Chicago to HH where to spend the night?

[Johnnie Fedora]

We will be traveling from Chicago to HH for a January stay--6 nights less than 100pts for a 2BR!!!. We are looking for recommendations for a good stopping point and lodging for the night. Somewhere nice, but not too expensive, as this was a spur of the moment trip. We are very excited, as this is our first trip to HHI since we added on there. I know HH is more of a summer place, but 50-60 degrees will sound pretty good to me in Jan.
Maybe we will be able to enjoy hot cocoa and swimming on the same afternoon.

Thanks,

Johnnie

 

[cgcw]

We traveled from Schaumburg to HH last July and stopped over in Ashville, NC. It was a long drive the first day but really didn't see anything appealing until we got to Ashville. We stayed at a Super 8 -- very new, very modern, very clean. The only draw back was that they had no cribs or pack and plays which we could have used for the little one. I believe they also had a continental breakfast in the morning. We tried to get into the Holiday Inn Express next door but it was booked for the night. They were very busy over there and also have a pool (not sure if you'd want that at this time of year). Holiday Inn Express was also a new building.

Have fun on your trip to HH. It's wonderful. Have not been there except for summer but have just recently added on there. We're already dreaming of our next trip in July. ENJOY!!

 

[RobDoc]

You will have about a 15-16 hour drive to HH from Chicago. Knoxville, TN will be past the halfway point for you and will leave about a 6-7 hour drive to HH.

There are a few spots between Lexington, KY and Knoxville which are also nice stops (London, KY is one). Some of this will depend on how early you will start from Chicago and how far you're comfortable driving. If you can, plan to drive from Knoxville to Asheville, NC in daylight to enjoy the Smoky Mtns and Blue Ridge Mtns.

We usually stop in Strawberry Plains on I-40 just east of Knoxville. There are several nice motels there.

Enjoy!

 

[vernon]

It isn't as long a drive as yours but we drove from Pittsburgh last year (12 hours) Our plans had been to drive straight through (over night) but due to terrible weather we only managed about four hours driving before we decided to stop and give it until morning to clear. The next day the weather was better and driving in daylight even with rain etc is infinately better than the same conditions at night. Anyway the point of that story is, if you book/payfor a specific destination you will feel you HAVE TO get there, whereas if you leave it to pick up a motel along route you have the flexibility to change your plans as circumstances dictate. As it is likely you would only sleep at whatever place you book and get straight back on the road I don't think you're likely to use any facilities of the hotel you book.

As you're travelling in January there has to be a chance you too would have similar problems, in our case it cost $60 for a hotel for the night and we arrived late afternoon at HH instead of early morning but it did mean we got there in one piece ( which I wasn't at all convinced about the previous night on the freeway) and reasonably rested.

JMHO but I don't think you have much to gain by tying yourself down to a specific hotel/area to overnight

 

[BillM]

If I were driving from Chicago to HH in January I would stay out of the mountains(Knoxville and Asheville). Instead I would go south to Chattanoga then to Atlanta to Macon and then to HH. In other words I would get out of the potential snow in the mountains.
I have a friend here in Bowling Green that owns a home at HH and he always goes via Macon, Ga.

Chicago to Chattanoga 10 hours.
Nooga to Macon 3 1/2 hours.
Macon to HH 3 hours.

 

[RobDoc]

In other words I would get out of the potential snow in the mountains.

The Chattanooga-Atlanta-Macon-HH route adds about 2 hours to the trip and you will still have to traverse mountains between Nashville and Chattanooga. We were caught in a bad ice storm there 3 years ago- and it added a full day to that trip.

True, there are mountains with the other route also- just check the weather map before travelling and select the route based on the likelyhood of poor travel conditions.

Good luck!