Durham Bulls Athletic Park

With Duke Tower Hotel & Condominiums being near the Durham Bulls’ stadium, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, known as the DBAP, (pronounced dee-BAP), we have many guests who stay with us to attend games and other events there.

Duke Tower is only about one mile from the DBAP. It is an easy drive from Duke Tower to the DBAP and it is certainly walkable. Click here to see a walking map from Duke Tower to the DBAP.

The Durham Bulls are the Triple-A minor league of the American League Tampa Bay Rays, who were the American League Champions in 2008. The Bulls are one of the most successful minor league teams in the USA, drawing large numbers of fans throughout the year.

Evan Longoria, Formerly of the Bulls

As the Triple-A team of the Rays, it is often possible to see many good players who are on their way up to the majors. One such example is Evan Longoria, third baseman, who played for the Durham Bulls during the 2008 season. Longoria is now a star for the Tampa Bay Rays. In a recent interview, Longoria said of playing in Durham and the DBAP, “It’s great. Durham is such a great place to play baseball. It’s great every night. The environment is conducive to good baseball. ” Longoria currently leads in All-Star Game voting  for third base in the American League, slightly ahead of the votes garnered by Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.

The Bulls are perhaps most famous for the movie, Bull Durham, starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins.  “Bull Durham” has been described as the greatest baseball movie of all time and was filmed right around the corner from Duke Tower in the old Durham Athletic Park. (More on that park in a future blog.)

We welcome Durham Bulls fans to Duke Tower Hotel. As one of our services to welcome Bulls fans, we provide a free shuttle to and from games.

Recently we had a large contingent of ACC baseball fans who attended the ACC Baseball Tournament at the DBAP. We gave many rides to fan over to the games and then picked them up after the games.

There are several advantages to taking our shuttle over to the game. First, you do not have to pay for parking, which can run between $5 and $10. Second, if you do not know Durham well, you do not have to worry about finding the park and finding parking. Thirdly, you can drink beer or wine and not have to worry about driving home. Just leave the driving to us!

We are fans of the Durham Bulls and really of the whole baseball experience at the DBAP. It’s quite intimate and you feel much closer to the game than in the larger stadiums. There is always entertainment in between innings., such as the race between Wool E. Bull and a kid around the bases. (Somehow the kid always wins.)  The sunset is often beautiful in the evenings and they often having fireworks after the games.

The DBAP also hosts other events, such as Team USA Baseball games last year leading up to the Beijing Olympics. The main one coming up in the near future is the Bob Dylan concert on July 28. Dylan is touring minor league baseball parks in smaller cities, with Willie Nelson and John Mellancamp also appearing.

We look forward to hosting Durham Bulls baseball fans and music fans attending events at the DBAP. We promise you the same warm, personal service that we give all our guests, as well as a full condo and a free shuttle ride to the event. Welcome!

Our 24-hour, free shuttle to and from Duke Medical Center has turned out to be one of the most popular services that we offer at Duke Tower Hotel and Condominiums.

Duke Tower Shuttle Bus

One of the first questions people ask, perhaps a little hesitantly, is, “Is it really free?”

The answer is, “Yes, it’s free.” When you stay at Duke Tower Hotel as our guest, there is no charge to take you back and forth to Duke Medical Center at any hour, whenever you need it.

You can call our driver’s cell phone 24-hours a day at 919-323-1745 to request a ride, either from Duke Tower to the Medical Center or vice-versa.

The Morris Cancer Center

We go to other key medical locations in west Durham, including the Duke Diet & Fitness Center, the Morris Cancer Clinic on Trent Drive, Lenox Baker Children’s Hospital, the McGovern-Davison Children’s Health Center on Pratt Street, the Durham Veterans’ Administration Hospital (Durham VA Hospital),  the MRI Center at Lenox Baker, the Duke Family Medicine Center on Erwin Road, the Duke Center for Living on Erwin Road and even occasionally out to the Rice Diet Clinic on Cole Mill Road.

McGovern-Davison Children's Health Center and Outpatient Clinic

It only takes about 7-10 minutes to go to most of the locations above. The traffic in west Durham is rarely a problem and guests are usually surprised how quickly they arrive. Along the way, we can drop you off at the grocery store so that you can cook your own meals in our complete kitchens that are in every suite at Duke Tower. We find many guests love having the full kitchen and it’s a great way to save money by fixing your own home-cooked meals.

We also provide free shuttle service from Duke Tower Hotel to Durham Regional Hospital in north Durham, which is part of Duke University Health Systems. Duke Tower is unique among Durham hotels in offering free shuttle service to Durham Regional Hospital.

Duke Tower Hotel provides free shuttle service to Durham Regional Hospital

Durham Regional mostly serves local people who do not need accommodations, but we find that patients are sometimes moved from Duke Hospital to Durham Regional during their treatments. Our guests can get the same friendly, prompt Duke Tower shuttle service to Durham Regional as they do to Duke Medical Center. We are well located to drive guests to Durham Regional, which takes only about 7-10 minutes out North Duke Street.

On the way to and from Duke Medical Center, we can pick up and drop off guests at the Brightleaf Square restaurant district, the Whole Foods Grocery/Ninth Street shopping area, Duke East Campus, Duke West Campus and other Duke-related points of interest, such as the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Duke Chapel, Duke’s Nasher Museum of Art, Cameron Indoor Stadium (home of Duke Blue Devils basketball) and Wallace Wade Stadium (home of Duke football and other events, such as concerts–The Rolling Stones played there in 2006–and track and field).

For groups and special events, we can shuttle guests to the American Tobacco Campus and the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which are nearby.

We use our shuttle bus (pictured above) for large groups and for persons needing handicapped-accessible transportation. The shuttle bus has two handicap ramps for use with wheelchairs or for other guests, such as those with walkers, who are not able to step up or down. The seating inside the shuttle bus is semi-circular, which means it is much easier to sit down, since you do not have to go down a row of seats. We picked this bus specifically because it it was handicap-friendly and has this seating arrangement.

Duke Tower Shuttle Car

On a day to day basis, for smaller numbers of guests, we use our security car, a 2005 Mercury Marquis. The license plates on both front and back say “SHUTTLE” to make it easy to distinguish. The Mercury Marquis is quite comfortable and can hold up to five passengers.

We ask that guests try to let us know as much in advance of their needs for the shuttle service, especially during the busy morning hours of around 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM. Advance notice allows the driver to optimally schedule his trips, picking up and dropping off people in the quickest time possible and with maximum efficiency.

We also provide shuttle service to and from Raleigh-Durham (RDU) International Airport, which is about 20 minutes from Duke Tower. We charge $35/person for the first person and $5 for each additional person. We can hold up to five guests in our car, so for five guests the cost would be $55, or $11.00 per person. We can also shuttle larger groups, up to 14 passengers, in our shuttle bus to and from RDU Airport.

We charge the airport shuttle fee to your room. You do not have to have cash with you when we pick you up at RDU Airport or returning to the airport. The drivers do not accept payment.

Our prices compares very favorably to other services, such as taxis and shuttles, to and from the airport. Furthermore, upon arrival, you do not have to worry about whether the taxi you pick up is reliable and knows where Duke Tower is. Upon departure, you have the comfort of knowing the shuttle is at the hotel and do not have wait for the taxi or bus to arrive when departing for the airport. Unfortunately, taxis are often late and group shuttle buses may loop through many hotels and other locations before and after they pick you up. With the Duke Tower RDU shuttle, you don’t have to worry about any of that.

RDU International Airport

When arriving at RDU Airport, we ask that you call our shuttle driver immediately upon arrival at 919-323-1745. Generally, that timing is perfect for picking up guests, since it takes about 15-20 minutes to get to the airport, which is about how long it takes you to pick up your luggage. Please meet the driver at the purple “Prearranged Services” area in front of baggage claim. If you are unable to come to the Prearranged Services area, please let us know and we will come pick you up outside of the baggage claim area.

Durham's New Multimodal Bus Station

If you are arriving by Amtrak or by bus, our shuttle driver will come and pick you up at no cost. The Durham Amtrak Station and Durham Multimodal Station (see the picture at right) are a short distance from Duke Tower. We have even had some guests walk to Duke Tower from the Durham Multimodal Station, which is certainly possible as long as you do not have too much luggage and the weather is nice. But please don’t pay for a taxi. Call us at 919-323-1745 if you would like a ride.

We hope you will take advantage of our friendly and efficient Duke shuttle service and RDU shuttle service. We look forward to serving you soon!

Duke Tower Hotel has been and probably will continue to be the choice of stars and the well-heeled looking to Duke University Medical Center or the Duke Diet & Fitness Center (to both of which we run a 24-hour shuttle bus) to help them with their overall health or to bring their nutritional needs and fitness requirements into alignment.

James Earl Jones

Duke Tower’s guests over the past twenty-five years, many of whom come back more than once to Durham’s restful oasis in the heart of the city, have included many names from the arts and the business world.

From the acting and performance world world guests include  playwright Wendy Wasserstein,  comedian Dom Deluise, award-winning actor James Earl Jones and comedienne Caroline Rhea.

As for musicians, we had had as guests opera diva Marilyn Horne and Bruce Springsteen E. Street Band’s saxophonist Clarence Clemons.

Hank Aaron

Over the years we  have had many names from the world of sports stay at Duke Tower, including home run champion Henry “Hank” Aaron, Green Bay Packers star Paul Hornung and Boston Celtics star Robert “The Chief” Parish.

From the business world we have had chairman emeritus of Reader’s Digest George Grune and Dunkin’ Donuts founder Bill Rosenberg.

Lauren Hutton

Other notables include former President George W. Bush’s sister Doro Koch and supermodel and “Nip/Tuck” star Lauren Hutton.

With the explosion of arts performances around Duke University, the nearby Carolina Theatre and with the new Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC), we have a number of well-known guests and their entourages stay with us, including Martha Clarke’s Dance Troupe, dog ventriloquist Todd Oliver, the Broadway-on-Tour casts of “Legally Blond” and “Phantom of the Opera”, and Shen Wei, choreographer of the dance portion of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony.

We are pleased that so many well-known people have found Duke Tower Hotel and Condominiums their home away from home. We hope that you too will consider staying with us when your travels call for a trip to Durham or Duke.

Rest assured that we treat all guests as stars, not just the ones with their names in the bright lights and marquees of Broadway.

We welcome all guests, new and returning, famous and not-so-famous, with the same warm hospitality and excellent service. We look forward to serving you soon.

“Where’s a good place to eat around here?” is probably the most common question we get when guests are checking in at Duke Tower.

We have a hard time giving a short answer because you have so many choices about dining when you are staying at Duke Tower Hotel.

The Historic Tower Cafe is located on the first floor of the tower in the middle of the courtyard

If you are interested in breakfast, we should first mention our own Historic Tower Cafe. The Tower Cafe is located in the large tower in the center of our courtyard. We serve a continental breakfast of gourmet coffee, tea, hot chocolate, bagels, cream cheese/jelly, large muffins, hard-boiled eggs (peeled), yogurt, bananas, oranges, juice and milk (plain and flavored for the kids).  The breakfast is all-you-can-eat and is open from 6:00 AM until 10:00 AM daily, $5/adult, $2.50/child under 12. (No cash–we add this to your bill.) We play relaxing classical music and have the New York Times delivered daily to the Tower Cafe for your reading pleasure.  You can also examine the historic photos we have on the walls of the property when it was a cotton mill. After breakfast hours, the Tower Cafe is open with complimentary instant coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Nothing gives us more pleasure than seeing guests lingering over a cup of coffee during the morning, reading the Times.

Beyond breakfast, there are numerous excellent restaurants near Duke Tower, many within walking distance.  Durham is known as the culinary center of the Research Triangle area. Durham restaurants are excellent and a big draw for people coming in from Raleigh/Cary, Chapel Hill and beyond. Some Durham restaurants are known nationally.

Brightleaf Square features many restaurants and outdoor dining options

For the purpose of this blog, let’s talk first and foremost about the dining options at Historic Brightleaf Square. This is a ten to fifteen minute walk from Duke Tower and a 3 minute car drive. Turn left out of the parking lot, then take a left at the second light, Gregson Street. Brightleaf Square is four blocks on the right, with a parking area on the left. You can’t miss it.

In and around Brightleaf you will find a variety of restaurants, including:

• Amelia Café
• Chamas (Brazilian Steakhouse)
• Down Under Pub (Pub Fare)
• El Rodeo (Mexican)
• Fishmongers (Seafood)
• Mount Fuji (Asian Bistro)
• Palermo Deli (Deli)
• Piazza Italia (Italian)
• Rainbow Chinese (Chinese)
• Satisfaction (Pizza & Burgers)
• Taverna Nikos (Greek)
• Toreros (Mexican)

At many of these restaurants, you can eat outdoors in the courtyard area. On Friday nights in good weather they often have live music and dancing.

Also in the Brightleaf area is Anotherthyme, a natural foods restaurant, Devine’s Sports Bar, and Pop’s, an upscale, contemporary American restaurant. James Joyce is a popular Irish pub on Main Street. Federal Lounge, also on Main Street, is a lounge, bar and restaurant.

James Joyce Irish Pub on Main Street

If you asked us for our recommendations, it of course depends upon what you want to eat and your budget. For simple fare, we would suggest Satisfaction, where we’ve had many a good pizza. We love Nikos for the Greek food, if you’re in the mood for that. We’ve enjoyed Piazza Italia several times, especially the al fresco dining. If you are really hungry, the all-you-can-eat meat extravaganza at Chamas will definitely leave you satisfied. Probably our overall favorite is Pop’s, where we have had many good meals over the years with good friends.

It is a short drive to Brightleaf and certainly walkable. There is plenty of parking and the area is safe.

A driving map to Brightleaf Square is here (3 minutes) and a walking map is here (11 minutes).

In future blogs, we will explore other dining options around Durham. The main point I would like to leave you with is that dining options abound when you stay at Duke Tower. The Brightleaf Square area is full of excellent, reasonably priced restaurants. Get out and give them a try!

When people check-in with us at Duke Tower Hotel, one of the first questions we hear is, “What is there to do around here?”

We are happy to help people find entertainment near by. We have written on our proximity to Duke University, with the various attractions there (especially basketball), and to downtown Durham, in particular to the Carolina Theatre and their upcoming Full-Frame Documentary Film Festival. We are also near the new Durham Performing Arts Center, or DPAC.

Manbites Dog Theater, just around the corner from Duke Tower Hotel & Condominiums

However, the absolute closest entertainment to Duke Tower Hotel is the Manbites Dog Theater. Manbites Dog is literally only around the corner from us, less than a 5 minutes walk.

Manbites Dog is a professional non-profit theater company founded in Durham in October 1987, serving the Triangle area of central North Carolina. Manbites Dog’s purpose is to produce new and challenging theatrical events; showcase and nurture developing playwrights, directors, actors, and artists; facilitate cross-disciplinary and cross-community projects and help strengthen this region’s theatrical community.

In March 1997 Manbites Dog purchased a 6,500 square foot building on Foster Street near downtown Durham (right around the corner from Duke Tower) to serve as a permanent performance space for the company. The building opened to the public in fall 1998.

Manbites Dog has mounted more than 70 productions in the last 20 seasons, many of them regional or state premieres, as well as a broad range of local and national guest artists and companies in their “Other Voices” series.

Their current production is “The Receptionist”:

The Receptionist, currently playing at Manbites Dog Theater, right around the corner from Duke Tower

Ringing phones, office politics, and dark mysteries where you least expect them…

Beverly deals effortlessly with her job as a receptionist in the Northeast Office: ordering a birthday cake for her boss, solving her co–workers’ romantic crises, and zealously guarding her office supplies. Everything seems ordinary, until a charming visitor raises questions. Very, very disturbing questions. Acclaimed playwright Adam Bock takes a comically chilling look at homeland insecurity.

“The Receptionist” has been very well received by local audiences. One reviewer said, ““Another high point in Manbites Dog Theater’s 22 years of bold theater…”

For schedules and times for this and upcoming performances, visit their website, here.

We  are happy to support our local artists. We hope our Duke Tower guests feel the same way and will take a try on this local theater. Enjoy some fine performances right in our neighborhood!

The Carolina Theater, Near Duke Tower

Duke Tower Hotel & Condominiums is proud to have been selected  as one of the recommended hotels for the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, April 2-5, 2009. Duke Tower is close to Full Frame, held at the Carolina Theater in downtown Durham, about a 15 minute walk to Duke Tower. We will provide complimentary shuttle service to the Film Festival, which is less than a 3 minute drive.

Full Frame is one of the United States’ premier documentary film festivals, held over the course of four days each spring. The international festival is renowned for its presentation of documentaries as well as panel discussions, seminars, and question and answer sessions, along with the support it has garnered from filmmakers, film industry executives, and the general public. The festival is funded by private sponsors, including The New York Times, Duke University, A&E and the American Tobacco Campus.

Full Frame has reached national recognition not just from its impressive programming but also the presence of numerous filmmaking celebrities. Over the years, those attending have included Morgan Spurlock, Michael Moore, DA Pennebaker, Martin Scorsese, Mira Nair, Al Franken, Sydney Pollack and many others.

Hoop Dreams

The festival receives over 1,000 new films for consideration, the most of any documentary awards festival in the United States. This year, filmmaker Steve James, director of the critically acclaimed “Hoop Dreams,” will curate a series of sports films for the festival’s 2009 thematic program.

For reservations, please go to our website, www.duketower.com, or call us at 919-687-4444 or toll free at 866-385-3869.

We at Duke Tower are proud to be associated with the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, a world class event only a few blocks from us. We welcome all film makers and fans to our hotel and look forward to the festival.

Duke Tower Hotel & Condominiums is pleased to announce a partnership with Medstay, a medical lodging referral service for Duke University Medical Center and affiliated institutions, such as the Durham Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital and Durham Regional Hospital.

In the partnership, Medstay will recommend our accommodations for patients, their families and friends while they are in the Durham area. For people staying in Durham more than a few nights, Duke Tower, as a complete condo with separate living room, bedroom and kitchen, is ideally suited as a comfortable, extended-stay accommodation.

Duke Tower offers a lower medical rate for people who are in Durham for medical treatment at Duke Hospital, which is one of the Medstay criteria. We also offer breakfast at the Historic Tower Cafe, which is somewhat unusual for an extended stay hotel.

Sam Henry, President of Medstay, said, “We are excited to be able to offer Duke Tower as one of our recommended accommodations. Their free, 24-hour shuttle is unique among hotels serving Duke Medical Center, as is their shuttle to Durham Regional Hospital. We are aware of no other hotel in Durham that offers free shuttle service to Durham Regional. The Tower Cafe is pretty cool too.”

Medstay, on their website, www.MedStay.com, will list Duke Tower Hotel prominently, including special notation showing that Duke Tower offers a free shuttle to Duke and a shuttle to RDU International Airport. Much of Medstay’s business comes in through their toll-free number, 877-633-7829, which is staffed from 8:00AM to 10:00PM daily.

“We are pleased to be a partner with Medstay, which provides lodging recommendations to people coming to Duke Hospital,” said Valerie Blettner, General Manager, Duke Tower Hotel & Condominiums. “Most departments at Duke Medical Center don’t have time or ability to ensure that accommodations they recommend are of consistently high quality.  Medstay plays an important role and has a good reputation in providing that service.”

Medstay constantly monitors the reactions and opinions of their guests to various accommodation partners. They only represent accommodations that receive positive feedback from guests and will discontinue representing properties that receive poor reviews.

A Premium Suite Living Room

“We have heard nothing but positive feedback from the guests that have stayed at Duke Tower,” said Henry. “We find that guests like the Premium Suites in particular, so we try to only recommend those to our medical stay guests. We find that the medical lodging guests are often willing to pay a little extra for the Premium Suites.”

Another, smaller market served by Medstay is recommending lodging to prospective students who come to the area to interview at Duke University or some other educational institution. Duke Tower has a special lower “interviewing student rate”, which will be offered via Medstay as well.

In spite of the poor economy, the market for medical care in general and at Duke Medical Center in particular should remain strong in 2009 and beyond. According to Henry, he expects to see growth in the medical lodging sector in 2009 as more people are drawn to the world-class health care service provided by Duke University Medical Center.

Duke Tower's location (green arrow) makes the entire Triangle easily accessible

Duke Tower, as an all-suites hotel, is perfect for people who are relocating or on temporary assignment in the Raleigh-Cary-Durham-Chapel Hill Research Triangle Park (RTP) area. Our central location (see the map above) means that we are five minutes from Duke University and Duke Medical Center, two minutes from downtown Durham, ten minutes from Research Triangle Park, twenty minutes to Chapel Hill, RDU airport or Cary and thirty minutes to Raleigh.

As a completely furnished condo, with all utilities paid, weekly housekeeping, offering breakfast at the Historic Tower Cafe and our beautiful landscaped courtyard, we are ideally suited for furnished temporary housing, temporary living or as an extended stay hotel for anyone coming to the Triangle region.

We have many people who stay with us when they are relocating to one city or another on assignment. For example, doctors on the “House Staff” at Duke University Medical Center Graduate Medical Education stay with us when they come in for their residency. They will stay with us for a month or two while they look to buy a house or for other housing.

The Historic American Tobacco Campus

We have biotech and information technology professionals who stay with us when they are on assignment in RTP or at the Historic American Tobacco Campus, which is only about one mile away from us. We recently had a electrical engineer from Japan working at a major Japanese semiconductor company who stayed with us for almost five months. We took him to the Bull Durham Blues Festival, which was a unique experience for him. He greatly enjoyed his stay with us and gave us a bottle of sake as a present.

Likewise, we have a biotechnology executive staying with us now for a couple of months. She was transferred from her previous position in the Boston area to her company’s RTP location. The change from the Boston winter to the warmer South has been to her liking. She also is enjoying her accommodations, remarking several times on the convenience of Duke Tower to RTP. It only takes her about ten minutes to get to her corporate office in the heart of RTP. The traffic is much better than in the Boston area as well.

Another long-term guest we have is a Certified Public Accountant who has worked overseas extensively, including in Iraq and South Africa. While he was originally from North Carolina, upon his return, he chose Duke Tower Hotel as his temporary housing option in the Triangle. Again, the comfortable accommodations and the central location were part of our appeal to him. His new job is in Raleigh but he finds the commute quite reasonable. Furthermore, he has enjoyed his stay so much with us he now intends to buy a unit and live in it permanently. (We do have units for sale occasionally.)

We have had local families stay with us while their houses were undergoing renovations or during a transition from one house to the next. For families with children, we can often arrange to rent units side-by-side for convenience.

Our rates are based upon length of stay and are geared towards the long-term corporate traveler. The longer you stay with us, the lower the rates. Our rates drop to as low as $55/night for guests who stay with us for more than 60 days. This rate is quite low but is a reward for the guest’s commitment to us.

Another bonus is that for stays over 90 days, the sales and occupancy tax of 12.5% is refunded. This bonus is another nice way to reward people for their loyalty to us.

The American Tobacco Trail near Duke Tower

We have many other attractions as well, such as our large outdoor pool open year-round. (Yes, we have had some guests swim in it in the winter.) We have bicycle rentals for weekend trips exploring the Duke University campus or rides on the American Tobacco Trail.

We also are pet-friendly accommodations. We know that having your pet with you on those long assignments can make all the difference in the world.

Each suite has its own kitchen, wired Internet access and WiFi signals are available throughout the complex. There is no extra charge for Internet access. Every suite looks out to our beautifully landscaped courtyard, with the historic tower in the middle.

Unlike an apartment, there is no application, no application fee and no deposit required. We try to make it easy on the guest. Just show up with a valid credit card and ID and you will be welcome to stay with us–for one day or one year.

In spite of the poor economy, good news continues to emerge from downtown Durham. As a downtown Durham hotel, Duke Tower Hotel both participates in and benefits from this continuing positive cycle of development.

The most recent good news is the Measurement Inc. development going in near Durham Central Park. This development, called Morris Ridge and costing more than $15 million, will house retail suites, offices and residential condos in three adjoining buildings.

Measurement Inc.

Morris Ridge will be quite near Duke Tower Hotel, only about 1/2 mile away. (See the map, here.) Part of the Measurement Inc. complex is next to us.

Another positive development is the renovation of the Durham Athletic Park (DAP), the former home of the Durham Bulls minor league baseball team and the site of the movie, Bull Durham.

Bull Durham was filmed near Duke Tower Hotel

The City of Durham has embarked on a $5 million facelift for the park. Repairs and renovations include the grandstand, new bathrooms and a clubhouse under the grandstand, renovating the concession stands, dugouts and broadcast booth. There will be a new maintenance building, picnic area and sand-based athletic field.

The DAP is a short walk from Duke Tower

The DAP will then become a new training ground for minor league baseball. Umpires, groundskeepers and announcers will come to Durham to learn how to referee, announce, take care of fields and how to “flip” them from festivals to ballgames. The former home of the Durham Bulls is also getting a new state-of-the-art field and will be home to North Carolina Central University’s baseball team in 2009.

In addition to the restoration, a National Minor League Baseball Museum next to the stadium is planned.

With all this renovation activity occurring in our back yard (you can see our historic tower and smokestack from the stands), we are optimistic that some of this activity will have a positive impact on us.

As the hotel closest to the DAP, we can envision the visiting staff staying with us for extended periods of time during their training. Perhaps visiting college teams playing against NCCU will stay with us. And visitors to the Minor League Baseball Museum will find us right around the corner. We want Duke Tower Hotel to be the choice for all minor league baseball fans visiting Durham. We are sure they will all like our collection of “Bull Durham” movie posters and other Bull Durham paraphernalia that we have in our lobby.

Downtown Durham’s revitalization is positive for Durham and for Duke Tower Hotel. There are many other positive developments occuring around us, which we plan to report on in a future posting.

The Duke Blue Devils vs. the UNC Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium

College basketball season is upon us again and, as a hotel near Cameron Indoor Stadium, our thoughts at Duke Tower Hotel naturally turn to the Duke Blue Devils. Duke basketball is continually ranked as one of the top programs in the country. Games are usually sold out far in advance, although now with the Internet and such sites as Starhub, it seems that tickets are easier to come by, especially for people who live some distance from Durham.

With UNC-Chapel Hill only 8 miles away, the Carolina Tar Heels represent another great basketball tradition. In particular, the Carolina-Duke basketball game as been called “the greatest rivalry in college sports” and rivals the Super Bowl for attention in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. When you are in the Triangle, you are in the mecca of college basketball.

The Blue Devils’ coach, Mike Krzyzewski, or Coach K as he is called, is respected as one of the top coaches in the game. As coach of the 2008 Beijing Olympics USA basketball team, Coach K led the “Redeem Team” to a gold medal.

Coach K and the 2008 Olympics USA Basketball Team

Here at Duke Tower, we have many hotel guests who come in for the Duke basketball game, staying a night or two with us. We are only about 2.5 miles from Cameron Indoor Stadium (see the map here), so it is only about an 8 minute drive over to Cameron.

Furthermore, we offer a free Cameron Indoor Stadium shuttle for our basketball fans. We will take guests over to the game and pick them up afterward. You will not have to hassle with driving, parking and the traffic. If it is your first visit to Duke, you do not have to worry about finding Cameron. You can sit back, relax and enjoy the Cameron Indoor Stadium experience.

We have had high school coaches stay with us who come to the Coach K Basketball Coaches Clinic and others who are going to the K Academy College Basketball Fantasy Camp, the Coach K/Duke Basketball Camp, the Fuqua/Coach K Conference on Leadership or being tested at the Coach K Lab on Human Performance.

Fans from visiting teams are of course welcome to stay with us. Rest assured, we will give you the same warm, friendly and efficient service as we do our Blue Devil fans. We will charge you the same, reasonable rates we do Duke fans. However, we will certainly have some good conversations about our two respective teams. We can all gather for breakfast in the Historic Tower Cafe and discuss the previous night’s game, and celebrate or commiserate, as appropriate.

If you are considering a visit to one of the temples of basketball, we hope you will consider staying with us at Duke Tower Hotel & Condominiums.