National Championship Travel Tips and Tricks

[bullados]

Cuz there is no "host hotel" for US Nationals. There never has been in the past. There is a hotel where TPCi puts up their staff and the Regionals winners. Do not confuse that with the "host hotel".

Any of about 5 or 6 hotels down there are more than suitable for the location. There's the JW Marriott, the Indy Marriott Downtown, the Hyatt Regency Indy, and the Wyndham that are all connected to the Center. There's also a Holiday Inn on the SW side that's not an unreasonable walk.

 

[pokemaster1970]

There was a post in another thread that just stated that the JW Marriott gave the players last year a discount. That to me is a "host" hotel. So my question still is, is there a hotel in any of about 5 or 6 hotels down there, that are giving Pokemon players a discounted rate as the Hilton is for Houston regionals this year, and the JW Marriott did last year (according to another player)?

 

[sdrawkcab]

Ill just point out one thing no else has mentioned yet.

Make sure everyone wanting to play in nationals has at least 10 Play Points. Otherwise you won't be able to enter.

http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/op_playpoints_faq_2012-2012-02-10/

 

[pokemaster1970]

All you need is a State Tourny or two and a few Battle roads Tournies and you have the 10 points.......

 

[keniselvis]

FWIW I found the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott has a deal going for $109 a night. That is a pretty sweet deal.

I ended up going with priceline and scored the Courtyard Indianapolis Downtown for a bid of $51. It's in the same area as the JW Marriott and right across the street from the convention center. Total for 3 days is $187. That's pretty good for a 3 Star hotel.

Wish there was a way to save on parking. It seems like all the hotels charge $20+ for daily parking. Looks like the Government center is cheaper. $8-$13 (?).

Anyone got any parking tips/tricks for downtown Indy?

 

[bullados]

There's a park a couple of blocks to the West of the Center that has reasonably inexpensive parking. Don't know if they allow overnight parking, tho...

 

[magicarp101]

last year we went to a parking next to the lucas oil stadium which is not all day but was open for about 20 hours and then for the next 4 hours we parked in garage and payed an hourly fee and the parking next to the football stadium the hours vary its not very formal and can be 22 hours 18 or 16 but this uear we got the la quita which is a 10 minute walk to the convention center and offers free parking and was about 80 a night

 

[psychup2034]

Ill just point out one thing no else has mentioned yet.

Make sure everyone wanting to play in nationals has at least 10 Play Points. Otherwise you won't be able to enter.

http://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/op_playpoints_faq_2012-2012-02-10/

keniselvis, what sdrawkcab said is super important. The play point system is new this year. You and your kids will be massively disappointed if you guys don't have at least 10 play points each, and will not be able to play at Nationals.

Here's the breakdown:
5 PPs for Regionals
3 PPs for States
2 PPs for Cities
1 PP for Battle Roads/Prereleases/Leagues, etc.

Please make sure that everyone has at least 10 play points before planning out this trip (if they don't have 10, make sure you hit up enough Battle Roads such that you all would have 10).

 

[Fantine]

http://www.indydt.com/interactivemap.cfm?&lm=vd

I haven't got to actually look at all of the parking available but it should help.

 

[FordPrefect]

FWIW I found the Indianapolis Downtown Marriott has a deal going for $109 a night. That is a pretty sweet deal.

I ended up going with priceline and scored the Courtyard Indianapolis Downtown for a bid of $51. It's in the same area as the JW Marriott and right across the street from the convention center. Total for 3 days is $187. That's pretty good for a 3 Star hotel.

Wish there was a way to save on parking. It seems like all the hotels charge $20+ for daily parking. Looks like the Government center is cheaper. $8-$13 (?).

Anyone got any parking tips/tricks for downtown Indy?

Gotta love Priceline.. I too got the Courtyard for $55. The $23 parking is actually fairly reasonable (for a hotel). I stayed at the airport last year and the Mall garage was $20 a day. I was on the Gov Center website and parking there seemed like it could be restrictive, but if there's no gov stuff happening it's worth checking out. Figure I'll just move the car there if it's ok.

If you're driving into Indy each day the best parking I found is the World of Wonders garage. It's connected to the CC and Mall via the skybridge and open 24/7. $20 for up to 24hrs.

 

[keniselvis]

Please make sure that everyone has at least 10 play points before planning out this trip (if they don't have 10, make sure you hit up enough Battle Roads such that you all would have 10).

Thanks, man! Yeah, totally. Wouldn't even be thinking about Nats if we didn't have the play points. Really appreciate the info though. you guys rock!