Metro Detroit

Downtown Detroit isn't downtown Chicago or even downtown Cleveland - but it's trying. The new casinos, the new sport venues and top-flight theatre make downtown worth a visit. But the real action is in the 'burbs and across the river in Windsor...some of the midwest's best bars and restaurants, great museums and fantastic shopping abound!

Quick Tips:

Looking for a place to stay that's in the middle of everything? Try the Birmingham/Troy area, where top lodging and great restuarants seem to be on every corner and you're close to the Pontiac clubs. If you're staying downtown, avoid the hotels on the fringe of downtown, like the huge Ramada Inn. Stick instead to the major downtown hotels or - better yet - stay across the river in Windsor, Canada, where your dollar goes further.

Best Way To Get Around:

There's no such thing as real public transportation in Metro Detroit, unless you like sharing a smoke-belching bus wit hthe poorer locals. The downtown People Mover is a joke...let's face it, if you're in the auto capital, you'd better have a car.

The Troy Marriot has a lot going for it....location for one thing. Right off I-75 at Big Beaver, Metro Detroit''s best is close by. Rooms are what you''d expect from Marriott - decent sized, very clean and well-kept and priced reasonably. It''s a big hotel in a competitive area for business hotels, and weekend travelers can find steals. Try using AAA - there are often good package deals, such as a Detroit Zoo weekend deal. Skip the new Don Shula''s restaurant inside the hotel, though - pricey menu and average food.

Quick - think of Detroit Michigan. Picture a grim, grimy big city urban environment? Welcome to the Ramada Inn Detroit! Located in what must have been a beautiful building in its day, the Ramada is about 60 years past its prime, and showing it. On the fringe of downtown - in an area you wouldn''t want to walk alone at night - the hotel has one and only one thing going for it - price. You won''t find many downtown Detroit hotel rooms for under 4100, but hey, you get what you pay for.

Our room - a ''suite'' with a nasty looking sink and small, working refrigerator - needed an open window to combat the unending combination of a broken heater and nasty smell from too few cleanings. Don''t look out the window, though, because you may not want to see what''s going on in the connected apartment building or on the city streets below. Late-night munchie cravings can be satisfied by a cheap on-premise 24-hour diner that has a cast of workers and regulars that look like something from a bizarre sitcom. They''ll deliver to your room, too - before midnight. But if you''re up past midnight, it''s best to stay in the hotel anyway...don''t be wandering around outside this place.

Windsor is always a good bet for visiting Metro Detroit, and the Quality Suites is a decent enough place to put your bags down. It''s definitely a suites hotel - better than many we''ve stayed in, this one actually had two seperate rooms. It''s a bit out of the way, though....a block or two more off the riverfront and the activities on and around Oullette Street, but the price is good (MUCH better than lesser rooms at the nearby Hilton) and even better when you figure in the exchange rate. Check out the little basebment diner across the street - good food in a neat atmosphere.

Windsor is the only place in Canada where you can look north into the United States, and the view of downtown Detroit and the Detroit River from the Hilton is very nice indeed - it''s an inspiring cityscape, and if you strain, you can almost hear the gunfire from across the river (only partially kidding). In fact, the view is the best thing about this overpriced hotel, located a fairly long walk from the Casino Windsor and Windsor''s nightlife. Smallish rooms are overpriced, even with the generous exchange rate, and even though both times we''ve stayed the rooms have been very clean, something seems to be wrong - like a toilet that won''t flush.