Where to stay in Charlotte: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

Uptown is Charlotte's compact, high-rise heart: bank headquarters, the convention centre, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Blumenthal theatres, all inside a grid you can cross in twenty minutes. The Panthers play at Bank of America Stadium on one side and the Hornets at the Spectrum Center on the other, and on game days the whole place turns teal or blue accordingly.

Hotels here are the smartest in the city. Expect rooftop pools above the towers, a spa or two and steakhouses in the lobby. The LYNX light rail stops by the convention centre and runs a few minutes south to South End, where old mills have filled up with breweries, galleries and restaurants. Stay there for a younger, looser feel with Uptown still a short ride away. The airport is about eight miles out.

About six miles south of Uptown, SouthPark is where Charlotte goes to spend money. The district wraps around SouthPark Mall and the smaller, smarter Phillips Place, and the streets between them are lined with restaurants, offices and old oaks rather than skyscrapers.

It suits anyone who would rather have a quiet evening and a good dinner than a stadium crowd. Hotels lean towards all-suite and boutique-style places with landscaped courtyards and outdoor pools, and one hands out free bikes for getting around. You'll want a car or a taxi for Uptown, but it is a short, simple drive.

Ballantyne sits at the very bottom of the city, close to the South Carolina line, and feels more like a well-kept campus than a neighbourhood: corporate parks, golf greens and wide, quiet roads. Its centrepiece is a resort hotel with a full spa, indoor pools and a golf club next door, which makes it Charlotte's best bet for a weekend of doing very little.

Around it are newer, good-value hotels aimed at longer stays, several with kitchens and pet-friendly rooms. The trade-off is distance: the airport is about 18 miles away and Uptown is a proper drive, so this is a base for people with a car and no urgent need for nightlife.

University City grew up around UNC Charlotte, in the north-east of the city, and it is a practical rather than a pretty place to stay. The draw is what's nearby: the campus itself, the PNC Music Pavilion for big outdoor gigs, and Charlotte Motor Speedway just up the road. The largest hotel sits on a small lake beside the Shoppes at University Place, with dozens of places to eat within a stroll.

Rooms are noticeably cheaper than in Uptown, and breakfast is often included. Come here for a concert, a race weekend or a university visit.

Charlotte Douglas is one of the busiest hub airports in the US, and the hotels west and south of it are set up for exactly that: free shuttles, late check-ins and breakfast before dawn. Some are better than they need to be, set among gardens and small lakes in business parks a few minutes from the terminal.

A little further south, Steele Creek has the Charlotte Premium Outlets, with newer hotels right behind the shops. The U.S. National Whitewater Center, where you can raft, climb and zip-line in one afternoon, is within nine miles, and Carowinds theme park is an easy drive. Uptown is a shuttle or a short taxi ride away.

Head north up Interstate 77 and the suburbs give way to Lake Norman, a vast reservoir with a ragged, wooded shoreline. Huntersville is the nearest town to the city, and its hotels cluster around Birkdale Village, an open-air mix of shops, restaurants and a cinema that does a good impression of a small-town main street.

Further up the lake, Mooresville calls itself Race City USA and is home to a string of NASCAR team workshops. Hotels in both towns are mostly modern three-stars with indoor pools, kitchens in many rooms and free parking: easy, unfussy bases for a few days on the water.

Concord, about 20 miles north-east of the airport, exists on most visitors' maps for one reason: Charlotte Motor Speedway. On race weekends the town swells, and rooms within a mile or two of the track go fast.

The rest of the year it is a solid family base. Concord Mills is one of the biggest shopping malls in North Carolina, with a SEA LIFE aquarium attached, and hotels sit directly across the road. Most have indoor pools; one is a full golf resort with its own course. You are a motorway drive from Uptown, so plan on a car.