Duluth Spirit Mountain Red Roof Inn

Family members had used this hotel as their marathon lodging last year and they made our reservations for us this year, though the cancelled out on coming along. By the name of the hotel and the website, I was expecting this to be a resort-type place....boy, was I wrong!

Granted, compared to the prices of the hotels in the city proper, this hotel was a good deal. But having said that, the hotel was very sub-standard in comparison to its price.

The location is approximately a 10-15 minute drive from the hotel to the Expo center, where packet pickup and the spaghetti dinner are held. There is a Country Kitchen restaurant next to the hotel (not attached) and a small gas station/store, which was literally named "The Little Store."

The room was clean and decorated in a north minnesota style. The patio door on our room was broken, so we couldn't leave the window open without letting in the infamous minnesota mosquitos.

Normal price for queen hotel room: $79, Grandma's Marathon price: $140

Unique Quality: The hotel has a pool (didn't see) and a hot tub. The hot tub was a great relief to the runners after the race and actually wasn't as full as I had expected it to be on Saturday evening.

We were supposed to get "continential breakfast," but instead they threw out a tupperware tote full of day-old, refridgerated muffins and a bowl of old, stale donut holes. They didn't even bother to lay them out so they looked nice! You would have thought that they would have put out some bagels, bananas, etc for the runners who were leaving at 5:30am to go run.

Including a indoor pool as well as the normal ammenities. Stayed here with about 100 other people one summer and the hotel was able to keep things running smoothly even in the off-season.

Unique Quality: Duluth is a great ski town. Tucked in between Lake Superior and a towering forested ridgeline, it has long, legendary winters and Spirit Mountain. One of the greatest "surburban" ski areas in the heartland, Spirit offers a big 700-foot vertical drop, seven lifts including a high-speed quad, 22 runs and two terrain parks spread out over close to 200 acres. Spirit's assests include a sea of some of the finest "blue cruisers" around the Great Lakes and its great views of the city and harbor. The sprawl of twinkling city lights at night is one of the greatest night skiing views anywhere

Directions: Just West of Duluth, past the West side of the city and up the interstate a little way. About 5 miles down I-35. Its a short cab right away from downtown.

Including a indoor pool as well as the normal ammenities. Stayed here with about 100 other people one summer and the hotel was able to keep things running smoothly even in the off-season.

Unique Quality: Duluth is a great ski town. Tucked in between Lake Superior and a towering forested ridgeline, it has long, legendary winters and Spirit Mountain. One of the greatest "surburban" ski areas in the heartland, Spirit offers a big 700-foot vertical drop, seven lifts including a high-speed quad, 22 runs and two terrain parks spread out over close to 200 acres. Spirit's assests include a sea of some of the finest "blue cruisers" around the Great Lakes and its great views of the city and harbor. The sprawl of twinkling city lights at night is one of the greatest night skiing views anywhere

Directions: Just West of Duluth, past the West side of the city and up the interstate a little way. About 5 miles down I-35. Its a short cab right away from downtown.