FSAE West Hotel

[Korey Morris]

Does anyone have a line on a hotel in Fontana for FSAE West. We really can't afford to go, but we are anyway. Travel expenses may be coming out of pocket for our members... We're talking about camping, how horrible is that...

[Dave M]

I'm looking into getting a deal for all the teams. There is a hotel just down the street, but its kind of a dive, should be cheap though. As far as I know they Dont charge by the hour. There are others not too far away. 3+ miles that are much better and larger. We are commuting so let me know what you guys prefer. Cheap and Close, but a dive or a little farther away, a little more expensive but nice.

Cal Poly Pomona

[raska]

Yeah travel expenses coming out of the pocket isn't cheap, but it is still some of the cheapest racing you'll ever do when you look at the whole project. It cost us over $850US per person for our stay and commute to detroit, but west should save $200 on travel expense per person at least I think. I don't think 3 miles is too bad, especially if they have a good place to pick up breakfast on the way there.

[RKemmet]

Are the ones a lil further away the ones at the mall? thats where we were / are looking if we end up getting a spot for FSAE West / where we will stay for the practice in April.

[Dave M]

They were the one's that were closest to the speedway using hotels.com The West Coast Practice is slated for Saturday May 6th. An open practice is set for Sunday May 7th. These dates should be confirmed by the end of the week.

[Dave M]

We have tracked down a few hotels close to the track and the bar (yardhouse). We're seeing who can give us a good deal. Dont book your hotels just yet, we'll let you know which one to go to.

[Mike McNulty]

Ive been looking for hotels around the Speedway, Ive found a bunch that are between 3 and 5 miles away.

I honestly dont see any difference between being 1 mile or 5 miles away... either way were gonna end up driving to and from the hotel when we need to. But like Raska said... the Breakfast is something that is high on the priority list

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

re: breakfast

if you've ever been to LA, you'll know that at any given street corner, there is a drive-thru fast food place, a starbucks, a gas station, and/or multiple iterations of the above. i know of a particular corner in the san fernando valley that has 3 gas stations.

[Marshall Grice]

Originally posted by Mike McNulty:
Ive been looking for hotels around the Speedway, Ive found a bunch that are between 3 and 5 miles away.

I honestly dont see any difference between being 1 mile or 5 miles away...

hahah, this is southern california. 1 mi vs 5 mi could be the difference between 1 min of driving and 30 mins of driving. depending on the time of course.

and Mike is correct, the street that the speedway is on has a jack in the box, carls jr, 2 gas stations to the south and almost exactly the same thing to the north.

btw, i was kinda kidding about the traffic, it shouldn't be too bad at the times that you'd be going to the track.

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

marshall-

kinda kidding? i can tell you that if i did not leave my house before 7:30am, i would be late for my 8am class in high school. and it was 3.5 miles away. but it was located in the canyons of the hollywood hills, which are notoriously bad.

over this summer, it wasn't as bad, because i was later in the morning. i had to leave about 9:15-9:20 to be at work by 10, 12 miles away.

my advice to FSAE west people: don't underestimate los angeles traffic. i sat at one stoplight for 15 minutes once.

[Mike McNulty]

ive never driven in Fontana.. so I really have no idea.. Just based my assumption on how the traffic was getting to the Superdome

[Marshall Grice]

Well considering fontana is "the middle of no where" by LA standards the surface street traffic is pretty light. but it is right off of the 10, which sucks. It's also in the middle of commuter land so if you stay anywhere near the ontario mills mall then you'll be going the opposite direction of traffic, as most people are heading towards LA in the morning. getting back at the end of the day is going to suck regardless. Something about 5pm just makes everyone go out and park on freeways everywhere.

[Bryan Hagenauer]

Could we get an idea of what teams will need in terms of hotel rooms? I'm not looking for a head count, just an idea for what the average team will need.

Right now, we've got approx 80 rooms at

AmeriHost Inn

13500 Baseline Ave
Fontana, CA, 92336 US
909-463-5900

$84.55 per night

Some of these rooms are double beds, some are singles. Our question is, are you guys gonna pile 18 people in each room so that will be enough, or will teams actually want beds for people? We can change this reservation, or pick up more at another hotel easily. So we're looking for info from you guys.

[Bryan Hagenauer]

And don't bother reserving rooms just yet. Until we know for sure that this will/will not be enough rooms, we may dump this hotel and try another. This was just the first one we called. The deadline for reservations at this place will be May 13.

Plus- we havn't given you the promo code yet.

[Adam Zemke]

Thanks to all the Cal Poly-Pomona guys for taking the lead on this hotel business. Please let me know what you find out.

[Rocket]

The University of Toledo is staying at the TownePlace Suites Ontario Airport, thanks to Marriot points.http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Dave M]

whoa, hold your horses, unless you really are getting a deal through points. We should hopefully have a hotel picked out latest by the end of next week. We just found a few that are within walking distance to the bar. We'll let you guys know as soon as we get it figured out.

[leclercjs]

Hi everybody,

I've just reserved our rooms at the Hampton Inn in Ontario, about 6 miles from Cal Speedway.

Having a AAA card helps, 141$ for a room for 4 adults during the weekdays and on friday and saturday nights, it goes down to 113$ with hot breakfast included. Being a AAA member also get you a privilege, you can cancel your reservation 48 hours before check in!!

Give us info as soon as possible on any deals with hotels, the staff at Hampton Inn were not aware that 70 teams will invade this region in mid-june!!!

Ahaha, California Love!!!

[Dave M]

We found a hotel that works well. Rates are $85-$103 per night. Here is the info:

Amerihost Inn
Group Request Name : FSAE BLOCK
CONFIRMATION NUMBER : 53521828
13500 Baseline Ave
FONTANA ,California
USA92336
PHONE : 909-463-5900
FAX : 909-463-0339
Property Contact : TONI
SRP ID: CB0007
ARRIVAL DATE : 06/13/2006
DEPARTURE DATE : 06/18/2006

If you guys need more info,let me know. If it fills up also let us know and we'll find another hotel.

Dave M -Cal Poly Pomona FSAE

[Dave M]

PS, you have until 5-13-2006 to book before they release these rooms. We've got 80 rooms for these prices, enjoy.

[Adam Zemke]

Dave M - Thanks!

[RiNaZ]

need some info if you westcoast guys can help ... Im planning on going to the A1 GP race in march at laguna seca. I was wondering, which airport is the closest to the track?

Im thinking either LAX or SFO, but both still at least 2 hour drive away, with SFO being the closest.

Other thing, should i find a room somewhere near the track or better off getting a cheaper place near SFO?

[Dave M]

San Jose is the closest major airport, but SFO might be cheaper from florida, Oakland is about the same distance and may have better deals than SFO. Monterey has a small airport if you dont feel like driving 1.5-2.5 hours. Dont expect many deals on hotels. You should be able to find a decently priced hotel in monterey bay somewhere not close to the track. Driving back to SF would stink, stay in the area.

[Bryan Hagenauer]

Carmel or Carmel-by-the-Sea is very close to the track, and is an expensive resort town. I stayed there for MotoGP and paid crazy hotel prices, but so was every other hotel servicing the track. It shouldn't be nearly as bad for A1GP I would think.

Monterey is a nice place, great downtown bar scene.

If you head inland, there is Salinas. You could probably find a cheap hotel there, but it won't be the same as Carmel or Monterey.

[kwancho]

Originally posted by RiNaZ:
need some info if you westcoast guys can help ... Im planning on going to the A1 GP race in march at laguna seca. I was wondering, which airport is the closest to the track?

Im thinking either LAX or SFO, but both still at least 2 hour drive away, with SFO being the closest.

Other thing, should i find a room somewhere near the track or better off getting a cheaper place near SFO?

When can we buy tickets? I don't live that far away, and I want to go!

[Bryan Hagenauer]

http://www.laguna-seca.com/

[AK UT]

There is a small airport in Monterey, I flew in there last summer from LAX, I forget what the carrier was though. We stayed in Salinas which isnt that far away. Carmel and Monterey are very expensive places to stay in, 5 million dollars houses are average, i think even Salinas has an average house value of 1.2 mil, though you wouldnt know that when you got there.

[RiNaZ]

i found rooms in carmel and monterey for an average of 55 bucks. I was expecting minimum of 80 over on the westcoast. That seems good to me.

But thanks for all the info guys!

[RiNaZ]

need an advice. Is it advisable to drive from LAX to laguna seca (which is around 6 hours)? I might be able to get a free flight to LAX, so i was thinking of renting a car and drive from LAX to laguna, and stay somewhere in the monterey area? any comments?

[Charlie]

Check your PMs. http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Dave M]

it will be 4+ hours to laguna seca from LA. which race are you going to?

[js10coastr]

Originally posted by RiNaZ:
need an advice. Is it advisable to drive from LAX to laguna seca (which is around 6 hours)? I might be able to get a free flight to LAX, so i was thinking of renting a car and drive from LAX to laguna, and stay somewhere in the monterey area? any comments?

If you've got the time, take the 101 from LA, through San Luis Obispo (stop by Cal Poly!), jump on highway 1 all the way up to Monterey. The extra driving time is well worth the curves and sights.

[Kirk Feldkamp]

The San Jose Airport is about as close as you can get with a 'normal' carrier. It's about an hour drive from San Jose to Laguna Seca.

-Kirk

[kwancho]

A1 Grand Prix? If so, I'm going too, so If you ask nicely we might be able to carpool.

[Dave M]

Just a reminder that we have to release the reserved rooms at the amerihost by fiday may 12th.
So if you havent booked your hotel yet, do it soon. The info for the deal can be found on the first page of the post.

[kwancho]

Uhm, yeah. We're only now figuring out hotel, and the Amerihost is booked solid. Any place else close? Cheaper is better, but we'll take what we can get.


edit: Never mind, we're staying at the Hampton Inn.

[Dave M]

theres a s---hole just off the highway on cherry ave, mostly for truckers, dont know the name. Some teams are staying at the airport hotels too.

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

i hope by "airport", you mean ontario, because making people stay near LAX would just be mean...

[Adam Zemke]

Anyone who still needs rooms should check out the Econolodge Ontario Airport...the last time I checked they have rooms still and it is cheaper than Amerihost and comparable distance away from California Speedway. In addition, if you are dead-set on staying at Amerihost, I am releasing MI State's rooms (quantity of 4 - 3 of which are double-bedded) as of tomorrow, so you can still try and get them.

Also, has anybody found out/finalized a place to hold Big Buck West?? C'mon people...this is an important part of FSAE heritage for some of us http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

[CMURacing - Prometheus]

YardHouse
12473 North Main St.
Rancho Cucamonga, 91739
@ Victoria Gardens Shopping Center


Rumor is, however, that the YardHouse no longer serves yards...people were breaking too many glasses.

[Mike Cook]

Is there any word on hotels for FSAE West this year. Also for those of you who went last year, any recommendations?

Mike

[J. Vinella]

The main FSAE website lists a few:

http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/west/hotelinfo.htm

Last year we stayed in the AmeriSuites. It's not too far from the race track.

Yes the morning traffic on the freeways in LA is not ideal, but if you stick to surface streets you can get there in under 15 min.

[Jim B]

Last year my team stayed at Ayres Suites in Ontario. We got a bunch of teams together and reserved 36 rooms. The rate was $100/room with 4-6 people per room. The place was great and my team really wants to go back. Are there any teams interested in staying with us?

Jim
The Ohio State University

[Mike Cook]

To be honest, I was looking for something less than $100 but I haven't looked around to much to see if that is reasonable. I would not mind staying with other teams at all.

Also, Jim, how are you all getting your car to CA? We're exploring shipping options right now.

Mike

[Jim B]

We're trying to find a trucking company that will take both us and Toledo to Cally as well as a fuel sponsor.

Jim
The Ohio State University

[Mike Cook]

if you have space....We'd be willing to get our car to ohio first.

Mike

[Jim B]

We ended up using the hotel blocks on the SAE West website. They already have discounts set up.

Thanks anyway for your interest, Mike.

[LU-Bolton]

We also are looking into ways to get our car to West. If any other teams have any good ideas or want to jointly drive across the country to save money, we'd be willing.

Aaron Cassebeer

[Biggy72]

We're going to probably be staying at the Residence Inn By Marriott Ontario. They have 6 person rooms (3 twin beds) two bathrooms, and a kitchen in every room. The rooms are 159 a night and the place is pretty nice.

[Mike Cook]

Aaron, were looking for transportation options too. However, it looks like were going to have to crate the cars. If any teams are trailering their cars out from the east coast we'd be willing to pay quite a bit to put our car on their trailer.

[Mike Cook]

to update:

I was able to get rooms at the best western ontario airport for 70$ a night. They orginally wanted like 90 a night. Saved enough for another set of tires...