This article reminded me of Geoffrey Landis's "Polar Landing Site for a First Mars Expedition" [1], which seems like an interesting idea (easy access to water ice has some real benefits) except that the polar ice cap is probably about the most boring place on Mars to land.
Some place like Korolev crater might be a good compromise, with (possibly) easy access to water ice while retaining access to non-ice-covered Mars terrain.
[1] http://www.geoffreylandis.com/pole.html