Avoid any place in California. This place is hell on earth. Massive homeless problem. Even affluent areas have them now. They are all on drugs too. Watch out for the druken illegal alien drivers too. It is very dangerous onbthe roads here. Also whites are hated here. You will experience racism from those of the latino persuasion.
This is no longer the place I grew up in.
If you go on a dark desert highway....
I usually stay in one of these three.
I usually stay in one of these three.
Sadly, go upscale to stay away from riff=raff. Stay away from Golden State Hwy.
Motel 6 is to be avoided.
Shaw Ave., on the north side of Fresno, is an east-west thoroughfare that runs through several upscale neighborhoods. Herndon, just north of Fresno, should also be a nice area.
To the south, Kingsburg, which once had a large Swedish population, still trades on its Swedish identity. If you find yourself downtown at lunch time, the Dala Horse serves great Swedish food, but I believe it is only open for breakfast and lunch.
Also to the south of Fresno is Selma, the Raisin Capital of the World, which once had a large Armenian population—and may still. If you get there at meal time, McCoy’s coffee shop, located just off the 99 freeway, is a great place to eat.
I wold avoid Parlier, Huron or Mendota (where I once applied for a job at the high school library) unless you want to experience what the Third World is like.
America's Best Value Inn. Downtown Clovis. Easy walking distance to Old Town Clovis and a lot of nice restaurants.
Comfort Suites, Clovis. About a mile North of Clovis.
These are ALL nice hotels, and they all share the same hiking/biking trail.
I spent a couple nights in the Marriott Courtyard on E. Shaw last Nov. Decent. A little out of the way, but the room was clean. Quiet area of town.
I would agree with others here, however. Fresno is more or less an armpit of a town.
You will probably be safe. The thing to be concerned about is your vehicle and belongings. Bring everything of value inside, leave nothing in your vehicle and have an alarm. Thieves target the parking lots of hotels/motels looking for low hanging fruit.
So I guess you are not doing the eclipse
“Fresno/Clovis” is a pretty big area...narrow it down a bit? That said, Clovis has less crime in general. The BW “Clovis Cole” in downtown Clovis is nice (walk to the quaint downtown Clovis area). The HI Express on Shaw is good too. On the more “economical” side there is “America’s Best Value Inn” near Clovis & Shaw (N. on Clovis). Downtown Clovis Friday Night Farmer’s Market if you are arriving Friday night.
In general stay North of Shaw Avenue if staying in Fresno (avoid the “Motel Drive” area near Roeding Park)...no real “bad” hotels in Clovis. I use http://www.TripAdvisor.com for hotel reviews and http://www.bedbugreports.com for any bedbug reports.
Don’t know about the current pricing but I always used The Piccadilly Inn. Not even sure it’s still open
Stay in one of the newer hotels in the Riverpark area of Fresno. Cleanest and safest part of town with best restaurants, shopping, highway access. Stay at the Hampton or Marriot or one of several others. Stay away from Shaw or downtown Fresno or anything off highway 99. The airport Piccadilly and Holiday Inn are okay.
There is a pretty new mall in Wasco that - oh wait, that’s actually a state prison.