I may be planning on taking a mid-winter 3 day trip to Raleigh one weekend, and was wondering which cheap hotel is likely best to stay at for convenience to the Amtrak Station, as 1) I'd like to come in on the Silver Star if possible which might be a tad late, and 2) I'm hoping to get a side excursion to Charlotte on the Piedmont, which means out the door early one day as well.
I've been tossing over the Clarion and the Days Inn, but was unsure if I was missing any other no-frills spots that I could crash in for this weekend.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
Hi Liberty,
The Clarion is probably going to be your closest hotel to the Amtrak station. It's about a 5-6 block walk from the train station though you might want to take a cab over to it once you first get off the Silver Star.....until you get your bearings. The southbound Silver Star is actually facing northwest when it stops in the Raleigh station!
The Clarion (formerly a Holiday Inn) is a tall round hotel near the State Capitol. Moving away from the Capitol Building on foot (or CAT bus) the campus for NC State is within a mile of the hotel. Between the academic and government buildings you will find enough to occupy a couple or three days easily. I would likely opt for the Clarion the night before riding the Piedmont as it's a short 10 minute walk tops to the station. You don't want to be reliant on a cab or a bus with a 7:05am departure!
One other decent budget hotel you might look into is the Red Roof Inn (#256) located at 1813 South Saunders Street in Raleigh. That's Highway 401 leaving Raleigh southward towards Clayton and Fayetteville. It will likely be cheaper than the Clarion and is a relatively new property.....maybe 5 years old or so. The downside is that it's about 2 miles out on a busy, busy stretch of road with no restaurants (even fast food) close by. You will need a cab or city transit to reach downtown and the NCSU campus.
Posted by notelvis (Member # 3071) on :
One additional note -
I'm not sure what your interests are (ie: museums, monuments, great railroad stations, etc.) but there are a couple of possibilities here -
For instance, if you don't want to spend an entire day (10:30am - 5:30pm) laying over in Charlotte, it is possible to take the Piedmont to Greensboro and return an hour later on the Carolinian. You'd be back in Raleigh by lunch time and this would give you an opportunity to explore the newly renovated Southern Railway Station Amtrak uses in Greensboro.
Or - You may want to get off the Piedmont in Salisbury and take the weekdays only city transit bus out to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer. The restored roundhouse there is just one of many great things....and if you like model trains there is a great shop across the street from the museum.
Posted by Liberty Limited (Member # 4300) on :
David,
Thanks for the tips. Details are a little uncertain at the moment, but I've roughed in taking this trip on Fri 2/9 and returning Sun 2/11. Not a lot of time indeed, but it would make for a fun ride.
The result is that I won't see much of Raliegh in daylight if I do the Charlotte trip, which I'm kind of aching to do, as I never expected to find a use for riding the Piedmont, but in looking at the option of staying in Raliegh vs. Charlotte, its perfect as...
*I can mix up my trains for the main voyage (Star down, Carolinian back) as the Star still stops in Raliegh at a decent hour, unlike the Crescent in Charlotte.
*I can ride this new mileage in daylight in at least one direction by using the Piedmont.
Interestingly, unlike most overnight stopover trips that pile on costs, transportation costs using 2 trains on separate days to eventually reach Charlotte is actually a couple of bucks cheaper.
I'll be sure to post an update if and when the trip gets more firm.