Reasonably Priced Hotels In the Annapolis Area

kiann1212

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Starting to think about I Day and PPW. Does anyone know of a reasonably priced decent hotel near the Academy. Is it best to go down the night before I-Day or drive down in the AM? We live in NJ and are about 3 hours away.
 
Reasonable Hotel

We stayed at the Best Western on Riva Road, near the mall. It's NOT walking distance to the yard, but it's a 5-10 minute ride. Breakfast is included and there is a pool.

We arrived the day prior, not wanting to risk any traffic issues. We were able to make our first "Mid-store run" and enjoy a last relaxing dinner with our plebe-to-be.
 
My family and I are staying at the historic hotels (there are 3 I believe) and it's only a mile from the main gate. Hope that helps oh and by the way it was not that expensive.
 
If you've never been there, Annapolis is a strange town. It's very small, very narrow streets, lots of traffic in and around the waterfront (where USNA is). Parking on the yard is virtually non-existent and parking in town can be dicey when there are major activities at USNA and/or the town itself.

There are two groups of hotels -- those that are more or less walking distance from USNA and those that are not (you have to drive). There is no public transportation that I've ever seen. Note that even the "close" hotels can require a walk of about 1/2 mile.

The advantage to being within walking distance is obvious -- you don't have to worry about driving, getting stuck in traffic, finding a place to park, etc. However, you pay dearly for this in terms of room rates. Hotels in the area include Loews, Marriott, Callahans, Westin and a few others. Parking is also very $$ at these hotels ($25-$30/day).

The other hotels are a 5-10 minute drive IF there isn't much traffic (see comments above). If there is a major USNA activity or the boat show, the drive can be 20-30 mins. You will have to park in town (there is a parking garage) and then walk a short distance to USNA. These hotels are typically cheaper and parking is usually free. Some of them include the Best Western, Super 8, Radisson (I think).

Whether you choose to stay close or stay "far" is a personal choice. My parents did it both ways when I was there. My own view is that for multi-day events when you will want to be on and off the yard frequently (i.e., PPW, Commissioning Week), there is a real advantage to staying close if you can afford to do so. For other events where you will only be there a day and/or there isn't a lot of back & forth (I-Day, football games), staying further out shouldn't be a problem and will say you lots of $$.
 
Below is my post, updated, from an "Annapolis Hotels" thread in mid-Jan. Suggest a search to find posts from the last few months.

Ditto on usna1985's assessment on driving times.

The usual business properties are on/near Riva Rd., just off US50: Hampton Inn, Springhill Inn and Suites, Marriott Courtyard Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, Doubletree (formerly a Holiday Inn, then a Radisson). These are all close to the Annapolis Mall area and about 6 miles from USNA.

The Days Inn on Riva Rd. was converted to a Holiday Inn Express last year.

There is a Country Inn and Suites near the Mall on Housely Rd.

Downtown, there are several B&B's. I recommend Gibson's Lodgings, with its own off-street parking (some don't have), on Prince George St. near USNA walk gate.

There is also a Waterfront Marriott (downtown) and uptown on West St., Loew's Annapolis, Westin, O'Callaghan's. On the expensive side, and as the weather gets better or it's a boat show/football/reunion weekend, rates skyrocket.

There's also a Navy Lodge on the other side of the Severn River in the NSA complex if anyone has the military ID to stay there. "

I recommend coming down the night before. I-Day morning is general bedlam in DTA (downtown Annapolis). Locals coming in to work competite with lots of out-of-towners roaming the traffic circles and one-way streets, trying to get into the city parking garage or trolling for parking on the Yard. Settle in, enjoy a nice "last night of freedom" dinner with your plebe, get oriented.
 
We stayed at Doubletree for I-day and PPW. I believe they have a USNA discount program on their website. Last year it was 10% off lowest rate. They have a shuttle that takes you right to Alumni Hall. They loaded the shuttle vans on I Day according to report times. They even had brown bag breakfast that morning. Our plebe had little appetite. Getting the shuttle back to hotel on PPW was a little tougher. Everyone had an extra person.
 
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I'm a wimp about heat/humidity, so I was mighty glad we sprung for a walking-distance hotel (Waterfront Marriott) on I-Day. Returning to a chilly room was a welcome break.

We did the same thing on PPW, and our plebe loved TV and a nap in our a/c room.

I believe the Marriott offers a modest discount for USNA parents, too, though it's still not the cheapest option.
 
Another two cents... I always seem to forget to mention the Sheraton on Jennifer Road, near the Mall.

For all properties, I recommend calling direct to the hotel to ask for a USNA parents discount, for rates you won't see on the corporate website.

Some of the local hotels are USNA Alumni Association Corporate members and actively solicit family business, knowing if they treat you right, you will spread the word over the years. Go to www.usna.com (Alumni Assn) site., poke around the corporate sponsor links and find them.
 
Definitely go the night before. There are enough nerves for 10. Go to Annapolis, settle in, go out for The Last Supper, and enjoy the time together! Some report times are as early as 6am. Get up, get ready and go.

You don't want to be driving from home that morning.
 
Thank you to everyone for all your helpful info about hotels in the area. When my son and I visited USNA in November 2007 we stayed at the Marriott Courtyard on Riva Road. Short drive from USNA which I don't mind doing. Just finding out from some of you about the USNA parent discounts that some area hotels have. I will definitly look into that. The adventure has just begun.
 
Have you ever used Priceline? We used it last year for I-day and PPW. It actually allows you to bid on hotels that are "downtown" or in walking distance to the Yard. You can also specify that you want to bid on hotels that are further out, ie. Riva Road.

We got rooms both trips for $95 at the Westin. It was great. We are heading up this spring and got a room at the Waterfront Marriott for $95 as well.
 
For PPW and IDAY you will not be able to drive onto the yard. Parking in DTA will be difficult at best. Once you have your Midshipmen Parent Pass, you then will have access to driving on the yard. As I recall that pass arrived shortly after I Day. PPW, due to the numbers, typically parents cannot drive onto the yard but shuttle service is available form the Stadium. I also seem to recall that shuttle service is also provided on IDay.

Here is some information about IDay from the past three classes.
http://www.usnapcga.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=46&Itemid=29
 
Ok, lemme rip some answers off here:

- Navy Lodge is across the Naval Academy Severn River Bridge in the Naval Support Activity (NSA) Annapolis complex. Not within walking distance but a quick 10 minutes over the bridge to USNA by car. Now, the 2/C mids who park their cars at the NEX lot walk it, but it's a hike. THe Lodge is new within the last 10 years, across the street from NEX, Commissary, gas station and Mini-Mart/package store, very convenient to use military benefits. Usual active duty /Reserve/retired booking rules apply. Good news is, your mid can book it in his name eventually and get the active duty advantage to the booking window. Am sure you can find the Navy Lodge booking site/number online.
- There is a very small BOQ on the USNA Yard, in the Officer's and Faculty Club, but it's usually reserved for senior officers or VIPs visiting the Yard and not your typical BOQ. No other VQ on the Yard itself. Not sure what is left over at NSA; it downsized from a full-size NAVSTA about a year ago.
- Ft. George G. Meade, up I-97 and west on MD 32, has an Army Inn. About 30 minutes away. Again, right next to the large BX and Commissary complex.
- Yard accessibility for wheel chair/crutches. Plenty of paved paths everywhere, and theoretically, public spaces meet ADA standards. The bumpy brick paving is a bear, though, and there are some uphills. But, I see plenty of folk in wheelchairs making their way around. There is well-marked handicapped parking, if you have Yard access with DOD sticker or mil ID/visitor pass. I will defer to other previous posters as to what gets provided to parents without DOD ID and when.
- The many threads/posts on here offer some good thoughts on where to stay if the primary goal is walking to and from Yard events. That means the DTA (downtown Annapolis) B&Bs, Waterfront Marriott or using hotel shuttle from the West St. hotels such as Westin, Loew's and O'Callahan's. Some of the hotels out near Riva Rd. also have shuttles downtown. There is a cabstand at the foot of Main St. for the leg back to the hotels with shuttles.

While plebes are learning Reef Points, parents are learning Annapolis 101!
 
We booked at the Doubletree. They offer a Naval Academy Parents a 15% discount on the best available rate. We just booked our room for $118.15 plus tax for non-smoking double bed rooms. The code for Naval Academy Parents rate is "NAP". This rate also is good on their restaurants. We had to call to get the rate because the online prices were a little higher. I understand they have shuttles that run to USNA throughout the morning for different Report times anywhere from 6:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
 
Thanks to popeyesmom. I just book one night at the Doubletree also for I Day. Mentioned the NAP code.
 
I must have gotten this link from the "other" forum: http://www.stayannapolis.com/index.php We plan to be in Annapolis for a couple of days before I-Day. There will be six of us, including plebe to be. When I looked at the historic houses, they started at $250 per night for homes a block away from USNA. So, we grabbed one, since we would have needed two hotel rooms. You email them, they email you back if the home you want is available, then mail you a contract.

On our three visits previously, we have done the Doubletree (very nice), Loews (also very nice) and the Westin (same, very nice). I used hotels.com or one of those sites to book every time.
 
Used Priceline.com last year for both I-day and PPW reservations.....reserved a 3-star (Sheraton next to Annapolis Mall each time) for 3 nights @ approx. $68/night + taxes.....the hotel offered courtesy shuttle rides to Gate 1 both dates.

btw- Stayed at Annapolis Westin just last weekend (2 nights)for $66 +taxes/night , again using Priceline.com:thumb: covered parking is $10/day or $1.50/hour
 
If I remember correctly the PERMIT TO REPORT package for I-Day has a letter which allows driving access onto the Yard for drop off (no parking). You can drive on and drop off your MID and family members and then proceed out gate 8 to the stadium for parking and the shuttle bus back to Alumni Hall. Just remember that it takes a while. The driver might miss their Mids entrance for processing as they sometimes take Mids as they arrive not by their actual report time.
 
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