The NFL Draft will kick off this year in Cleveland, Ohio and while many will opt to stay home, hotels may be hard to find in the city.
That doesn’t mean you can’t go on a “spur of the moment” decision. There is a lot to do in Cleveland outside of the draft but let’s be clear, come to the end of April, the three-day draft will be the focus of the city.
So now you have made the decision that you are going to go but you can’t find a suitable hotel near the draft festivities. I could give you my inlaws address and tell you to stay with them but that wouldn’t be fair to you! Here are some areas around the Cleveland area that can provide you with more options and still keep you close.
If you drive, these make a lot more sense but if you fly into Akron/Canton or Cleveland Hopkins, you can take an Uber for a cheaper option.
Avon Lake
Located west of downtown Cleveland, Avon and Avon Lake sit off route 2 highway and the turnpike. There are plenty of hotel options and the town itself is only about 15 minutes from downtown Cleveland. There are plenty of places to eat and shop if you want to do that outside of the city. You can also visit several parks on the waterfront of Lake Eerie.
Lorain Ohio
Lorain is located about 10 minutes west of Avon Lake and there are a couple of hotels you can stay at near the highway but the best reason to stay here is Yala’s Pizza on Oberlin Avenue. Lorain isn’t bad and is far enough away not to be loaded up with NFL fans and you can still make it downtown in about 30 minutes.
Akron/Canton
The Akron/Canton area provides a lot of hotel options but considering that the Pro Football Hall of Fame is located in Canton, you may not find much availability. A little further south and you will come to New Philadelphia which will give you plenty of space and likely not a lot of patrons. The downside is you will be about 45 minutes to an hour away from Cleveland. If you are driving yourself, it’s not a bad drive and one I have made many times over.
Mentor and Eastside
Mentor is located to the east of Cleveland and in between there and the city itself are many options for you to choose from. Mentor is probably the furthest you would need to possibly go and even then it might not be necessary to go that far. Mentor isn’t far in time. It’s only about 20 minutes to downtown but there are a lot of hotel options between Cleveland and Mentor on the east side and that should be more than enough to allow you to find something closer…unless you don’t want to.