You can't play hard all day and then make the long trip home.
But you better book early... if you don't want to sleep in your car.

"It can be pandemonium as teams and delegates are trying to find hotel rooms," says Visitors and Convention Bureau's president John Cooper.

Cooper says he does his best to stagger events, but sometimes you just can't control when they happen.
That's why more hotels keep coming to town--they see a need.
Take a look...

Back in 2003, there were 2,300 hotel rooms in the greater Yakima area.
That was before the Hilton Garden Inn and Marriott...

Today, we're filling 2,500 rooms on busy weekends, with no problem.
And with more hotels in the works, Cooper says in the next couple years we'll have 2,800 rooms.
Seven hundred of them will be within walking distance of the Convention Center.

"The more hotels that are built the better," Ledgestone hotel general manager Sara Olson says.
But it's not the case for everyone.

"I don't think we need it, there's nothing here in Yakima to do..." Julie Marroquin tells us.
She heads up the front desk at the Cedars Suites.
Cedars Suites sees a big drop in business when events aren't stacked up.
It doesn't want to fight for guests when yet another hotel opens up.

"We're pretty slow here usually. Other hotels refer people here but it's not guaranteed..." Julie says.

The convention center is aware of the problem with smaller hotels and tries to help with referrals.
But Yakima needs its tourists.
John Cooper says visitors don't use much of our services while they're here, but they do leave a lot of money and taxes on the table for residents.

The Ledgestone plans to open early June.
We checked in with Holiday Inn Express managers.
They're still planning to bring a second holiday inn to Yakima.
A delay came when there was a legal issue with a private company. That was settled in court.
Construction should start in a month... with opening to come in the fall of '09.