Help! Traveling to Atlanta. Where should we stay & how should we get around town during trip?

My son has been chosen by an organziation to attend an event in Atlanta GA. My son, myself & his teacher will be traveling there together and none of us has been there before. Budgeting is a must. While we will be reimbursed for some of expenses, we are responsible for all of our arrangements. There is a block of rooms available for this event,but they cost $178/night (including tax). We will be there for 5 nights.

I have been researching Atlanta hotels & transportation on the internet for 3 HOURS and am more confused than ever. If I find a cheaper hotel, parking costs are $20 additional (We are driving to ATL). Also, these hotels are about 4 miles from our event, and most of the travel reviews say that driving in Atlanta is a nightmare. Don't even get me started about all the warnings about "bad areas".

This is a real honor for my son, but is being overshadowed by the overwhelming expense & responsibility. We want to have an enjoyable trip. ANY INFO APPRECIATED!

If you told us where exactly the event is, we could probably offer better advice on accommodations.

As for driving in Atlanta -- it is horrible during rush hours, but not as bad at other times. If at all possible stay off the roads 7 - 9 am and 4-7 pm. You could take MARTA if you have to travel during those times.

When will you be in Atlanta? If the rooms are going for $178 a night, there must be a lot going on in the city during your scheduled visit. You can check out the hotels near the airport which should be less than the half the cost of the downtown hotels. Airport Comfort Inn is a four star hotel at only $80 a night. Then you can just hop on the Marta and take a 20 minute train ride to GWCC and enjoy all the amenities of being downtown without paying through the nose. Check out the website below.

http://travel.nextag.com/serv/main/buyer/travel/searchResultsTravel.jsp?type=Hotel&nextagTravelTyp e=hotel&requestId=-3349959020008936616&nextagSource=nextag.com&produc tId=0&channel=main&city=Atlanta&state=GA&country=U S&hotelName=&ptitle=0&hotelRating=0&checkInYear=20 08&checkInMonth=6&checkInDay=1&checkOutYear=2008&c heckOutMonth=6&checkOutDay=3&adult=1&child=0&numRo oms=1&latitude=33.8559&longitude=-84.3953&maxDistance=0&&ddr=true

I reccomend takng that hotel rate. I just did a search and everything was over $200 a night. The conference is in true- donwtown Atlanta so you will be able to walk to many restaraunts, etc. You have to hit The georgia Aquarium and World of Coke while you are here!

- Don't stay near the airport or on any street that ends in SW (if the hotel address doesn't have a direction like NE, SW, etc at the end of it, run it through google maps and it will tell you).

- $20 is outrageous for parking. I've never paid more than $5 to park anywhere in this city. You should be able to find a lot nearby that's cheaper, or legal on street parking.

- Traffic is a nightmare and people drive like complete idiots on 75/85 downtown. That said, as long as you pay attention, have patience, and leave enough time to get where you're going, you should be fine driving around Atlanta.

- Also you should note that traffic on the highway is bad during rush hour. The rest of the day, it's not terrible.

- The city of Atlanta is huge and spread out. I'm in a central location and have to drive 2 miles for a grocery store. Overall, 4 miles is not that far.

- If you consider staying near or outside the perimeter (Rt 285, which makes a complete circle around Atlanta), you might be able to save money but will have to drive a bit further. From the north, Rt 400 goes directly downtown ("toll road" is plastered all over it, but the toll is only 50 cents)

Search here for cheap hotels

http://www.jetsetgotravels.com

It provides search option like near a landmark etc
Also it provide searches from more than one source.

But beware ... cheap hotels can be trouble some times so check reviews of the hotel your are going to book.

Check the exact location of hotel from google maps.