We’re flying into Milwaukee next month. Arrive about 6:00 PM. Going to rent a car. Next morning driving to Manitowoc. Looking for a nice hotel in a good area. Any suggestions for either a hotel or a neighborhood?
Manitowoc is not that far, you could get there by 9 PM, after deplaning and getting your car. Right up I-43.
Otherwise, there are a ton of hotels right by the airport. None are spectacular, but they’re all pretty much serviceable for an overnight.
If you want someplace fancy in the city, the Pfister is lovely. Great view from their bar on the top floor. It’s generally the top-rated place in the city.
Otherwise it’s tough to say; just what price range, amenities etc. do you seek?
Moderator Action
Since this is looking for recommendations and opinions, let’s move it to IMHO (from GQ).
Milwaukee, born and raised.
If I could ask, why not just make the drive that night? I know no one wants to drive right after flying, but it’s, as QtM said, about 90 minutes and it’s a straight shot. It would be one less thing to think about in the morning.
As for hotels, the nice ones are downtown, but there’s a bunch of normal ones within minutes of the airport (and with very easy freeway access. With the immense amount of construction going on downtown at the moment, you may want to avoid that. Right now, there’s no detours or anything, but it’s a PITA and I’d imagine trying to navigate it, at night, when it’s unfamiliar wouldn’t be fun.
Some extra info may be helpful. How long are you staying? Do you plan/want to do anything in Milwaukee that night or later in the trip that you want to get a hotel in the city (even just going out for a drink or dinner)? Sight seeing? Any attractions you want to hit that you’d like to be nearby?
Would you considered grabbing a Lyft for any portions of the trip instead of navigting the construction on your own?*. No idea how the math works out, but it might be even be cheaper to grab a Lyft** from the airport to the hotel and another one to get a car the next day and take a day or the car rental.
TLDR, there’s a bunch of us from MKE, “normal” hotels near the airport, nice ones downtown. More info and we can provide some better tips for you.
*Shameless promotion: I have a friend that does a lot of Lyft driving and has, IIRC, $15 off coupons.
**I’m not sure if Lyft can pick up at the airport.
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan]
If you want someplace fancy in the city, the Pfister is lovely. Great view from their bar on the top floor. It’s generally the top-rated place in the city.
[/QUOTE]
My wife and I stayed there our wedding night. Fifteen years ago tonight!! I was exhausted and quite drunk. To the extent that I remember it, it was quite nice.
I like Milwaukee. It’s a nice city.
The Pfister or the Iron Horse are your premium hotel options in the downtown area. Good food can be found in Third Ward, Water Street, Brady Street, off Cathedral Square, et cetera; it just depends on what you’re looking for. There is actually a surprising amount of good food and fantastic bars in Milwaukee given its size and location. You can, as others have noted, head on up to Manitowoc in a 90 minute drive, but your dining options are going to be pretty limited, and you may end up with your best option being Culvers.
As long as you’re east of I-43. To the west, it gets a bit dicey.
Stranger
That’s too general of a statement for me to let it fly.
True that the inner city (the “core”) is just to the west of I43 but it’s a very small area when compared to the rest of the city. In Milwaukee the overall dangerous areas are very compact. No need to scare visitors when none of the hotels they’d stay at will be in that neighborhood anyway.
I live in the city proper, to the west of State Fair Park (and far to the west of I43) and it’s the quietest, most low crime neighborhood in the city. I’ve lived around here and owned other properties around here since 1982.
I could give the OP a lot of places to stay but Mitchell is a piece of cake to get through luggage and such, and their final destination is just a blip away.
ETA: [Braggart hat on] Of all the places I and the wife have been to,[Braggart hat off] Mitchell is probably the easiest airport to come and go from. Get your bags and head north. And welcome to Wisconsin. Enjoy!
The Pfister is a Wonderful hotel! Just remember it’s a piece of history, so yeah, the elevators run a little slow and it’s not modern by any measure, but it’s beautiful and a joy to stay in.
Thanks to all!
If you go to downtown Milwaukee, even on a weekend, you’ll be stunned at how dull it is (as compared to other large cities). There are a few decent bars on Old World 3rd, but otherwise all of the hopping events are mostly outside of the downtown area. It’s pretty mellow downtown actually.
If you’re just looking to stay over night so you can start fresh in the morning, stick to the airport area.
Agreed, I drive downtown 6 days (during the day) a week and on Saturday the place is like a ghost town. I feel like I could drive right through red lights without anyone batting an eye.
However, Water Street should be pretty busy on Saturday night, as well as the area around Hotel Metro. The on 2nd and Florida is always slammed (friend of mine owns it). My store delivers lemons/limes/oranges to This Is It (as well as a ton of other bars, but that one we get to later on sometimes) and they’re usually quite busy at night.
Also, even though ‘downtown’ is usually pretty dead on the weekends, the old commission row where Wicked Hop and Benelux etc are is still usually seems pretty busy during the times I find myself having to try to get through that parking lot of a street (not that it wasn’t practically a parking lot in the 80’s and 90’s, but dammit, it was my parking lot and I could navigate the semis and forklifts with my eyes closed. I spent a good chunk of my youth in those buildings).
Also, yes, Mitchell is super easy. I mean, I know it’s not O’Hare, but you can still take a major flight and go from your wheels being on the ground to standing outside waiting for your ride in about a half hour. When I have to pick someone up (I work very close), I tell them not to call me until their luggage is in their hand, otherwise I’m driving around in circles for a 20 minutes.
And I know this is fairly common, but the freeway you’ll need to get use to get to Manitowoc (or downtown for that matter) has an entrance right from the airport…also an exit directly into it.
Follow signs that say I-43 North and/or Green Bay, the interchanges can be confusing.
W/regard to the drive up to Manitowoc, I wanted to do it in the morning as my wife, who grew up in California, has seen very little of the Midwest. While I see an interstate hwy between Milwaukee and Manitowoc, I also see “Lakeshore Drive.” Looks like it might be relatively scenic. Am I wrong? BTW, we plan on taking the ferry to Ludington. Looks like fun.
No, Milwaukee is a wasteland, devoid of Human life, sheltering only rabbits, lizards, buzzards, and Rabid Wolverines.
You’re displaying your ignorance on the topic.
It’s Badgers, not wolverines.
And there ain’t no road just like it
Anywhere I found
Running south on Lake Shore Drive heading into town
Just slippin’ on by on LSD, Friday night trouble bound
Don’t have a bad trip.
Seriously, Lakeshore Drive from downtown up to Kenwood is okay (and from the airport you can take I-794 up to downtown across the Hoan Bridge which is a nice overlook that dumps you directly on Lincoln Memorial Dr. instead of fighting the 94/43 interchange. After that, stick to the highway up to Manitowoc unless you plan to pull off and go find a beach. Port Washington has a decent beach park and there are a couple of state parks on Lake Michigan, but you won’t see much from the road.
Stranger
And if you want to get to know Lake Michigan’s western shore, either stop at Harrington Beach State Park or Kohler Andrae State Park on the way to Manitowoc.
Or stop at my place, I’m on the beach too, and you’ll be driving right past.
Why stop there? Why not continue to the real Midwest vacation spot, Door County? It’s just a little farther north, and has a lot more waterfront!
V
Love to, but going to visit my sister in Ludington and. Then driving south to see my daughter in Novi.
Ah. So you’ll be taking the Badger ferry, or whatever they call it these days? Do it at night, there’s not much to see while crossing the lake during daylight!
Oh, it all depends. I took it once a few years back–well, maybe 10 or 12, time does fly when you’re having fun. The ferry was worth doing once.
For us, at least, taking it in the daylight was a lot better than taking it at night would have been. I found the interior of the ferry to be very cramped and unpleasant, and was glad of the opportunity to sit in a deck chair on a warm day and read–and watch Wisconsin disappear in the distance, and at some point later on, to watch Michigan begin to appear on the horizon. It helped that it was a very pretty day.
YM obviously Vs, but I’d say during the day is the way to go.