Help decide on hotel/restaurant

Please help...I have a very bad back and can%26#39;t be at computer for more than a few mins. at a time. I need to decide between 3 hotels for hubby%26#39;s business trip. Doubletree Hotel, Dearborn, Hyatt Place Detroit/Livonia, and Embassy Suites Detroit/Livonia/Novi. I know all have pools, fitness but which is best/best(safe)location. He will be commuting toEast Bethune St. Also any good ';local';(non-chain) restaurants, and possible parks/jogging trails? THANKs for any/all help, would research myself but ';the back';!!!

Help decide on hotel/restaurant

Bethune is in the city of Detroit and all three hotels are in the suburbs, all of them in safe areas. Of the three, the Doubletree would be the closest commute for him, about 20 minutes each way. Dearborn has a number of national chain and also non-chain (or local chain) restaurants. In Dearborn, I could recommend Andiamo and Ciao for Italian, Miller%26#39;s Bar for burgers, Crave for trendy, Annam for Vietnamese, Mongolian BBQ for, well, Mongolian BBQ, Big Fish for seafood, for a start. Dearborn has lots of Arab restaurants as well.

The Hyatt Place and Embassy Suites are about 20-25 minutes west of Dearborn in an area with lots of shopping (two malls) and dozens of restaurants, most of them national chains. I am a little hard-pressed to think of a uniquely local restaurant in that area (I lived there for many years and travel there 3 times a week now), but some of the national chains are fairly good. Andiamo is a good local chain (I recommended them in Dearborn as well) with a location very close to both the Hyatt Place and Embassy Suites.

Drive time to Bethune Street from the Hyatt Place or Embassy Suites would be 35-45 minutes, depending upon time of day and traffic.

Downtown Detroit has a nice, safe area known as Greektown where your husband would have his choice of a number of Greek and other restaurants, could drop by the casino, etc.

Hope that this helps.

Help decide on hotel/restaurant

Embassy Suites is in a good safe location, but is more isolated from restaurants, stores.

Hyatt Place is in a very safe location also, and near huge numbers of restaurants, theaters, shopping of all kinds including grocery stores for room beverages, snacks.

Hyatt is also fairly close to the quaint downtown areas of Northville and Plymouth, and also near Hines Park drive, a miles-long park area for jogging, etc.

Box Bar in Plymouth is a casual restaurant for good sandwiches, on the park in Plymouth. Starting Gate bar is great for pizza, Center St in Northville. Alexanders near 7 Mile and Haggerty Rds has great quality food in a semi-casual atmosphere.

Both hotels are near quick access to I-96, to downtown Detroit.

Dearborn hotel may not be as safe as the other two. Hines Park runs from Northville to Dearborn, but is not as safe at the Dearborn end.

For proximity, I would go with the Dearborn location. The other locations will add 20-25 min to the drive each way. Check the reviews here on TA.

As tylerarb indicated, Dearborn%26#39;s West Village has a lot of good non-chain restos and Miller%26#39;s Bar, farther along Michigan Ave, was voted as having one of the burgers you should eat before you die by GQ magazine.

Downtown Detroit would be the closest, but I take it that the hotels there are not on your radar...

Don%26#39;t know about jogging trails or parks. I can check and get back to you.

I agree that the Doubletree would be quickest commute. I think they also have a shuttle to nearby shopping and attractions if you%26#39;ll be hanging around the hotel while he%26#39;s at work.

If you choose Dearborn, you can also try Buddy%26#39;s. They have deep-dish pizza, sandwiches and pasta. It%26#39;s a local chain, and I believe they also have a location in Livonia.

Another great restaurant in Dearborn is Westpoint Barbecue on Michigan Avenue between Telegraph Rd and Gulley. It%26#39;s pretty plain from the outside, but the food is great and you%26#39;ll have enough for lunch the following day.

For jogging, you could try the Henry Ford Community College and U of M-Dearborn Campuses. They%26#39;re around a mile southwest of the Doubletree.

Just to give you more geographical orientation, the Embassy Suites is just north of 7-Mile Road and about 100 yards east of I-275. It is a safe but not very exciting area of office buildings, a restaurant and open spaces. The Hyatt Place is about 1/4 mile west of I-275 and also north of 7-Mile Road (but closer to that street than the Embassy Suites hotel is.

The area near the Hyatt Place basically consists of a very large (1/2 mile?) parking lot with commercial buildings around the perimeter. One of those buildings is the Hyatt Place, another is a 21-screen movie theatre and the rest consists of national or multi-state chain restaurants, all of which are walkable from the Hyatt. The restaurants are brands you likely know: Bahama Breeze, J. Alexander, Champps, Romano%26#39;s Macaroni Grill. A mile south of there, you will find more national or multi-state chains: Bravo, Fleming%26#39;s, Mitchell%26#39;s, Papa Vino%26#39;s, P. F. Chang%26#39;s, among others.

As several of us have mentioned, both of these hotels are roughly double the distance to where your husband has to go, compared with the Doubletree. I don%26#39;t consider the Doubletree to be unsafe, but the nearby neighborhood isn%26#39;t as nice as the other two hotels. Hines Park is about 2 miles away and isn%26#39;t an unsafe area to ride or job. I ride my bike there all of the time. I agree that jogging on or near the college campuses (actually even closer than Hines Park) would be a great option.

One thing to know about staying to the west of Detroit, and driving to ';work'; in the New Center area (Bethune St) is that you get to drive into the sun both ways. Not my idea of fun.

Dearborn is at least closer than Livonia, so that much less time needs to be spent squinting through the glare.

In Dearborn I%26#39;d try to stay at The Dearborn Inn (it%26#39;s a Marriott) if at all possible. They have expansive grounds you could probably jog around. Use this link http://tinyurl.com/dk648e, then click on ';360 lawns and gardens'; for a look around.

There%26#39;s a dedicated pedestrian/bicycle trail very nearby-- message me for details.

The Dearborn Inn is very near The Henry Ford museum complex (http://www.thehenryford.org), and a long-ish walk or very short drive to the West Dearborn business district. There you%26#39;ll find a variety of restaurants, independent and chain, in a variety of price ranges-- as well as coffee shops, etc. http://tinyurl.com/cpw74h

Just a couple miles to the north is an area that%26#39;s very middle-eastern, with some wonderful arabic restaurants and a very special pastry shop/cafe, Shatila. yelp.com/biz/shatila-food-products-dearborn, http://www.yelp.com/biz/al-ameer-dearborn

Not too far to the east (toward downtown Detroit) is a hispanic neighborhood with many interesting restaurants-- from taco stands to more elaborate sit-down places to ones with live entertainment such as mariachi bands. Here are a few examples-- http://tinyurl.com/clc7gt,

http://tinyurl.com/dnb4dy, http://www.yelp.com/biz/las-brisas-detroit

Almost ';on the way home'; from Bethune St to Dearborn is Slow%26#39;s, a very popular independent BBQ restaurant. http://www.yelp.com/biz/slows-bar-bq-detroit

There is the St. Regis Hotel in the New Center area.

Doubletree has a newly restored hotel downtown, the Fort-Shelby, which would be a very quick commute to the new center area.

Personally, I%26#39;d rather stay downtown than the options you are picking between now. Quicker commute, nicer hotels, more to do.