NCAA Tournament Team HQ - Hotel, Reception, Event & Shuttle Info **UPDATED**

[Benny B]

UPDATED INFO (as of 3/19 9:00am)

Added: Friday game watching party
Added: Registration Link


Register for all MU-sponsored events in Hartford:
https://alumni.marquette.edu/basketball-postseason-events-mens-ncaa-2019-register


MU Basketball -- Hartford Information:

https://alumni.marquette.edu/basketball-postseason-events-mens-receptions


Marquette Men's Basketball Open Practice

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
1:15 p.m. ET
XL Center
1 Civic Center Plaza, Hartford, Conn.
Round-trip shuttle available from team hotel (Hartford/Windsor Marriott Airport)

Blue and Gold Pregame Celebrations and Team Sendoffs

Ring out ahoya with event space reserved just for Marquette fans. Enjoy complimentary non-alcoholic beverages and early-bird appetizers during all Marquette pregame receptions.

Round-trip shuttle service will be provided to and from the team hotel and the XL Center for the Marquette men's basketball games.  Complimentary parking available at the hotel.

The pregame celebrations will begin 2.5 hours before tipoff.

Hartford/Windsor Marriott Airport Hotel, Atrium Terrace
28 Day Hill Rd., Windsor

THURSDAY, MARCH 21
2:00 p.m. ET

SATURDAY, MARCH 23
Time: TBD

Marquette University Lenten Mass

FRIDAY, MARCH 22
10:00 a.m. ET
Hartford/Windsor Marriott Airport Hotel
28 Day Hill Rd., Windsor

NCAA Tournament Watching Gathering

Take in the NCAA Men's Tournament action at the team hotel as we stream the tournament games in the Atrium Terrace. Enjoy complimentary snacks, non-alcoholic beverages and a cash bar.

FRIDAY, MARCH 22
Noon to 6:00 p.m. ET
Hartford/Windsor Marriott Airport Hotel, Atrium Terrace
28 Day Hill Rd., Windsor

Marquette Fan Headquarters Team Hotel

Located just eight miles from the XL Center, the Hartford/Windsor Marriott Airport Hotel is the official Golden Eagles fan headquarters. Stop by for team sendoffs approximately 2.5 hours before each game, pick up-game day swag and get the latest scoop on March with Marquette events.

Hartford/Windsor Marriott Airport hotel
28 Day Hill Rd., Windsor


Text "MarchWithMU" to 313131 to opt in to text alerts about Marquette events during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament.

[Note: Airport Marriott is booked fore Wednesday night (as of 9:30a on 3/19); however, they do have availability Thu-Sat nights]


It's never too early to plan ahead...  besides, if Team Bubble Watch is already a lock, then pretty safe to say we're not jinx'ing anything here.

A few notes before we begin:

1. Prices were taken from Hotels.com or the hotel's website.  Most are from the former, the rest are from the latter.  Moral of story: YMMV.  I tried to include only rates eligible for cancellation without penalty no more than 4 days prior to arrival.

2. A hotel denoted with an 'x' means it's a 3.5-star (or higher) hotel; read: these are the possible team hotels (onsite restaurant, meeting/banquet rooms, etc.).

3. Generally, I stuck to the the Big 3 (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt) brands, with a focus on hotels within a mile of the arena and/or the closest 3.5+ hotels to the site.  Inde hotels are also included if they're 3.5 stars or more.  There wasn't really a science here... my ultimate goal was to identify all of the potential team hotels while sprinkling in a few options that were closer and/or lower-cost.

Note: Top-seeded schools get first choice on hotel, and sometimes there aren't enough hotels downtown to accommodate all of the teams... which is why MU - as the 10-seed in 2017 (6th pick) - had to schlep out to the airport Marriott a few miles out of town.  As a top-4 seed, MU wouldn't have worse than the 2nd pick this year.

4. Prices can fluctuate drastically on Selection Sunday depending on supply/demand.  The idea here is to book just to lock something in now, and then take another look as soon as the bracket is announced and cancel/rebook as needed.

5. Note that I did not include anything for Columbia or Columbus... #1 Just about everything is already sold out (because the fans from UM, MSU, Duke, UNC, UK, Tenn and Virginia have already booked), and #2 since each site can only have two of these teams, there will be tons of cancellations starting right after the Selection Show. 

(Hartford is also getting booked up, but since that is a likely location for MU, I included it anyway just to track the possible hotels.)


Bottom line here.... it doesn't matter where MU ends up playing, you're not going to get shut out completely.  The purpose here is to help those who would like to stay near the arena and/or at the team hotel without risk of the last-minute, "back-of-the-hotel-door" prices.

[Dish]

If you're Marriott Elite, the Renaissance in Des Moines is the way to go based on price/location/elite benefits. It's reasonably walkable to the Wells Fargo from there. I go out to Des Moines a lot for work, and there are a few Courtyard/Residence Inn/Fairfield options in the burbs.

[DoctorV]

Awesome work Benny, very helpful.

Not trying to jinx anything, but this would be awesome for all sweet 16 sites as well, perhaps even Minneapolis sights.

Again this is not a jinx!!!!! Just better to be prepared and organized than not.

I was awoken to the book hotels ahead of time move and then cancel as needed when I started doing Vegas first weekend of March Madness research a month ago and noticed that most people suggested booking hotels well before the new year... not sure how I never considered it before

[Jay Bee]

MU82 ain't tryna pay any of these prices

If any of you are hot chicks, you can stay at my apt for the Final Four.

[GooooMarquette]

If you're Marriott Elite, the Renaissance in Des Moines is the way to go based on price/location/elite benefits. It's reasonably walkable to the Wells Fargo from there. I go out to Des Moines a lot for work, and there are a few Courtyard/Residence Inn/Fairfield options in the burbs.

Stayed at the Renaissance once - nice hotel in a great location. I'd love to see our Warriors in Des Moines.

[Benny B]

Awesome work Benny, very helpful.

Not trying to jinx anything, but this would be awesome for all sweet 16 sites as well, perhaps even Minneapolis sights.

Again this is not a jinx!!!!! Just better to be prepared and organized than not.

I was awoken to the book hotels ahead of time move and then cancel as needed when I started doing Vegas first weekend of March Madness research a month ago and noticed that most people suggested booking hotels well before the new year... not sure how I never considered it before

Regionals are a bit of a different animal because you typically have larger venues in larger cities (with more hotel options) yet only half the number of teams as the first round sites. IOW, there usually aren't any challenges or problems with booking Regionals. 

Final Four is another story altogether.... most of the hotels in the Twin Cities have already booked or blacked out the entire week leading up to the Final Four.  I was looking at availability back in December, and to say the options were extremely limited would be generous.  Rooms will start opening up as soon as the tourney starts (and upsets begin)... that's the time to book.

[MU82]

MU82 ain't tryna pay any of these prices

If any of you are hot chicks, you can stay at my apt for the Final Four.

Sorry, bruh, all of the hot chicks are staying we me -- and they're paying for the room in each location!

[Jay Bee]

Sorry, bruh, all of the hot chicks are staying we me -- and they're paying for the room in each location!

Ay mein if you gwan come outta pocket for the other stuff, go head then

[MU82]

Ay mein if you gwan come outta pocket for the other stuff, go head then

Huh?

[Jon]

Southern Regional: Wilson World Hotel. Waffle House. Cigarette smoke.

[Benny B]

Bumpin.... I can update tomorrow, but bottom line is most of the downtown hotels are either booked or blacked out right now.  Unfortunately, it's a borderline drivable for Nova, but fortunately, Purdue and Florida State aren't the greatest travelers, so if the hotels are blacked out until school selections are made, there's a good possibility that some rooms start opening up later tonight or tomorrow.

BTW - I do not for certain where MU will be staying, but since they have third pick, there is an outside possibility they could end up at one of the Marriott's outside downtown (Farmington or Airport) if any lessons can be learned from 2017. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Didn't think about Nova also being in that regional. Could mean that we will have a strong home court advantage in both games. I think Nova fans will likely pull for MU.

[Benny B]

Didn't think about Nova also being in that regional. Could mean that we will have a strong home court advantage in both games. I think Nova fans will likely pull for MU.

And vice versa.  Gonna be wild in Hartford on Saturday. 

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

For anyone coming to Hartford I received this from the XL Center.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2019 NCAA Tournament Open Practice Day 
March 20, 2019 | 11:00 AM-6:30 PM
FREE ADMISSION*

You're invited to the NCAA First & Second Rounds Open Practice Day in Hartford!
Don't miss your first look at the Madness when your favorite teams hit the hardwood for the first time at the XL Center on March 20th! All eight teams will have a designated 40-minute time slot to practice and show off their skills to spectators. Doors open at 10am - practices run until 6:30pm.

In addition, there will be merchandise available, food and beverage specials, fan experiences and more! Open Practice Day is free and open to the public! Fans are encouraged to come and go throughout the day.

All Day Food Combos:
- Hot Dog, Chips, Sm Fountain Drink: $8
- Slice of Pizza & 16oz Domestic Beer: $12

Happy Hour Food Specials (4pm-6pm):
- Hot Dogs: $3
- Nachos: $5
- Bottomless Popcorn: $10

For more information on March Madness in Hartford, visit www.xlcenter.com/marchmadness

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

Flying in and out of Boston realistic? Flights to Hartford are a tad rich.

[The Sultan]

Flying in and out of Boston realistic? Flights to Hartford are a tad rich.

A couple hour drive. Completely realistic.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Flying in and out of Boston realistic? Flights to Hartford are a tad rich.

This is not bad at all.  Really Boston, PVD, Bdl, Westchester are all options to Hartford.  I would add NYC if you plan to stay in new haven.  It's a bit long if planning to stay in Hartford. 

[Celtic Truth]

Flying in and out of Boston realistic? Flights to Hartford are a tad rich.

Only a 1.5 hour drive with no traffic. I'd recommend doing this

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Airports:
Hartford/Springfield
Boston (1hr 45min drive to Hartford)
New Haven (American Airlines only)  (45 min drive to Hartford)
Providence  TF Green (1 hr 30 min drive to Hartford)
White Plains, NY (1 hr 30 min drive to Hartford)
LaGuardia  (2 hr drive to Hartford)

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Breweries of Hartford:

City Steam
https://www.muscoop.com/index.php?action=post;topic=57976.0;last_msg=1108959

Thomas Hooker @ the Colt Building (Blue Onion Dome)
https://hookerbeer.com/

Hanging Hills Brewing
http://www.hanginghillsbrewery.com/

Hog River
http://www.hogriverbrewing.com/

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

HOTELS
If Hartford hotels are booked try:

West Hartford (the interesting suburb)
Boston (All the obvious reasons Celtic Truth has mentioned.)
Springfield, MA  (Casino, Basketball HOF to occupy your time away from the games.)
New Haven, CT  (Always something going on, PIZZA, Yale, great foodie city)

Don't settle for a hotel in Wally-world (Wallingford, CT) or Meriden, CT or Hard Hittin' New Britain which may have vacancy, but not a lot going on.  (Although, New Britski does have a great Mala Polonia - Polish section.)   

[Benny B]

Rates at the Marriott-Farmington (~6 miles from DT) have shot up over $100/night in the past 24 hours ($159 as of Friday to $269 currently); Marriott Downtown isn't even being listed as an option on Marriott's website, and all of the downtown Hilton properties are sold out.

Hard to tell if anything is going to open up downtown at this point; would have thought a few rooms might have been released by now... perhaps later in the week.

Something tells me the Marriott-Farmington is going to be someone's team hotel... not saying it's going to be MU's, but someone's been booking a bunch of rooms there in the past 16 hours.

EDIT: I forgot to include the Sheraton Hartford South... 7.9 miles from the XL Center, $148/nt being quoted on marriott.com

[Dr. Blackheart]

Hotels are assigned by seeds.

[Eldon]

Just as a heads up to anyone driving to Hartford from NYC/Boston, you absolutely must be careful in CT: they are quite possibly the worst state with respect to state troopers hiding out and trying to catch speeders.

I'd say drive no more than 5MPH above the posted speed limit when in CT.

[Benny B]

TEAM HOTEL: Hartford/Windsor Marriott Airport

https://alumni.marquette.edu/basketball-postseason-events-mens-receptions


(not to toot my own horn, but yes, Benny did book this hotel back in February on Friday... booked the Farmington Marriott back in Feb)