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| - My group of 12 runners and 1 driver spent the night here before Ragnar Relay Chicago, which is a relay race from Madison through Milwaukee and on to Chicago. The race began Friday, so we arrived late Thursday afternoon and left in the morning.
Reservations were made months in advance and were honored when we got there. Check-in was simple and the employees seemed to enjoy our enthusiasm and joking around. They even welcomed us with fresh cookies. How can you hate on a hotel with cookies? You just can't.
The location, strangely enough, was both ideal and not. The nice thing was that we were close enough to the starting line that it wasn't a huge issue for our first group of runners to leave at 5am and get there on time; however, being somewhat closer to where the race started might have been nicer and we're looking into that for 2013, because it was a bit of a haul for the second van (my van).
On the other hand, we were far enough away that this hotel did not fill up immediately and it had no problem blocking off some rooms for us and we were right off the highway, very close to restaurants for an easy group dinner and there is a shopping center right next door. I took full advantage of stocking up on anything I might have missed by going to the local Erehwon and running shop. That was incredibly convenient. They also have a really good continental breakfast.
As far as the hotel room: the beds were incredibly comfortable but the shower drain was backed up. I ended up in a couple inches of dirty water, which is never fun. However, I had some of the best sleep of my life. The area remains relatively quiet and the curtains keep out most of the light.
Prices are very reasonable, so this is a great place to stay if you want to be near Madison but don't need to be right in the city.
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