Taking bikes into the hotel...

[Blue_Fedora]

I tried the search function but didn't find anything so I'm starting a new thread :)

DH and I are doing our first century ride this weekend and it's about 3hrs from home. We've booked a room at the local Mariott for 2 nights and I'm curious what others have done regarding their bikes.

We're definitely unwilling to leave them on the bike rack of our car in the parking lot... I'm assuming it's ok to bring our bikes in and leave them in our room. After all it's not contraband (e.g. drugs) and not against hotel policy (e.g. pets) so I can't imagine the hotel would have an issue... especially if we're discreet about it.

What have others done in this situation?

Thanks!

[Veronica]

Brought them in the room.

Be careful not to mar up the walls.


Veronica

[tulip]

I've never had any problems. I usually use the side entrance. I definitely do not ask--just do it. Don't use hotel towels to clean your chain or anything!

[pumpkinpony]

I've taken my bikes into plenty of hotels. The only place I got some dirty looks was at a Marriott in downtown Chicago. I was on one of the upper floors, so was having to take the bike up and down via the elevator. :D

[OakLeaf]

I've washed my bike in the shower at a Super 8 after a particularly wet and gritty day. :cool:

Used TP and shampoo to clean up afterward, didn't leave any stains.

[shootingstar]

We tend to ask.

We've done alot of bike trips and staying at hotels, motels.

99% of time either in rm. allowed or a secure area is provided by hotel. It may be abit awkward but not impossible.

In Copenhagen now: Our bikes are in a conference meeting area which is currently unused. They are double locked to one another.

In Karslruhe, Gemany: in an inner courtyard. Bikes double-locked to one another. Area was near front reception where it was always staffed. Guests had to ask for their rm. key each time they were instructed to leave with reception when leaving hotel for a few hrs.

In Freiburg, Germany: in a near medieval like basement that was retrofitted but had locked door for bike storage areas.

In Cesky Krumlov, Czech: in a storage supplies area of a store owned by hotel operator. We had to be REAL careful not to knock over retail figurines. They had another couple with bikes too. So 4 bikes in store. Store is staffed when open all the time. Their hotel staircase was too narrow.

In Strasbourg: in our hotel rm.
In Prague: in our hotel rm.

In some places, the staircase or elevator is just too narrow, so a cyclist just has to deal with hotel's options. Particularily true in Europe or heritage buildings.

[Thorn]

We tend not to ask, just do. Like others have said, use the side entrance and stairs, if possible so as to not inconvenience people needing the elevator. Treat the hotel room like your house--make sure to put something between the bike and the wall so you don't leave a mark.

The way I look at it, my bike is no dirtier than most people's wheeled luggage. And, if I'm careful with it in the room, my bike is cleaner and less damaging on the room than some people's children.

That said, if I stay in a smaller hotel or a B&B I always ask. In that case we've used the garage or a locked conference room. But, big hotels? My bike stays with me.

[ColoKate]

Doesn't hurt to ask - sometimes they'll offer private locked storage.

[Zen]

Just do it.
Sometimes forgiveness is easier than permission

[katherine]

When we stayed at a Mariott (I assume the rules are the same for all Mariotts) last winter we had the bellmen lock our kids bikes in the bell closet and we brought our mountain bikes, dirt, grease and everything to the room. Through the lobby and up the elevator daily. No one seemed to mind, we did have to resist the urge to ride over the golf course greens, I don't think that would have gone over very well.
Enjoy your trip and good luck on the ride!

[Veronica]

DH and I are doing our first century ride this weekend and it's about 3hrs from home. We've booked a room at the local Mariott for 2 nights and I'm curious what others have done regarding their bikes.



What century are you doing?

Veronica

[Blue_Fedora]

What century are you doing?

Veronica

It's the Fiesta Metric Century down in San Diego.
I've done 58.5 mi at one stretch before so I'm not all that worried about the distance... it's more the terrain that concerns me.

[loopybunny]

I've never had an issue, but there were also many other guests at the hotels with their bikes.

The last time I did this, someone left a pretty nice Cervelo on their roof rack in Santa Rosa. I was actually surprised the bike was still there in the morning. However, I'd never leave my bike out of my eyesite like that.

[Veronica]

It's the Fiesta Metric Century down in San Diego.
I've done 58.5 mi at one stretch before so I'm not all that worried about the distance... it's more the terrain that concerns me.


Have fun! I was curious about what ride it was since we like going "away" for rides and So. California qualifies as "away." Alas, I have a tri this weekend. :p

It looks like it's only in it's second year, so let us know what it's like.


Veronica

[OakLeaf]

Whenever I've stayed in a hotel in connection with an organized ride like you're doing, there have been many people taking their bikes in.

[Blue_Fedora]

Have fun! I was curious about what ride it was since we like going "away" for rides and So. California qualifies as "away." Alas, I have a tri this weekend. :p

It looks like it's only in it's second year, so let us know what it's like.


Veronica

How fantastic! Long term... my goal is to do tri's. The biggest obstacle right now is a serious issue with open water swimming (oh and did I mention my intense loathing of running? LOL!)

[Veronica]

How fantastic! Long term... my goal is to do tri's. The biggest obstacle right now is a serious issue with open water swimming (oh and did I mention my intense loathing of running? LOL!)

There are some great tris up here in Nor Cal - with freshwater swimming. I grew up in Maine and one does NOT swim in the ocean in Maine. But lakes, rivers and ponds... woohoo!

The one I'm doing this weekend is the Trek for Women. It's being held at a nice park where I've done 3 other tris and fit my schedule. It looks like a good series for starting out though. They have swim buddies in the water to help you out if needed.

They are doing one in Palm Springs Oct. 10. Just saying...:D

Veronica

[MtnBikerChk]

RE: the hotel thing

just do it!!

we've done it just outside DC (elevator), MD, NC and ME. Nobody really cares as long as you make an effort to show you are being respectful of other people and the hotel property.

and on the NC trip, we had both the mtb and the roadies LOL. The room was barely big enough for the bikes plus us!

[Kiwi Stoker]

We have always taken our bikes in the room. We usually bring an old sheet to put on the floor.

Have had some strange looks in regards to getting the tandem in the lift (this would work for any bike BTW that doesn't fit in a lift). Lift the front of the bike in the air and wheel it in on the back wheel. Usually lifts have enought height. Just hold the bike up so it doesn't touch the nice lift walls and you can get in anywhere.

[Aggie_Ama]

Take them in, usually up the stairs. We usually stay at Holiday Inn Express and they have ridiculously tight elevators. When we went to New Mexico two years ago we had two mountain bikes and two road bikes, all went in with us! Our lodge owner thought it was cool, he wanted to know where we were riding and what we saw.

We stayed at both a Hampton and Holiday Inn Express during mountain bike season, always ended up having other bikers there and the hotel didn't even blink an eye at all the bikes coming in.

[GLC1968]

We've always brought them in, too. Except when we stayed at the Bicycle Inn and they provided 'parking' for bikes. ;) Actually, now that I think about it, we've had issues at a couple of B&B type places, so we do ask in those situations. Big chain hotels? Just do it.

On our trip across the country, we had two bikes, two dogs and a cat to 'sneak' in the side stairs every night. OMG, what a nightmare that was!

[Bike Chick]

We've always taken them in. Used a side door and the stairs and never had a problem. We get funny looks but no one has ever said anything.

[Tri Girl]

like everyone has said: you shouldn't have a problem.

We stayed at a really posh hotel in Destin one time (booked for cheap on Priceline) and even they didn't blink an eye.

At the hotel in the Grand Canyon- it specifically noted "no bikes" in the room. We just took the wheels off and put them in the backseat for a few days- no problem.

Have fun on your century!!! :)

[Blueberry]

Here's a funny prior thread on this issue: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=31501&highlight=Hotel

We usually just bring them in too. Rarely a dirty look, sometimes interested questions. The Fridays confuse people - they come in a suitcase and leave as a bike:D

[Blue_Fedora]

Thanks for the link, Blueberry :)

[Eden]

We take our bikes into hotels all the time at races. No one ever blinks - though yes, we usually avoid wheeling them right past the reception desk if we can.... but really most of our races are in pretty small towns. The whole town usually knows there's a bike race and knows all the rooms are booked for it.

When we were touring in Spain and staying in small places we always asked about secure bike storage and were generally provided a nice spot in a storage room or garage.

[Biciclista]

we always just wheel them in, past the reception desk, whatever.
We attended a tandem rally a few years back, and tandem bikes did not fit in the escalators.. The hotel management had us all park our tandems in their dining room!! Entering that diningroom in the morning with all those bikes was very impressive.

but normally on our single bikes, we rent a room with two beds, one bed is for our stuff and the other for us. There's usually plenty of room for two bikes.

[Blue_Fedora]

Glad to report back that we had no trouble at all. The hotel was right next to the San Diego Convention Center where a major convention was being held. Our room was on the 23rd floor (of 25) so we didn't use the stairs :) We entered and exited thru the rear/side doors and had no problems with the elevators.

The ride itself was GREAT and we finished all 100km of it! We'd definitely do this one again and it was really nice making a weekend out of it :)

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

[Tri Girl]

Yeah- walking it up 23 flights of stairs doesn't sound too fun. ;)

Congrats on your ride! Glad to hear it went well. :D

[Bike Chick]

We just took ours in this week on our way to Hilton Head. Just never had a problem with it.

[MtnBikerChk]

Yeah- walking it up 23 flights of stairs doesn't sound too fun. ;)



but riding down......... ;)

[MommyBird]

Congrats on the accomplishment!

We take our bikes in the room. We try to use a side entrance but will roll through a lobby too.
When my hubby did Mitchell in April the halls of the Marriott were crawling with bikes.
My biggest fear was our dog. We made a last minute decision to take him because we would be in our Airstream for two nights and forgot about the one night in a hotel.
He is extremely well behaved and unusually quiet for a dog and all went well.

[Desert Tortoise]

When we took a long trip to Montana and Wyoming, we took our mountain bikes into the hotel rooms without asking. B&Bs we did ask and they even had a place for us to park them and lock them.

Since it was our first time (and only since) we did not know how safe they would be in the hotel while we were out hiking so we locked them to each other. We put them opposite of each other, front wheel of one to the rear wheel of the other. Ran the locks through frames, wheels. If someone wanted to take them I guess they could, it just would not be easy.