Location
The workshop will be held on the University of Michigan’s central campus on the 10th floor of Weiser Hall, located at 500 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (Google map). Here is a PDF of U-M’s Central Campus Map.
City of Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor is a city of about 114,000 residents, not counting UM students. It is conveniently served by the Detroit Metro Airport, which is only 30 minutes away from UM and has plenty of direct flights to all over the world. Ann Arbor is a treed river city built on moderately hilly land that slopes down to the Huron River. Rental boating and other recreational activities on the river are popular and there is a large UM Arboretum along the banks of the river, within walking distance of the UM central campus. The UM central campus is spacious, peaceful, treed and park-like. It is part of the downtown of Ann Arbor as University areas and restaurants, retail and offices intermix. Many of the downtown streets are also treed. There are hotels located within a one- to two-block walk of the conference venue. Thus attendees will find themselves housed within easy walking distance both of the meeting itself and the downtown, which offers safe and pleasant evening strolling to many local businesses and restaurants of all price levels and cuisines, catering to UM students and Ann Arbor residents. Most restaurants feature outdoor sidewalk seating in good weather.
Destination Ann Arbor, the city’s convention and visitors bureau has a great website outlining hotels, restaurants and events the city has to offer.
Local Hotels
Some notes on hotels. The closest/best hotel is probably The Graduate Hotel Ann Arbor just a few blocks from the event venue. Other downtown hotels are The Bell Tower Hotel, The Inn at the Michigan League (which is in a University of Michigan building) and the Residence Inn by Marriott Ann Arbor Downtown. The Residence Inn is near Main Street, which is a bit of a walk from the event venue but definitely doable.
These are the only ‘traditional’ hotels in the downtown area. They are also on the high price side. You will find many hotels south on State Street near Hwy 94, and on the west and east sides of town, and they are fine but you will need transport to get into downtown. They will offer lower prices points. Here are some of them:
The Kensington Hotel is a good option in the south hotel area which is near HWY 94 and South State Street. It runs about $179 per night at that time of year. They state that Uber, Lyft, Taxi are the best ways to get downtown. Though there are bus stops on State Street. The Ann Arbor Regent Hotel and Suites is another option. It is a two minute walk to the bus station to get downtown. Summer rooms look to be around $120/night. The area is nothing special but the hotel is nice.
There are several other hotels near the Kensington Hotel, and they will be similar with regard to getting downtown. The Kensington Hotel is 3.2 miles away, so if you are game, it is walkable. And definitely bikable. A lower cost option in this area is
Extended Stay America. There are other hotels that may have a better weekly rate in the South State Street area, and up in the Northeast of the city is a Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham which has ‘free shuttle service‘. They say it runs on demand 7am-3pm. It runs around $127 during July.
The Hampton Inn Ann Arbor South is also a good option, as it is generally a quality hotel with free breakfast (some of the others above offer free breakfast also). It runs around $135 per night during this time.
If you want to be downtown and don’t want to pay the high rates for the downtown hotels, there are all sorts of B&B’s, AirBnB’s, VRBO’s etc., to explore. There is even this new, fancy, apartment style place: Exhibit A2
If you have a place in mind that you have found, feel free to contact Linda Wood at [email protected] to learn more about it.
Parking
Parking in Ann Arbor
The closest parking is in the Forest Street City Public Parking Structure on 650 South Forest Street. Current cost is $1.20 per hour.
From Detroit Metro Airport to Ann Arbor
The trip between Detroit Metro Airport and Ann Arbor takes approximately 30-40 minutes. Taxis are available at the airport and cost around $80.
The most economical option is to take a shuttle:
Air Ride Airport Service
Ann Arbor Airport Shuttle