Chicago, IL hotel recommendations

[disny_luvr]

My family is planning on taking a trip to Chicago this summer. We've never been before so we have no concept of where anything is located. Can anyone recommend any nice hotels that are reasonably priced? My DH would like to catch a baseball game at Wrigley Field and I've read nice things about Navy Pier (I think that is what it is called). Any other recommendations of things to do would be appreciated. We'll be traveling with 7-year-old twins if that makes a difference.

TIA!

 

[jadebaby0714]

Please check out Best Western Inn Ohio River North! That is one awesome hotel. has a really nice indoor pool its on the trolley route which is a must and only a block from Ginos East pizza and the hotel will give you a vip card for it and many other attractions. It reaonably priced and right next to this really cool mcdonalds and hard rock cafe,, ps please email me some garrettes popcorn i have hotel info if you are interested let me know!

 

[jadebaby0714]

I took my 7 year old and her friend and they loves it there! Navy pier is fun make sure to eat at bubba gumps and ginos east! not once did we feel uneasy in chicago! it was awesome!

 

[aclov]

Summer in Chicago can be pricey especially if you are going during Taste of Chicago. You can check out Travel Zoo they sometimes have good deals. Michigan Ave is the most popular area its close to great shopping including Water Tower, Hershey store, Ghiradell's, John Hancock, lots of restaurants and sight seeing. Definately get Garrett's popcorn and deep dish pizza!

 

[pearlieq]

On a really basic level as a tourist you're going to want to stay in or near areas called The Loop, River North, or Magnificent Mile (Michigan Ave). Those will generally be the most convenient areas to restaurants, attractions, shopping, and transit.

If you'd like to go to Wrigley (which I would highly recommend even if you're not a baseball fan as it's a beautiful ball park) you might want to try to stay somewhere on or close to the Red Line CTA ("L") train.

I've had pretty good experiences with almost all chain hotels in downtown Chicago. Some of my favorites:

The Wit
The Palmer House Hilton (this is a historical hotel that has a fun old-timey vibe)
The Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown/Lakefront (about equidistant from the Red Line and Navy Pier)
The Courtyard Chicago River North

I would start by checking Expedia and Hotwire to see who's got a good price and then check Google Maps and Tripadvisor to see who's in a good location with reasonably good reviews.

There are some great Groupons for summer fun in Chicago right now. Here's one for Seadog Cruises that might be a hit with the kids:

http://www.groupon.com/deals/entertainment-cruises-chicago-4

Aside from Wrigley and Navy Pier, I'd recommend spending an hour or two in Millenium Park. The Cloudgate sculpture and nearby fountain fascinate kids and make for some great photos. Also, Lincoln Park Zoo is free and very large and Lincoln Park itself is pretty nice. Finally, you might enjoy the Field Museum of Natural History (especially if the boys are into dinosaurs) or the Shedd Aquarium for an outing.

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[aclov]

I've never stayed at Embassy Suites but they have hot breakfast and a managers reception.

 

[Julylady]

We always stay at the Hilton Suites on Delaware. It's right across the street from the Hancock building. The suites are family friendly and there is an indoor pool. It is just a block off Michigan Ave and very convenient to Watertower Place and Navy Pier. It's on the hop on hop off bus line. There is also a deli/convenience store directly across the street, a coffee shop in the lobby, and a pretty decent restaurant. The door staff are great!

 

[Julylady]

Check out the Chicago Citypass. There is quite a savings if you are doing multiple venues and you get to skip the lines. Waits for some of the museums on the weekends are 2-3 hours so getting through faster is a huge deal!

We used the Citypass for Willis Tower, Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, and Hancock Tower. Sometimes you need to pick one thing or another.

Parking in Chicago is very expensive! Taxis are plentiful and pretty affordable. All of our taxi rides were less than $20 including tip.

 

[disny_luvr]

OP here. Thank you so much for all of the suggestions. They are so appreciated. I've been doing my research this week and was happy to have such great advice. If anyone has any other suggestions, those would be appreciated too. TIA!

 

[disny_luvr]

OP here, again. Is there anything offered like a sightseeing trolley where it takes you to all the touristy spots and you can hop on/off as you'd like? We were in Boston a few years ago and did something like this and we really enjoyed it. The driver also shared a lot of city information that we thought was nice because we learned a lot more than driving around on our own.

 

[musicmantrs]

We went last year and as huge baseball fans caught 2 Cubs games and a Sox game. If you stay anywhere near the Red Line your husband will be able to get to either one or both. Also, the Field Museum is awesome! I loved the history but you can skip the history of coal mining walk-through unless you're really interested in coal mining (it's an extra fee). We did a Gangster Tour that was very fun which tells the stories of the gangsters and goes to the locations of famous gangster scenes.

We stayed at the Inn of Chicago about a block off Michigan and probably 4 or 5 blocks from the Red Line. It was very affordable for the area and had good accommodations and you can get a drink to take to the roof where they have a nice lounge setup.

My cautionary tale... If you fly into Midway on Southwest and are wanting to take the Subway you might just consider a cab if you have much luggage. I flew into Midway because I had reward points and everyone else flew into O'Hare and I felt a little uncomfortable lugging my big rolling suitcase and little carry on roller on the Orange Line and switching over to the Red.

 

[Jimsig]

The Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown/Lakefront (about equidistant from the Red Line and Navy Pier)

Stayed there last June when a bunch of us went out for the Red Sox-Cubs series. I hightly recommend it. The free breakfast is great, not just cold cereal and a toaster, but eggs to order etc.

The other Embassy suites is supposed to be nice as well. We were supposed to stay there but a small convention booked right before we were about to book.

If you want good deep dish pizza IMO , head to Giordanos, there are a number of locations.

 

[cuteduck223]

there are a few architecture tours, as well as a riverboat tour (this is pretty cool) if you're looking for fun informative tour-type things. I can look up the info (i've got it somewhere) we're about an hour from chicago.

 

[robinb]

Stayed there last June when a bunch of us went out for the Red Sox-Cubs series. I hightly recommend it. The free breakfast is great, not just cold cereal and a toaster, but eggs to order etc.

The other Embassy suites is supposed to be nice as well. We were supposed to stay there but a small convention booked right before we were about to book.

If you want good deep dish pizza IMO , head to Giordanos, there are a number of locations.

Both Embassy Suites are excellent. The one on State St is closer to the El and a lot of the good restaurants. The one on Columbus is close to Navy Pier and Grant Park.

I much prefer Uno's/Due's over Giordano's for pizza ... but the pizza is very different. FWIW, the pizza at the REAL Uno's is also different than the chain-restaurant Uno's.

 

[jls886]

Another vote for Embassy Suites...they have THE BEST free breakfast there is! We have also stayed at the Doubletree Magnificent Mile off of Ohio, it is very close to Navy Pier.

www.hiltonfamilymvp.com will take 20% off the Best Available Rate at Hilton Properties (including Embassy Suites and Doubletree) assuming that that promotional rate is available for your dates. The only requirement to use the MVP rate is that you have a Hilton Honors number.

 

[sharbear]

There are groupons $9 for a 3 day CTA pass and also a groupon for the architectural river cruise, I think it was $18. We are going next weekend so I thought it might be too cold for a boat tour but I did pick up the CTA pass.

Also if you are thinking about going to a play, there is HotTix for 1/2 price tickets. I've also checked out gdine, I wish I knew more about. Has anyone used this?

Also we are going to drive to Michigan City IN and take the south shore commuter train into the city instead of driving and parking downtown. I'm hoping this works out well for us.