The Layover Guide Book
 

hey all... i have made an overnight hotel guide for about 200+ airports that crews are using nationwide. It will be small enough to fit in your kitbag (just slightly bigger than those little red crew logbooks). It should be published by the end of this year hopefully.... Here is a little taste for those of you that are interested....

Washington DC- Reagan
Holiday Inn Airport
Phone: 703-684-7200
Address: 2650 Jefferson Davis Highway ZIP-22202
Number of Floors: 11
Number of Rooms: 280
Van Times: Every Fifteen Minutes on the hour
Average Time travel from Hotel to Airport: 5 minutes
Non-Smoking Rooms-YES
Smoking Rooms-YES
Hotel Gym-yes 1st Floor (3 levels up from Lobby)
(Treadmills, Stairclimbers, Stationary Bikes, Dumbells 5-50lbs
Pool- Yes (outdoor only)
Hot Tub- NO
Best Place to Lay in the Sun: Outdoor pool deck
Room Internet- Eithernet Cable
Public Computers- Yes, 2 in lobby at entrance
Private Crew Business Center-NO
Hotel Resturant- YES. (2) An Old Fashioned Diner and A Sportsbar With Food
Hotel Bar- YES
Hotel Food Crew Voucher- NO
Free Continental Breakfast- NO
Food within walking distance:
McDonalds- Next Door
2 Blocks north, then one block West, small strip of local restaurants and a Subway.
Bars within walking Distance: not any worth going to.
Night Time Walking Near Hotel: Be Cautious (Safe, Usually Safe, Be Cautious, Not Safe)
Distance to Downtown DC: 4 miles, 10 minute cab ride, approx. 20-25 min jog to city
Short Stay TO DO: Crystal City Shopping mall is less than a 10 minute walk. Hotel Desk can give you walking directions.
Long Stay TO DO: Go Into Downtown DC. Take hotel van back to the airport. Get on METRO train at Airport and take Yellow Line towards Mt. Vernon or Fort Totten. Transfer to Orange Line at L’Enfant Plaza (take Orange Line Towards New Carrolton) and get off at Smithsonian to be right on the National Mall (don’t be confused by the name, it is really just a big chunk of grass in between the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building). Other exit is stay on Yellow Line from airport and exit at Gallery Place/China Town. Gallery Place/China Town has GREAT FOOD, a giant AMC movie theater, The Verizon Center (for Washington Wizards Basketball, Washington Capitals Hockey and other events). The Smithsonian stop will put you at the Capitol Building, the Washington Monument, all of the Smithsonian Museums including Air and Space Museum (NOT the same as Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport), and the Holocaust Museum. Also at Smithsonian stop within a 5-10 minute walk: The White House, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Wall, Library of Congress, and The Supreme Court, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial. A $5 METRO Card should cover you round trip into the city and back to the airport. There are signs at the entrance of METRO at airport that shows you the fees to each stop (some times are peak and off peak times are a few cents cheaper so look closely at the times to see how much to get on your METRO card).
Hotel Rating: 2/5
Overnight Rating: 3/5

I'd buy it. Only problem is different companies stay in different hotel chains in some cases.

I have a few crew members from other company's working on the same thing so we can put them all together later on down the road. Hopefully in a year from now after the first book comes out, it will be about time for the second book to come out and we will have 3 or 4 times more hotels and overnights... we plan on putting out a new book about once a year....

If the DC overnight gets a 3/5 rating, what does DSM get?

Post edited......

I dont understand why people complain about DCA being a bad overnight. The hotel isnt good, we know that. But I've seen plenty of other people just sit around in a hotel all day because there is nothing directly next door to the hotel to do. That is part of the reason I made this book so people who know what there is to do and where to go to get there.

That's my point. I don't understand why you gave DC such a seemingly low rating. If the nation's capital only gets 3/5, where do I have to go to get a 5?
...and don't you dare say Amsterdam; I'm a regional pilot. :p

My suggestions?

Rather than print a book, put the info online and offer it that way. You'll get more access and it will likely be easier to format and update. Plus if you create a site that has forums like these, you can add the ability to have "user inputs".

Second, drop the hotel info from the guide. I know that at ACA/IDE we changed an average of two hotels monthly due to cost/crew issues/transportation/complaints/etc. Likewise with all of the airlines out there that use different hotels, trying to keep up with it would be a pain!

Instead, I'd suggest picking out a few things to do that have easy access from the airport or public transportation, as well as a handful of good restaurants.

FlyJosh one thing you overlook is that TONS of people besides pilots have to pull overnights. WX cancels, pax bumps, business travelers ect. They should print it and put it in a store for terminal people to purchase as well. People like knowing what there is to do locally if something happens.

Staying at the Holiday Inn Airport and no mention of the Crystal City Restaurant?:eek::D

http://www.crystalcityrestaurant.com/

I was just curious if listing a local gym or other fitness facilities is going to be added to the book? I may have over looked it but I think it would be great for us fitness freaks. :D

That's a good idea. List which hotels on airport property have fitness centers.

im a fitness freak too. big time. For the city's that have major gyms close by, they will be listed. There are not alot, but there are few that have deals with the hotel for crew members to work out for free that alot of people dont know about.... those will be listed as well.

What wrong with a DSM overnight. I was born there! It sure beats being here in FAT.

Looks like somebody has created an online site with a similar idea. Thought I would share it here. Good luck!

www.layoverinfo.com

Ooh, this is kind of like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

You should always have a towel. Especially if you steal it from a hotel. They work really well for polishing airplanes.

Oh yeah, on a more serious note, I like to think of myself as a rather gifted website developer. So if you want to go the online route, let's talk. Totally sweet hookups.

Online Pilot Layover Guide
 

Here's an online version that anyone can share to and update. If enough of us start sharing information we could have a pretty comprehensive guide. It's hotel specific and breaks out by airline to only show the hotels that apply to your airline.

Pilot Layover Guide

No hotel guide is complete without the (Not So) Quality Inn located in fabulous Akron Ohio.

I was just thinking the exact same thing before I read your post.

This sounds pretty cool.

Good luck!