Hartford, Conn. lodgings?

[hbelkins]

When seeking lodging in the Hartford, Conn. area (a two-night) stay, can anyone recommend areas to avoid?

I prefer to stay somewhere along I-91 but am interested to know if there are areas, neighborhoods, etc. along I-91 where it would be questionable to spend the night.

[Alps]

Avoid Hartford.  As much as you ought to avoid Hartford, avoid East Hartford more.  If you don't mind a small airport, you can stay up toward Bradley.  Rocky Hill (south of the city) has a cluster of hotels, and that's a fine place to be.

[hbelkins]

Avoid Hartford.  As much as you ought to avoid Hartford, avoid East Hartford more.  If you don't mind a small airport, you can stay up toward Bradley.  Rocky Hill (south of the city) has a cluster of hotels, and that's a fine place to be.

This is for the Springfield meet. I want to stay somewhere reasonably close to Springfield (would like to have a 90-minute to two-hour drive north to the meet from where I stay), but south of there along I-91. That's why I thought of Hartford. My travel plans are to enter Connecticut on I-84 on Friday and drive it all the way to its terminus at the Mass Pike, then go east on the Mass Pike and then south on I-395, then west on CT 2 for my lodging for two nights. I'd like to clinch the 3di's in the Hartford area as well if possible. Saturday I plan to drive up I-91 to Springfield, then back down to my motel for the night. Sunday morning I'll get up and head south on I-91 to I-95, allowing me to clinch I-91 in Connecticut as well as all counties in that state.

[Alps]

Dude, I know exactly why you're asking.  Check out my recommendations. (:

[Dougtone]

Avoid Hartford.  As much as you ought to avoid Hartford, avoid East Hartford more.  If you don't mind a small airport, you can stay up toward Bradley.  Rocky Hill (south of the city) has a cluster of hotels, and that's a fine place to be.

Last time I flew out of Bradley, they were advertising flights on KLM to Amsterdam.  But there's a good number of hotels around Bradley, and the price may be right.

[Dougtone]

Avoid Hartford.  As much as you ought to avoid Hartford, avoid East Hartford more.  If you don't mind a small airport, you can stay up toward Bradley.  Rocky Hill (south of the city) has a cluster of hotels, and that's a fine place to be.

This is for the Springfield meet. I want to stay somewhere reasonably close to Springfield (would like to have a 90-minute to two-hour drive north to the meet from where I stay), but south of there along I-91. That's why I thought of Hartford. My travel plans are to enter Connecticut on I-84 on Friday and drive it all the way to its terminus at the Mass Pike, then go east on the Mass Pike and then south on I-395, then west on CT 2 for my lodging for two nights. I'd like to clinch the 3di's in the Hartford area as well if possible. Saturday I plan to drive up I-91 to Springfield, then back down to my motel for the night. Sunday morning I'll get up and head south on I-91 to I-95, allowing me to clinch I-91 in Connecticut as well as all counties in that state.

Clinching Hampshire and Franklin Counties in MA should be an easy task as well, since they're both just a short trek up I-91 north of Springfield.  Also, depending on how you travel to New England, clinching Rhode Island's counties may be easy too.

[hbelkins]

Clinching Hampshire and Franklin Counties in MA should be an easy task as well, since they're both just a short trek up I-91 north of Springfield.  Also, depending on how you travel to New England, clinching Rhode Island's counties may be easy too.

Right now my plan is to get as far north and east as I can on Wednesday after a doctor's appointment. Thursday I'm planning on going to Binghamton, across I-88 to Albany, south on the Thruway to I-84, then west on I-84 to Middletown to NY 17 and then south on 17 to the Thruway (so I will have I-86 clinched when the existing surface routes are converted to limited access), then back to I-84 and I-84 across Connecticut to the Mass Pike. Then the Mass Pike east to I-395 south to CT 2, then back to the Hartford area. This will put me in a position to clinch all of CT's counties as well as all of I-91 in CT. Hadn't planned to go into RI but may attempt to depending on time. The days will be short in November and I'm not much on driving through new territory in the dark, since you don't see as much and can't photograph as much.

[Truvelo]

I stayed at the Red Roof in Enfield last year and I had no trouble with break-ins or crime although my room was next to the stairs which resulted in a fair amount of noise.

[hbelkins]

How about the New Haven area? Hardford's a lot closer to Springfield than I originally thought. Or even Bridgeport or Milford? The further south and west I can stay, the bigger jump I get on the Sunday drive toward home. Plus it gets me thru NYC on 95 and across the GW Bridge even earlier. Ideally a 60- to 90-minute drive to Springfield would be what I'm looking for.

[oscar]

How about the New Haven area? Hardford's a lot closer to Springfield than I originally thought. Or even Bridgeport or Milford? The further south and west I can stay, the bigger jump I get on the Sunday drive toward home. Plus it gets me thru NYC on 95 and across the GW Bridge even earlier. Ideally a 60- to 90-minute drive to Springfield would be what I'm looking for.

I stayed at the Super 8 in Milford, on my way to and from the Providence meet in August, so I could catch the early ferry from Bridgeport to Long Island on the way back home.  The Super 8 was adequate, but it did have the basic roadtrip services (room refrigerator and free wireless Internet access), and other than that I'm not real demanding. 

I can't help on other lodging options, except beware that weekend events at Yale could tie up lodgings in the New Haven area.