My son's AAU team is traveling from DC to Akron for the King James Shooting Stars Classic in April (25th to 27th) and I'm looking for a nice place for the team to stay.  Any suggestions?  The tournament says it  "will be hosted at The University of Akron, Kent State University and at area elementary, middle, and high schools" which isn't exactly specific and unfortunately we won't know exactly where we are playing until a week or two before the event.

Stay north of downtown, near the Rt. 8 and Steels Corners interchange, and you'll have your choice of a Hampton Inn, Country Inn & Suites and Courtyard by Marriott.

Stay two exits south of Steels Corners in downtown Cuyahoga Falls (Rt. 8 and Broad Bvd.) and you can stay at a very nice Sheraton Suites on the Cuyahoga River.  This is where the Bobcats stay when they play at Akron or Kent.

This location is roughly halfway between Akron and Kent so very convenient.

Not to Borna:  Akron U. purchased the old Quaker Square Hilton for dorm space…then enrollment declined so it's half empty now.  City was pissed that the U purchased the hotel because it was the only executive-level hotel left downtown.  They are now building two new ones to fill the void.

Bonus: There's a Steak'n'Shake nearby.

Thanks guys!!!

I've actually stayed there before.  Of course, it was 24 years ago.  My sister had her wedding reception there in 1990.  Beautiful view of the river and, if I recall correctly,  small falls there.  MC Hammer and his three busloads of entourage stayed there that night as well.  

I've always stayed at The Quaker Square Hotel. It's downtown and you can see the university from the balcony. The rooms are in the old grain silos and they are round in shape. Always clean and quiet.

We've done both the single room vs suites in the past and the suites are ideal.  We had a great set up in Orlando last year for Nationals with a bunch of suites. The kids got to hang out with each other comfortably while giving the adults a little breathing room.  With single rooms it gets a little claustrophobic. 

I'm guessing they got there at Hammer Time.

As of Feb 24 - post of the year.

For those that helped me I just wanted to say thanks.  We ended up staying at the Holiday Inn at Fairlawn.  I had suggested the Sheraton but the prices were considerably higher.   As far as convenience goes it wouldn't have mattered much.  Every game was 20 minutes away (in every direction) with good and bad gyms.  My son is only 10 (4th grade) so we didn't expect to get the best gyms but we played in one gym that should never have been used.  We've played in some small gyms before but this was ridiculous. The center jump circle literally touched the three point arc on each side.  The wall on three sides is about a foot away from the out-of-bounds lines) If any of you have kids that play (and they are older than 7) in the area and you see Schumacher Community Learning Center on the schedule do whatever you can to get it moved.  

As for the good, the boys got to play at St. Vincent/St. Mary's on Saturday night for a scheduled 9:45pm tipoff.  Unfortunately, it didn't tipoff until nearly 10:00pm because of a near brawl between parents in the game before ours.   But the kids got a real thrill getting to play in the same gym as LeBron.   Also on the good side, the tournament is very well organized and they update scores on their website immediately after games and offer text alerts which are timely.   

The other drawback was that the scattered venue situation made it impossible to watch other teams.  My son and I love to try to watch some of the better older teams play in tournaments in our area (DC) but logistically it was impossible.  But overall a very good experience and I got to know more about Akron, Kent and Canton highways (complete with random model homes) and streets than I ever expected. 

That is cool.  Glad you had a good time with your son.

It's funny all the Indiana kids were in Kansas, because last weekend our teams were in Indy for the Adidas Invitational.  I think a lot of teams are skipping the King James now because of the same problems that OUVan has stated.  That whole thing is run by Dru Joyce, who has an AAU program in N.E. Ohio that puts on the tournament. 

I love this time of year for hoops.  The AAU circuit is definitely the best place to see the upcoming talent.  There are so many talented kids all in one place.  It is crazy for me to see 7th graders dunking the ball.