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I'm not a Cincinnati native, but my sister and her family live there and have for nearly 50 years, so I feel like I know it reasonably well.

Cincinnati's Union Terminal is iconic (see Cincinnati Union Terminal - Wikipedia ) but also far from downtown, by railfan standards. It's not near any hotels that I know of and is in a kinda dicey neighborhood, and is served by just one bus route, #49, with little or no wee-hours service; see https://www.go-metro.com/uploads/routes/maps_and_schedules/RT_49.pdf. So, unfortunately, you'll probably have to take taxi or similar.

I don't know your budget but if you like grand old hotels, Cincinnati's Netherlands Hotel (part of the Hilton chain) exemplifies its era, and you might ask about pickup; what do you have to lose? It's only a 10-minute trip and probably even shorter at that hour.

I like Cincinnati but am admittedly biased: it's remarkably similar to Pittsburgh in many ways, topography and architecture and population, but it'd be much easier to plan a fun and car-free visit to Pittsburgh. (See suggestions at Pittsburgh PA.) And for whatever reasons (fewer students? stolid German heritage? Andy Warhol not born there?) Cincinnati has a more Midwestern feel while Pittsburgh is edgier. But hey, judge for yourself!
 
Trollopian said:
I'm not a Cincinnati native, but my sister and her family live there and have for nearly 50 years, so I feel like I know it reasonably well.

Cincinnati's Union Terminal is iconic (see Cincinnati Union Terminal - Wikipedia ) but also far from downtown, by railfan standards. It's not near any hotels that I know of and is in a kinda dicey neighborhood, and is served by just one bus route, #49, with little or no wee-hours service; see https://www.go-metro.com/uploads/routes/maps_and_schedules/RT_49.pdf. So, unfortunately, you'll probably have to take taxi or similar.

I don't know your budget but if you like grand old hotels, Cincinnati's Netherlands Hotel (part of the Hilton chain) exemplifies its era, and you might ask about pickup; what do you have to lose? It's only a 10-minute trip and probably even shorter at that hour.

I like Cincinnati but am admittedly biased: it's remarkably similar to Pittsburgh in many ways, topography and architecture and population, but it'd be much easier to plan a fun and car-free visit to Pittsburgh. (See suggestions at Pittsburgh PA.) And for whatever reasons (fewer students? stolid German heritage? Andy Warhol not born there?) Cincinnati has a more Midwestern feel while Pittsburgh is edgier. But hey, judge for yourself!
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Thanks for the reply. The Reds are playing Pittsburgh while we are there and there is a connection to my home in Greensboro as Greensboro is the high-A minor league affiliate of Pittsburgh. So one day I do want to visit Pittsburgh by train or driving even.

I'll give the hotel a check. Our budget is not top of the line but my wife is a bit picker than me. I would do a Motel 6 and be fine, but I am a guy and not as worried about location. I do look for unionized hotels but Cincinnati has none though a few hotels are being boycotted and I do want to avoid those at all cost.

Should I consider staying across the river in Kentucky? Things look a bit cheaper, and buses do run over the river but that means connections and buses plural for any trip to the zoo. We did that in Philly from city bus to city bus to get to the city zoo. I love riding city transit and helping their numbers when we travel, but my wife does not as much and one bus is fine but 3 buses may be asking too much of her.
 
McLeansvilleAppFan said:
Should I consider staying across the river in Kentucky? Things look a bit cheaper, and buses do run over the river but that means connections and buses plural for any trip to the zoo. We did that in Philly from city bus to city bus to get to the city zoo. I love riding city transit and helping their numbers when we travel, but my wife does not as much and one bus is fine but 3 buses may be asking too much of her.
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That depends. If "across the river in Kentucky" means the rather glitzy new development in historic Newport, and if you're reasonably hearty walkers, it's an easy trek between the two downtowns: Home - The Purple People Bridge
 
I notice there is a walking path on the one bridge near the baseball park coming in from the KY side. I am a "bit" with heights shall we say, but I don't mind walking and I could do that bridge to get to the game. Running not so much, but I like a good walk. Would a walk from the baseball stadium to the Holiday Inn in Kentucky on the river be safe enough after a ball game. I don't know the area at all. I am not one to be too worried and generally if you leave folks alone you will be OK but I also don't want to walk into a clearly unsafe area at 2 AM. I assume there is some foot traffic after a baseball game in a variety of directions.
 
Trollopian said:
I'm not a Cincinnati native, but my sister and her family live there and have for nearly 50 years, so I feel like I know it reasonably well.

Cincinnati's Union Terminal is iconic (see Cincinnati Union Terminal - Wikipedia ) but also far from downtown, by railfan standards. It's not near any hotels that I know of and is in a kinda dicey neighborhood, and is served by just one bus route, #49, with little or no wee-hours service; see https://www.go-metro.com/uploads/routes/maps_and_schedules/RT_49.pdf. So, unfortunately, you'll probably have to take taxi or similar.
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If the Cardinal is on time we arrive at 1:30-ish AM and the last bus is 12:40 AM heading into downtown and then 1:07 is one last stop heading outbound. Even if the bus made one more stop I doubt we would get another bus from the central bus depot (I assume Cinncinnati has that) to a hotel. I need to start calling a taxi to see what they offer or bite the bullet and do a gig ride finally in my life.
 
I’ll second the vote for the Netherlands Hilton. It’s a real art deco classic, like CUT, aka, Museum Center/Amtrak station. You could spend a full day there.

The Hilton is centrally located (and usually not outrageously expensive). I’ll bet your wife will enjoy it too. I believe the trolley is near there that circulates downtown and across the river for the ballpark and ‘Over the Rhine’- an interesting area with good restaurants (at least it was 10+ years ago on our last visit). Be sure and have some of Cincinnati’s unique chilli, too.
 
McLeansvilleAppFan said:
I notice there is a walking path on the one bridge near the baseball park coming in from the KY side. I am a "bit" with heights shall we say, but I don't mind walking and I could do that bridge to get to the game. Running not so much, but I like a good walk. Would a walk from the baseball stadium to the Holiday Inn in Kentucky on the river be safe enough after a ball game. I don't know the area at all. I am not one to be too worried and generally if you leave folks alone you will be OK but I also don't want to walk into a clearly unsafe area at 2 AM. I assume there is some foot traffic after a baseball game in a variety of directions.
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When I went to a game in Cincinnati a few years ago, I parked at the Newport on the Levee shopping center in Kentucky and walked along the Taylor Southgate Bridge (U.S. 27) to get across the river. (There's also a pedestrian/bicycle-only bridge, known as the "Purple People Bridge," just a bit further away.) I had zero issues. Yes, there were a lot of other people around, many of them walking across the river the way I did.

I also note that after an evening baseball game, it'll be a lot closer to 10:00 P.M. than to 2:00 A.M.
 
Well I could not wait to get all of this planned so I got on this after I got home after work. I went with a cheaper hotel in Covington and trust Google Maps is correct about bus stops getting to where we want to go on mass transit. I appreciate all the suggestions and knowing some bus routes numbers made this a bit easier.

Saving some money at the Cinncinnati me push back the return trip home until the Sunday Cardinal train and I was able to have the same price for Amtrak, and I was able to use those savings from Cleveland to get a hotel close to the Indianapolis Amtrak. Check into the hotel, walk back to the Amtrak and get a city bus over to the Indianapolis Airport to collect a rental and get over to Terre Haute for the day. If this falls apart we now have an extra day or two to get to Terre Haute, which is the real purpose of the trip. Hotel is also very close to the Zoo in Indianapolis. Sady no AAA baseball as the team is away that week.

When I changed the return reservation I switched from using the RPA discount to using a coupon, which I meant to use when I did this originally, and for the longest leg I used a companion coupon that basically paid for the premium Amtrak Credit Card for the year so a win there as well.
 
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McLeansvilleAppFan said:
Well I could not wait to get all of this planned so I got on this after I got home after work. I went with a cheaper hotel in Covington and trust Google Maps is correct about bus stops getting to where we want to go on mass transit. I appreciate all the suggestions and knowing some bus routes numbers made this a bit easier.

Saving some money at the Cleveland stop let me push back the return trip home until the Sunday Cardinal train and I was able to have the same price for Amtrak, and I was able to use those savings from Cleveland to get a hotel close to the Indianapolis Amtrak. Check into the hotel, walk back to the Amtrak and get a city bus over to the Indianapolis Airport to collect a rental and get over to Terre Haute for the day. If this falls apart we now have an extra day or two to get to Terre Haute, which is the real purpose of the trip. Hotel is also very close to the Zoo in Indianapolis. Sady no AAA baseball as the team is away that week.

When I changed the return reservation I switched from using the RPA discount to using a coupon, which I meant to use when I did this originally, and for the longest leg I used a companion coupon that basically paid for the premium Amtrak Credit Card for the year so a win there as well.
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The Cardinal does not run to Cleveland( that's the Cap Ltd and Lakeshore Ltd), I'm sure you mean Cincinnati!
 
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In Warwick RI the MBTA/RPTA stop for TF Green airport has a Hyatt Place Hotel located right next to the station. My son is planning to stay there this November so I will get a report on the hotel which seems to have good reviews on Tripadvisor.

Although this is on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Amtrak does not stop there currently although there has been talk of building a bigger station with platforms on the main tracks (currently only one platform on an non electrified side track) so some Amtrak regionals could stop there.
 
Looking for pro tips for hotels in Orlando and Miami for an upcoming trip in early December. I'll be arriving in Orlando on the Silver Star around 1 and after one night take Brightline in the morning to Miami where I'll spend two nights and return north on the Star at 8.

Generally drift to Marriott family's mid-range properties being a Bonvoy member, but if there are better options for convenience I'll look into it. Prefer the goldilocks type of accommodations price wise. Obviously looking for the convenience of walking to Metrorail and TriRail. Not to mention safe, walkable and interesting neighborhoods being dark at 5 p.m. So far in my early research the Brickell area looks promising.

Orlando is a completely different story. Have no idea where to stay. Airport is an option of course. Not interested in and won't have time to hit the big parks.

Any other thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
 
PaTrainFan said:
Looking for pro tips for hotels in Orlando and Miami for an upcoming trip in early December. I'll be arriving in Orlando on the Silver Star around 1 and after one night take Brightline in the morning to Miami where I'll spend two nights and return north on the Star at 8.

Generally drift to Marriott family's mid-range properties being a Bonvoy member, but if there are better options for convenience I'll look into it. Prefer the goldilocks type of accommodations price wise. Obviously looking for the convenience of walking to Metrorail and TriRail. Not to mention safe, walkable and interesting neighborhoods being dark at 5 p.m. So far in my early research the Brickell area looks promising.

Orlando is a completely different story. Have no idea where to stay. Airport is an option of course. Not interested in and won't have time to hit the big parks.

Any other thoughts will be greatly appreciated.
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If the only reason you are going to Orlando is to catch Brightline to Miami, then staying at the airport probably makes sense. Exiting the Star at Orlando will require some transit or and Uber/cab to get to the Brightline station at the airport, so it might make sense to just stay there. There is a Hyatt Regency right at one of the terminals, so that would be most convenient, but also probably more expensive. There are a plethora of other hotels just outside the airport property that might work too.
 
Stremba said:
If the only reason you are going to Orlando is to catch Brightline to Miami, then staying at the airport probably makes sense. Exiting the Star at Orlando will require some transit or and Uber/cab to get to the Brightline station at the airport, so it might make sense to just stay there. There is a Hyatt Regency right at one of the terminals, so that would be most convenient, but also probably more expensive. There are a plethora of other hotels just outside the airport property that might work too.
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Yes. Look in the cluster of hotels off of Semoran Blvd near its intersection with SR 528 just North of the Airport. Many reasonably priced hotels of reputable chains. The Airport Hyatt Regency usually has eye watering rates. All the Semoran Blvd hotels have 24 hour shuttles to/from the airport. When I have a very early morning flight I usually stay at one that has the best rate for the previous night, so as to avoid waking up at 2am and driving to the airport. I am an hour away.
 
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Mystic River Dragon said:
Sounds wonderful! Glad you have it all arranged!

The nice thing about hotels (unless you book the prepay option and can’t change it) is that you can regularly check the rates and cancel and rebook at a lower price almost to the time of the trip. I often do that, and it’s interesting to see how the rate varies.
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Does it sometimes make it more expensive by waiting until later? Do you join hotels websites for deals? Any other hints would certainly be welcomed:)
 
01piglet_patinas said:
Does it sometimes make it more expensive by waiting until later? Do you join hotels websites for deals? Any other hints would certainly be welcomed:)
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I am most familiar with the Hilton and Marriott chains, so others here will have more experience with other hotel chains.

For Hilton and Marriott, I joined their loyalty programs (free for the basic level). When you book and put in your loyalty program number, you get points toward the next level. The next levels used to be good — free full breakfast at Hilton and Hilton Garden Inn, for example, and free executive lounge access for the top level. But the perks have gone downhill the past few years, so I don’t think “chasing” the next level is worth it.

Yes, it’s possible for the room to be more expensive if you wait longer to book. So I book early, as soon as I know my travel dates, then go back and check every week or so. If the price is up, I keep my reservations as is. If it’s gone down, I cancel and rebook immediately at the lower rate.

It also depends how much time you have and whether you find doing this is fun or a chore. I enjoy monitoring rates—it’s like a fun hobby for me—but it may not be for everyone.
 
01piglet_patinas said:
Does it sometimes make it more expensive by waiting until later? Do you join hotels websites for deals? Any other hints would certainly be welcomed:)
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I've signed up for the rewards programs at hotels I've stayed at, and then preferred those hotel chains in future bookings, because they usually give rewards points for each stay. I currently participate in Wyndham Rewards (because there were Super 8 motels near our kids' colleges) and Hilton Honors (because there are Hampton Inns near both my Mom's house in WI and the hubby's favorite game store in the NW Chicago suburbs). I was able to earn more Hilton Honors points on my Lincoln Service/Missouri River Runner trip earlier this month, because there was a Home 2 Suites just one stop away from Kansas City Union Station on the free KC Streetcar. (Haven't quite figured out yet what I can do with Hilton Honors points, though. On the other hand, I've redeemed Wyndham Rewards points for discounted/free hotel stays, as well as for gift cards.)
 
01piglet_patinas said:
Does it sometimes make it more expensive by waiting until later? Do you join hotels websites for deals? Any other hints would certainly be welcomed:)
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If you have good credit and can charge $3,000 in 3 months, Marriott Bonvoy has a Chase credit card with a $95 annual fee that gives 3 free nights, subject to a points value limit. The limit was too low to get a room in Manhattan in December, but I got a room in Long Island City, 2 blocks to a 10-minute subway ride to midtown on both the E & 7 subway lines. The room would have cost $390 a night cash.

It also immediately puts you in the 2nd tier, which actually doesn't do much other than getting some bonus points on stays, and some vague language about being eligible for late checkout "if available."

You get 1 free night on the anniversary date, but it has a much lower points limit, and Marriott severely limits the number of points you can add to boost a free night, so I will probably cancel after a year.

Of course, in addition to finding $3,000 to charge in 3 months, you need to be willing to take the credit score hits for a hard inquiry, opening a new account, and closing it 1 year later if you don't find it worth keeping up the $95 annual fee.
 
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I will be going to Miami in March 2024 and need a hotel close to the Amtrak station. Will need to be at station by 7am for 8am train on a Saturday morning. Have checked google maps but would like recommendations for a hotel in safe area reasonably close to station that someone has actually stayed at or lives in the area. Getting off cruise ship the day before my train leaves, so if I could get an early check in that would be great, or open to any suggestions what to do in area before I could check in with luggage. Thanks in advance, all info greatly appreciated!!
 
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Mackie2u2 said:
I will be going to Miami in March 2024 and need a hotel close to the Amtrak station. Will need to be at station by 7am for 8am train on a Saturday morning. Have checked google maps but would like recommendations for a hotel in safe area reasonably close to station that someone has actually stayed at or lives in the area. Getting off cruise ship the day before my train leaves, so if I could get an early check in that would be great, or open to any suggestions what to do in area before I could check in with luggage. Thanks in advance, all info greatly appreciated!!
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Staying @ one of the many Airport Area Hotels ( use one of the Travel Sites to find a deal.) would be ideal since you're close to the Amtrak Station and in a Safe Area.
 
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I don’t know the area, but many hotels will let you drop off your luggage for safe keeping while you wait for check-in time.
 
Mackie2u2 said:
I will be going to Miami in March 2024 and need a hotel close to the Amtrak station. Will need to be at station by 7am for 8am train on a Saturday morning. Have checked google maps but would like recommendations for a hotel in safe area reasonably close to station that someone has actually stayed at or lives in the area. Getting off cruise ship the day before my train leaves, so if I could get an early check in that would be great, or open to any suggestions what to do in area before I could check in with luggage. Thanks in advance, all info greatly appreciated!!
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The area around the Miami Amtrak station is not the greatest, in my opinion. The last couple of times I went to Miami for meetings (at the Amtrak station), I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Miami Airport West, 3550 NW 74th Avenue, Miami 33122. I took a cab to and from the Hotel during one trip and was driven from the hotel by a friend who had rented a car and was attending the same meeting as I was attending. With traffic, I think the drive was about 20 minutes.
 
AmtrakMaineiac said:
In Warwick RI the MBTA/RPTA stop for TF Green airport has a Hyatt Place Hotel located right next to the station. My son is planning to stay there this November so I will get a report on the hotel which seems to have good reviews on Tripadvisor.

Although this is on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, Amtrak does not stop there currently although there has been talk of building a bigger station with platforms on the main tracks (currently only one platform on an non electrified side track) so some Amtrak regionals could stop there.
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Suffice to say that this thread should be divided into three
Hotels convenient to Amtrak.
Affordable Hotels convenient to Amtrak.
Luxury Hotels convenient to Amtrak.

Here in Boston you can exit either Bay Back, South Station, or North Station and trip over multiple hotels,
including some of the finest if price is no object.

The bigger question often asked here is where can one find affordable hotels.

Amtrak stops at the University Park/Route 128 Station, the area around the station has developed into it's own edge city
with a Fairfield Inn by Marriott with in walking distance.

MBTA Commuter Rail has a number of stations with chain hotels close by, including Braintree, Quincy Adams, Assembly Square, and others. Braintree and Quincy Adams are also served by the Red Line, Assembly Square by the Orange line.

MBTA Commuter rail serves the aforementioned TF Green Airport Station, just south of Providence, but
as all services south of Providence are funded 100% by RI, the station is only served Monday to Friday, until at some point when (if ever) RI funds 7 day a week service.

Ken
 

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