Girls overnight trip with shopping and a reggae club?

Hello! Planning an overnight trip to Detoit with my friends. We%26#39;re looking to do some Christmas shopping but also we want to go to a good reggae club at night. We%26#39;ll be going on a Saturday and staying overnight.

Looking for a decent and safe place to stay and wondering if its possible to not be super far from both shopping and the reggae club?

Thanks so much!

Girls overnight trip with shopping and a reggae club?

What sort of shopping are you looking for? There really is not a lot in Detroit, but there are specialized fashion stores here and there. By far, the best shopping in the whole metro area is at Somerset in the northern suburb of Troy, MI.

Reggae clubs? Take a look at Trenchtown, Tropical Hut and Clubhouse Tavern, all of which are in or close to the downtown area. I am sure that other posters may have comments about those three and also be able to suggest others.

As for a place to stay, let us know your budget and also if it is more important to be closer to shopping or the clubs. My suggestion would be to stay closer to the clubs, since you likely will be shopping during the day and a long drive after a busy night of dancing wouldn%26#39;t be much fun. There are several decent and safe hotels downtown. You can check out a few of them on this site.

Girls overnight trip with shopping and a reggae club?

The Sterling Heights/Macomb Township are is about 40 minutes away from downtown Detroit, but they have two great malls that are within 2 miles of each other. There is Lakeside that is anchored with JC Penny, Macy%26#39;s, Lord and Taylor and Sears. Partridge Creek is about 2 miles west and its an outdoor shopping mall anchored with Parisan and Nordstroms. There are a bunch of other stores such as Kohls, TJ Maxx and Marshals in the area.

www.shop-lakesidemall.com/html/Index2.asp

www.shoppartridgecreek.com/scc/5594.html

Tropical Hut is the only reggae club I know of in the city. The previous poster mentioned more that you may want to check out.

Just to complete the list (sorry, I should have included it in my earlier post), here is the Somerset link as well: www.thesomersetcollection.com.

Good luck

Hi..thanks so much for the responses so far.

Definately would be better to stay closer to the clubs..also are they%26#39;re taxis easily accesible back to the hotel.

The Somerset shopping sounds great!! Now just need to know where to stay close to the reggae clubs thats safe,easy taxi access!!

Thanks so much.

As a general rule, taxis in Detroit don%26#39;t usually cruise looking for fares, except when there is an event and, even then, it is limited pretty much to the downtown area. Taxis DO line up at major hotels and, of course, are available on call.

The best advice if you do not drive to one of the clubs is to take the cell phone and the number of a taxi company. The clubs also can call a taxi for you. You can then wait inside, which is safer than being on the street trying to hail a cab late at night anyway.

Yes, always call a taxi unless you are at a hotel with a valet or doorman that can get one for you. Outside sporting events, or perhaps in Greektown you will see them about, but they certainly are not everywhere.

Christmas shopping...in Detroit...I would focus my efforts in the suburbs as others have suggested. Taxis in the suburbs are on call and take sometimes 15 minutes or longer to come and get you.

cinnni,

Shopping wise Detroit isn%26#39;t even the best spot. You%26#39;re better off hitting one of the malls in the burbs or hitting up a town like Ann Arbor. Briarwood isn%26#39;t a terrible mall and there is quite a bit of night life there.If you are set on Detroit itself then I would say you have the Cactus Club on 8 Mile or The Tropical Hut on Livernois : www.tropicalhutclub.net/

I have to tell you though, if you%26#39;re looking for live reggae you%26#39;re better off checking out a spot like the Blind Pig or other small venues in Ann Arbor. Not to mention that Detroit outside the tourist areas can be a bit rough if you don%26#39;t know where you are going.

Also it depends on if you%26#39;re looking for traditional reggae or dancehall style reggae.

In general there is better traditional reggae in Ann Arbor and better danchall hip-hop club style in Detroit.

My wife is Jamaican so we try to keep up on the reggae scene in Michigan though it is a bit limited.

Thanks for the info everyone.

What we are looking for is to try to get some Christmas shopping done, have a nice dinner, then we want to go out and dance our battys off!!

We don%26#39;t have our hearts set on Detroit specifically just not sure where to find some decent DJ reggae music to be able to dance too. None of us are really familiar with Detroit which is why I was posting here to try to make sure we are not going to be somewhere that isn%26#39;t where we should be and also that we%26#39;re not staying in a hotel that is nasty or unsafe.

I am a Jamaicaholic...I am having withdrawls and need some reggae dance club style music...wanted to feel the whole vibe not just listen to it on my mp3 player ya know....

So if I were to check out Ann Arbor...where specifically should I look for the reggae and hotels there?

Thanks so very much!!

BTW ...we are 30 and 40 somethings women :)

Unfortunately I think the reggae dance clubs you%26#39;re looking for are located in Chicago, particularly Wild Hare and Exedus. Am I allowed to say that?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/wild-hare-ltd-chicago

http://www.yelp.com/biz/exedus-ii-chicago

Detroit and Ann Arbor have occasional reggae here and there, but nothing consistently live and with a dance floor like the two above.

Tropical Hut isn%26#39;t near downtown Detroit. Trenchtown and Clubhouse, both near the WSU/Cultural Center area, don%26#39;t always feature reggae. Same is true of Ann Arbor%26#39;s Blind Pig-- reggae is only sporadic there.

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=reggae%26amp;find_loc=Detroit%2C+MI%26amp;ns=1%26amp;rpp=10

I agree that Lakeside Mall and Partridge Creek, along with the many stores along the strip between them are good shopping. There are a gazillion restaurants in that area. I%26#39;ve been wating to try the Moroccan dishes at Palm Palace.

But if you have your heart set on a Jamaican vibe, I%26#39;d say head for Chicago.