing to do there and again, the hotels suck.