Spent the last hour or so looking through places to stay (motels) in Kalamazoo. I want something that will be close to Western (ie: WMU or Western Michigan University, for the googlebot that's crawling this entry to bring me hits), or more pointedly close to where my old apartment is.
The closest place is the Knight's Inn on Westnedge, but it looks (and has looked every time I've driven past it) like it'd be decidedly sketch. Though that may just be the association with the Kalamazoo Inn opposite, where I've given a wet hooker a lift to before. AAA also says that it's undergoing large renovations, though that info might be out of date (I think I saw an end 
date for the renovations as December 2007).
The cheapest and comparatively nearest is the "Red Roof Inn Western Michigan University" (it's really named that) that's out on Stadium (not the one on Sprinkle, which is too far out). I actually toured their rooms recently and it's all newly done up. Still a red roof inn, but clean and new. Their weekend rates are pretty high. Normal rates are about $44, weekend is closer to $70+. Maybe it's just that particular weekend.
The other one I was looking at was the Super 8 out on Main which is not as cheap, but about the same distance as the RRI. Never been there.
In the end it was the AAA discount that gave me the best rate, even bringing down the normally expensive Knights Inn from $70+ to about $60 - just about worth it for being closer by. AAA rates also brings down the Radisson from $140 to $125. Which is still crazy seeing as how you can get hotel rooms in Chicago and New York for $99 off quikbook.com.
Obviously if I was coming during the week, RRI would be the way to go, but I suspect I'm going to give the Knight's Inn a spin, and perhaps catch AIDS off a toilet seat.
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