Well, I know of a good hotel that we stayed at about 5 minutes away from CP in Sandusky. It had alright service, a good breakfeast, and a good pool. I can't remember it right off-hand, but if you could give me some names of hotels you found around the area and that might jog my memory. Anyway, it's not 5 star, but its's not a crap hole either. It's just a good hotel for a good price, that is well worth the money. Hope this helps (so far)!
It also offers shuttle service to and from CP, but if you wanted early entry that wouldn't work. CP offers a Joe Cool club member pass that allows you to get into the park early also. Look into that and also some of their other options as I'm not certain that Joe Cool is the early entery pass. (We had so many different things on our pass that it's too hard to remember).