Us -200 guys stayed at the Townplace suites (by Marriot) in Minny during our initial 3-week session of ground training and then at the Comfort Suites in Denver for our 2nd 3-week session of SIM.

The Townplace had a nice kitchen and descent service throughout my stay. Don't try and cook bacon though...I turned on the oven fan and all it did was blow it right back in your face. My first Saturday off, I tried to get fancy and cook myself breakfast and I set the fire alarm off in the whole building causing everyone to evacuate at like 8am. The chief fireman had to come inspect my room..."First time cooking here?" LOL...no more bacon for me.

The Comfort Suites in Denver was nice too, no kitchen though. I got a little tired of microwaving all my food. The CAE training center was within walking distance and most restaurants are as well. Not a great mountain view outside the window, but you can see them about 40 miles to the west if you look on a clear day. We frequented Uno's restaurant about every other night...great happy hour from 4-7pm (2-for-1 drinks and 1/2 price appetizers) and then again from 10pm to close. There's also a pizza place (Anthony's) where you flash your badge and you can score two HUGE slices of pizza fro $4 and $1 buds. We went for about a 5 mile walk to a nature center on a couple nice days and saw some nice deer walking through the area. A complementary shuttle is available to cart guests over to Walmart to stock up on groceries. And there was FREE breakfast provided every day (make-your-own waffles, cereal 24/7, juice/coffee, toast/bagels, eggs/sausage, etc...). And to celebrate our checkrides, we all went over to Outback steakhouse...awesome! They had a tiny jacuzzi and a 4ft deep pool that I didn't swim in (too small). The internet was fast enough to satisfy and we got complimentary USA Today papers everyday. The room service staff kept things tidy for me on a daily basis too.

I'm sure not all hotels will be like that, but that wasn't too bad for being holed up for 3-weeks.