For an out of towner looking for bars, downtown is probably your best option. Other than the Ramada, there is a Holiday Inn, a Residence Inn and a Courtyard Inn downtown. If you want to stay at a nicer place, the Hilton, Hyatt, and Pfister are all nice. There's also an Intercontinental (used to be Wyndham) about a block from Water St. Another couple of neighborhoods in/around downtown other than Water St are Milwaukee St and Cathedral Square (corner of Wells and Jefferson). Both have a little bit of an older crowd (late 20's early 30's) relative to Water St.