Need help with where to stay for college visits

My husband, I and 2 kids (ages 15 %26amp; 11) will be flying into Raleigh/Durham visiting colleges from Wednesday, 2/20 to Saturday, 2/23. We plan to visit

Elon University, U of N.C. Chapel Hill and Duke. Do you think that it would make sense to use one hotel as a home base, or should we change hotels according to which school we are visiting? So far I%26#39;ve checked the Hampton/Burlington at $ 145.00 per night which might work for us as a central location. I could really use some recommendations as we are not familiar with the area at all! Thanks!

Need help with where to stay for college visits

From the farthest east (dook) to farthest west (Elon), there is only about a 30 mile and 30-40 minute driving distance. As a result, I believe you should just pick one hotel for your entire trip.

I would recommend you stay either in Durham or Chapel Hill rather than Burlington as you%26#39;ll have many more options. Have you looked at the Courtyard by Marriott in Chapel Hill or the Hampton Inn at I-40/Hwy 54 on the Durham/Chapel Hill border? Either of those hotels is only 5 minutes from UNC, 10-15 minutes from dook, and 30 to 40 minutes from Elon.

Need help with where to stay for college visits

That rate is excessively high! You can beat that. I always enjoy the Sheraton in Chapel Hill. Great hotel and very convenient.Best wishes.

Yeah, staying in the Chapel Hill/Durham area would be the wiser course...not too far from RDU airport, but not even an hour from Elon either.

US 15/501 corridor on the CH/Dur border area has several, which gives you good access to I-40 too.

And, as a plus, for evenings....dining, etc...you%26#39;ll find MUCH better options in Durham %26amp; Chapel Hill than you will in the Burlington/Elon area.

Ok, I%26#39;ll definately look at the areas. Any suggestions on what to do when we are not visiting colleges?

Well, there%26#39;s a nice Planetarium adjacent to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Both UNC and Duke have nice botanical gardens too. (Duke%26#39;s especially is interesting cuz it has an Oriental garden area.) For other outdoor activities, Eno River State Park is very pleasant, too.

And Durham has a real nice Life %26amp; Science Museum that%26#39;s real popular among families...they even have live animals like foxes and such.

Both UNC and Duke have nice ';College streets'; with cafes, shops, etc that make for a nice stroll....good for people-watching and taking in the local flavor. UNC%26#39;s is Franklin Street, and Duke%26#39;s is Ninth Street.

Thanks RaleighRob! Franklin and Ninth Streets sound like something we%26#39;d really like. Let%26#39;s hope for good weather. I%26#39;m thinking that February in NC is got to be better than what we have up here in Philly this time of year.

Do you have any recommendations for restaurants? Casual is best. And any other tips would be great. This whole college visit thing is new to us. We are basically winging it so far.

And one more thing, our 11 yr. old son is a UNC and Duke nut. (yes, he likes both equally!) I guess the best places to pick up sweatshirts/hats/etc. is on the campuses, yes?

How can your 11-yr old like Carolina AND dook? Kids!

In Chapel Hill, I%26#39;d recommend walking up and down Franklin Street (which is sadly not as good as it used to be), going to the Carolina Basketball Museum (located in a building next door to the Dean Smith Center), POSSIBLY seeing a show at the planetarium (unfortunately, the planetarium is outdated and in need of major remodeling), walking along the campus, the Hanes Art Center, and the NC Arboretum. For souveniers, you should check out the UNC Student Stores on the campus or Carolina Pride, Johnny T-Shirt, and Chapel Hill Sportswear on Franklin Street.

For casual meals, I%26#39;d recommend Breadman%26#39;s or Elmo%26#39;s for breakfast all day or square meals; Pepper%26#39;s, Brixx, or Italian Pizzeria III for pizza; and Sutton%26#39;s Drug Store for burgers (and to look at all the photos inside this authentic lunch counter), and Carrburrito%26#39;s for Mexican.

In Durham, I%26#39;d recommend the Museum of Life and Science and Nasher Art Museum.

lol! I know, what does a kid from Philadelphia know about NC basketball. You gotta love him. We just have to make sure he wears the right sweatshirt on the right campus :) Oh, and by the way, much to our chagrin, he is also a huge Panthers fan!

Anyway, thanks everybody for the suggestions. I am going to make my airline/hotel reservations today. If I think of anything else, I%26#39;ll let you know.

M.

Please share your hotel review (Chapel Hill recommendations activites %26amp; food) upon your return. We have SW flights from PHL booked Mar 16 to tour UNC with my daughter who is accepted for class of 2008. No hotel selected as yet. Thank you %26amp; have a good trip!

Healer3,

Congratulations to your daughter! It looks as if we will be staying one night in Chapel Hill and one night in Burlington. I was able to get the Burlington Hampton Inn @ $120 per night and a Chapel Hill Hampton @ $90. Not horrible pricing. When you do start planning, make sure to say that you are visiting UNC to get a lower visitors%26#39; rate. Also, as a side note, Elon University has a special deal with Thrifty Car Rental. Just get the code from the Elon website under the ';visitors'; tab. We saved a bunch of money this way.

I will let you know how we make out. If for some reason I forget, just email me.

Maria