March 7, 2012

Bike-friendly Hotels in North America

Tips for finding bike-friendly hotels. Plus a map of many such hotels in North America.

Victoria, BC, is leading North Americans to bike-friendly accommodations and putting together a hotel ranking system at cyclevancouverisland.ca. Their website has helpful tips that will get you in the know. When planning your next trip, look for a hotel that:

allows bikes in the rooms or has secure, covered bicycle parking,
offers complimentary bikes on-site or discounted rentals nearby,
is on or near the city’s cycling path network and keeps cycle route maps on hand,
is near bike shops,
has an equipment check-in or lockers where cyclists can secure belongings after they check out.

For the hardcore cyclist, check to see if the hotel offers a place to hang up wet cycling clothing, or has laundry facilities, and if it has an on-site DIY bike wash center with basic tools to tune or pump up.

Hotel San Jose (1316 South Congress Ave., Austin, TX)

Rents out Townie Cruisers and a PUBLIC Bike, locks and helmets. Bike racks outside, and some weather protected storage, some tune-up tools and bike washing can be arranged. Located on one of Austin’s “killer bike lane system” roads.

EPIC Hotel (270 Biscayne Blvd. Way, Miami, FL)

Lends bicycles, including tandem bikes and bicycles for men, women and children, along with locks and helmets. Kimpton recently opened another bike-friendly hotel in South Beach.

Bowery Hotel NYC (335 Bowery, NY, NY)

The Bowery in NYC offers complimentary bikes to their guests.

Ruschmeyer’s (161 Second House Rd., Montauk, NY)

Offers cycling as one of many activities available to guests.

Accent Inns (3233 Maple St., Victoria, BC)

This hotel chain allows bikes in ground floor rooms, has laundry facilities and has a wash and tuning station.

4 Comments

Nathan Feinberg
February 10, 2017
it can be very helpful to stay at a hotel that caters to a cycling lifestyle. It’s much more than taking a bike into a room, it’s resources, proximity and support that make a stay in a bike-friendly hotel much more enjoyable, especially for first time bike travelers. Thanks for sharing your tips though!
Hotel "Las Mariposas"
October 20, 2015
An idea for Bike Travellers : Visit Oaxaca and itss all-year-round celebrations
Why don’t you travel to the wonderful Mexican city Oaxaca and stay at “Las Mariposas” for a few days?
Teresa Villarreal would be very glad to heartly welcome you and make you feel comfortable during your stay.She owns a small hotel downtown Oaxaca that is ecology-minded and perfectly meets the needs of bike travellers, too. Bikes are safe overnight.
Oaxaca itsself is a city that offers you almost everything! You can enjoy plenty of cultural facilities – adore the beatiful churches, go and see shows or films at movie theatres,admire awesome pictures in galeries,listen to music in many places such as the central square, Zocalo, or in the pedestrian precinct, Alcala and watch colourful parades, browse the many stores or bargain with street venders or just stroll about town and try local food and drinks you get almost anywhere.
There are also tours offered to Monte Alban or Mitla and Hierve el Agua which you should not miss.
An option would be the discovery of ecotourism in the Sierra Norte,a gorgious place outside Oaxaca.
Enjoy your trip!
If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I will be glad to answer them.
For questions:
sgrndler@gmail.com
For bookings:
Please contact:
Hotel “Las Mariposas”
Pino Suarez 517 , 68000 Oaxaca/Mexico
Tel. +52 9515155854
Momentum Mag
March 20, 2012
Hi Jason,
For those thinking about planning their first vacation by bike, it can be very helpful to stay at a hotel that caters to a cycling lifestyle. It’s much more than taking a bike into a room, it’s resources, proximity and support that make a stay in a bike-friendly hotel much more enjoyable, especially for first time bike travelers. Thanks for sharing your tips though! Sounds like you are a very seasoned bike traveler – and probably not the target audience of this article.
jason
March 9, 2012
This is goofy. I have stayed in Hyatts, Hiltons, Doubletrees and the like as well as B&Bs, crummy little motels, and venerable historical hotels. Never had a problem bringing a bike in. Just make sure its clean and don’t use the hotel towels to wipe it down…
In fact if you ask for some rags to clean the bike up before wheeling it through the lobby into an elevator they are usualy pretty accomodating.