I'll be passing through Amarillo on a road trip with the family. Any recommendations on a hotel? Any parts of town to stay away from? On a whim I checked out the crime stats for the hotel I was about to book, and holy smokes. It seemed like a war zOne. I figured small town no issues. Wow.

Hotels north of I-40 and west of Coulter should be solid. Courtyard, Holiday Inn, Drury, etc.

If you want a quiet place, drive 12 miles south on I-27 to Canyon and stay at the Best Western or the Holiday Inn Express on 4th Avenue (TX 217). Probably a little cheaper than any good place on I-40. Eat dinner at Feldman's.

quote:

---

I checked out the crime stats for the hotel I was about to book, and holy smokes. It seemed like a war zOne

---

I don't suppose that was the Camelot Inn on the east side, eh?

Agree with above. Avoid east Amarillo and Amarillo Blvd. Anything in the west Medical complex area should be fine, which is west of Coulter, as above. West of Coulter and south of I-40 would be fine, but all the hotels are north of I-40. Go figure. One exception would be the hotel at I-27 and Hollywood is newer and probably nice.

Most of Amarillo is safe, as long as you stay off the east side and east Amarillo Blvd at night. Anything from I-27 west should be okay most anytime, as long as you don't stray too far north of I-40.

Frankly, there are few neighborhoods I avoid at any time of day.

Tacos Garcia on Ross is worth a trip to the east side of town, as would be Coyote Bluff.

Wouldn't mind having you in the neighborhood here in Canyon, as BBH said. I would probably travel the southern route, anyway:

College Station-Temple-Highway 36 to Abilene, I-20 to Sweetwater, US84 to Lubbock, I-27 to Amarillo.

Google maps tells me it would be 31 miles further that way, but you avoid I-35 traffic and downtown Ft. Worth. Once past Denton, 287 is pretty good, open and fast. But you have to scrupulously obey the speed limit in all the little towns on the way.

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 8/7/2012 5:54p).]

PD Canyon and Amarillo recs

Panhandle Photos

More PD Canyon recs- as well as other area attractions and favorite drives

Coyote Bluff Thread

If CB is closed, Blue Sky at I-40 and Western is a GREAT hamburger place.

Coyote Bluff web site

Blue Sky web site

More area recs as well as a little about Johnson Mesa in New Mexico

FTW to AMA

Thanks for the help!

We've stayed at the Courtyard in the restored old building in downtown two or three times. Nice hotel.

That was the first hotel I stayed here before we moved from Houston. I like the hotel and the area.

Ambassador I-40 at Georgia/Julian

drury inn is losing the battle against bedbugs.

Holiday Inn Express on I-27 and Hollywood is quality. And any of the hotels off of I-40 between Western and Soncy should be safe enough.

Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of '15

Canyon, when did 287 go through Denton? Maybe Decatur. I need to try your southern route. I know that's a fast way to Temple, though.

Ooops. Decatur, not Denton. Been to both a lot, so I get them mixed.

Howdy Spider69,
For some reason Texags will not let me private message you so I'm just hoping you might see this or another member might send to you. I came across an old post discussing Spider D and I would love to get in contact with you. My goal is to try to bridge the gap between the Spiders, Classes of '56-'72 and '98-'13, using social media, etc. You can email me at bcstringer at aggierugby dot com or send me a message through Texags.

Gig em!
Cody Stringer '98

[This message has been edited by bcstringer (edited 4/8/2013 6:06p).]

quote:

---

For some reason Texags will not let me private message

---

The reason is that you don't have any stars. You have to pay to be at least a basic level supporter to send PMs.

I'll send him one alerting him to this thread.

Troy's Tractors dot com

[This message has been edited by CanyonAg77 (edited 4/9/2013 7:22a).]

Great thread!

I'm starting grad school at WT in the fall.

I'm moving from the Austin area. New to the canyon/amarillo area.

Any advice on finding a rent house in amarillo ? I've started looking on Craigslist.

Also is there an active aggie club up there?


Thanks

Canyon,
You are too young to have enjoyed the SMU or TCU CorpsTrips & Corps party with a Pig Push date from Denton. Then your memories of Denton might have faded some.

spider-

I think my fish year was the last Pig Push. Seems like one fish bud went, and it was about like you would expect.

dimebox -

Don't have any brilliant ideas, though there are several property management companies around that could help you. There really aren't any bad areas (unsafe) in Canyon, though you should avoid a 1-2 block area either side of the railroad tracks due to 50-60 high speed trains a day. Also the area west of the southbound tracks to Lubbock is pretty trashy.

If you pick Amarillo, stay south of I-40 to minimize travel time to WT. And while commuting between Amarillo and Canyon is child's play compared to any big city, it still gets bad around 6am and 5pm.

In general, the nicer parts of Amarillo are to the south and west, though there are exceptions.

quote:

---

And while commuting between Amarillo and Canyon is child's play compared to any big city, it still gets bad around 6am and 5pm.

---

Having grown up in Canyon and now a commuter from Brazoria County into Houston for the past 20+ years, I'm just dying to see some photos of that gnarly Amarillo/Canyon traffic ...

The only bad traffic I remember from my Canyon days was every Friday night when it seemed that every licensed driver at CHS who owned or had access to a set of wheels (hot or not) was making an infinite number of north/south circuits on 23rd street between McDonald's and Sonic ... (even in spite of the dramatic increase in the cost of gasoline from about $0.30 per gallon to $0.65 gallon, in the aftermath of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo)

[This message has been edited by BrazosBendHorn (edited 4/16/2013 8:48a).]

Well I'm from Austin so I'm sure the traffic can't be too much worse

I'm prob gonna pick amarillo just because I'm assuming there will be more to do. (Restaurants, night life, etc)

Everyone I've talked to has advised to avoid the NE part of town.

Thanks for the discussion!