My wife and I spent a Thursday night/Friday morning at the host hotel last week. The purpose of the trip was to meet face to face with the staff and to check out the facility and surrounding area. One of my concerns about the location was that it is across I-40 from a very busy retail store area, and that the intersection nearest to the hotel was one that many people used to access the expressway. I was concerned that the traffic would be a huge annoyance to STAR attendees. However, I am happy to report that I am no longer as concerned as I once was. It is really not that bad. What traffic there it does have is limited in time and scope and seems to move well. Just need to have a little patience. There are also some alternatives to using the main road when one is leaving the hotel or returning to it. I took the attached pictures at 8:20 on Friday morning. The first picture is looking out the main entrance toward the west, where the main intersection is located. The second picture is from the same spot but looking east towards the rear entrance to the hotel. Out of the main entrance you can only turn right. You can turn in both directions from the rear entrance. However, coming into the hotel you can only turn left, coming from the east, into the back entrance. There is a gas station in the little shopping center directly across the street from the hotel, you will need to access it from the back entrance to the hotel lot.
