Help with Chicago trip please!

[Momma2Mia]

You guys have provided such valuable help on my previous trips so I want to ask for help again.

My family and I are going to Chicago for a long weekend later this month. The kids are going to perform at Navy Pier with their dance studio. I have reservations for a hotel downtown but it is super pricey 200.00/night pluse 42.00 a day to park with no in/out priviliges. Anyone have any tips on other parts of town that we could stay in that may still be accessible by train to downtown so we could save some $$. Keep in mind traveling with little ones so safety first.

I really appreciate your help...thanks in advance!
Kristie

 

[teachermommy78]

I would check out some of the hotel booking websites. However, always check reviews before booking. I live in Chicago. You are going to find nice hotels downtown and in the suburbs. For the most part, you are not going to find nice hotels in safe neighborhoods around other parts of the city. Is it possible? Yes, but there aren't many. In my neighborhood (northwest side) there are some nice ones, but they are all in bordering suburbs (skokie, park ridge, niles, etc.). These may be close to METRA, which can usually get you downtown. If you are going to be mainly downtown, I would highly recommend staying downtown and looking into travelocity, expedia, etc. Chicago is beautiful! It's just plain expensive to visit! Good luck!

 

[Lucille1963]

My dear friend, who has a family of 5, always stays at the Two Urns B&B in Wicker Park. www.twourns.com

Also look into The Wicker Park Inn www.wickerparkinn.com

Both are in nice areas, convenient to downtown, and with free parking.

 

[Lucille1963]

Here's another option: http://www.raysbucktownbandb.com/

When you consider the prices, remember that you'll also be getting breakfast for 4, which can add up fast!

 

[Psychodisney]

Also try Hotwire. The "Streeterville" location will be close to Navy Pier and includes hotes like the Sheraton and Hyatt Regency. I was looking for August and saw rates a little over $100.

 

[bpesch]

Chicago is expensive. I love to go there but getting a deal on a hotel takes a lot of work.

 

[bear_mom]

My suggestions (we travel to Chicago 1-3 times a year):

1-go to the Chicago Transit Authority website and get a vistor's pass. They are $5 for 24 hours, $9 for 48 hours, and $? or 72 hours. These allow unlimited El and bus transportation. Children under 7 are free. With this you wouldn't have to drive and pay to park while you are downtown. You can spend some time on the website also familairzing yourself with the bus/El patterns. I have found once you have an idea of how they work, it is pretty easy getting around.

2-depending on where you are coming from, can you take one of the commuter trains into Chicago? We take the South Shore Line that goes from South Bend to Chicago. Not the most luxurious transportation, but it is conveinent and I feel safe taking it. From where we catch the train (Dune Park Station) it is $6.80 one way and if you travel during non-peak times children under a certain age are free (with a paying adult).

3-there were 5 of us (we took one of dds friends) and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott for less than $200/night. It was in a pretty good location, close to Mag Mile and a short bus ride to Navy Pier. Dh would get up and walk to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast.

Emily

 

[my2redheads]

hotrooms.com used to have good rates on Chicago hotels.

 

[sk8jdgca]

I've had good luck with Priceline-name your own price-if you go to betterbidding.com they have a calander of wins that shows how much people got certain rooms for. another good place is lastminutetravel.com- with a little research of ammenities and pictures you can figure out what you are getting

 

[bella77]

I had this question a few weeks ago and got some great advice here! We ended up doing hotwire and ended up staying near the McCormick Place convention area. We got the three day CTA pass for $14 and rode busses and the El all over. We didn't want to spend ALL of our time traveling into town, so we chose not to stay in the suburbs. Our hotel was a reasonable price, and parking was $30 as opposed to $50. It would have been nice to stay in the middle of the action on Michigan Avenue, but it just wasn't in our budget. We still had a great time, and my nephew absolutely loved riding the busses and the El!

 

[aclov]

Check out travelzoo.com, I have a hotel stay in a couple of weeks at the Hyatt Regency paid a little over $100. They also have entertainment deals.

 

[NotUrsula]

Just FYI, about Loop/Mile parking. You can shop around. It really isn't necessary to park at your hotel's garage if you are willing to have one person in the family hoof it a bit (and if you are not planning to move the car during your stay downtown.)

There is a VERY useful website that will let you put in an arrival and departure time and show you a map of garage rates for that time. Very often just walking three blocks or so to a public garage rather than the one the hotel uses can save you a lot. For instance, the parking at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers (on E. North Water St., a 4-star hotel that often comes up on PL) would come to $123 for three days. If you park at the Standard Parking garage around the corner in the 400 block of New Street, the same 3 days will cost you $75. In the Loop, the parking at the Palmer House will cost $127, but the System Parking lot about 2 blocks away in the 300 block of Wabash will cost you $85.
http://chicago.bestparking.com/#1 (Pick a couple of choice in case your first one is full when you arrive.) If you are staying near Grant Park, parking UNDER it in the public Millenium Garages is an excellent deal.

When you arrive, stop at your hotel and load out, then have one of the adults drive the car over to the garage and walk back. Same deal in reverse; when you leave the room to head downstairs, have one adult go get the car while the other waits downstairs with the baggage and children.

We deal easily with the lack of in/out privileges this entails by just scheduling any suburban attractions we wish to go to on the first or last day. We live SW of Chicago, so scheduling MSI on the last day works well, we drive down there via Lakeshore, then leave town via 57/80, so that we can avoid the traffic on the Stevenson expressway.

Also, staying in Rosemont near O'Hare isn't bad at all for commuting on weekends; just drive your car over to the Rosemont station on the CTA blue line and use your pass (you DID buy a CTA pass, of course) to take the blue line downtown; it takes about 25 minutes each way.
This is a good alternative if you inadvertently plan your visit for a major convention/festival weekend -- which I DON'T recommend doing if you can help it.

 

[bettymae1121]

Just a tip about weather in Chicago in the summer. While we can have beautiful weather during the summer (especially when you're by the lakefront) it can also sometimes be almost as hot and humid as Orlando in the summer. And like Orlando, we can get afternoon/evening thunderstorms, sometimes quite severe. Always keep an eye on weather reports, and if you wind up here during a heat wave and spend a lot of time outside, make sure to stay hydrated, just like you would at WDW.

 

[Rainman415]

I grew up in Chicago and still live in the suburbs so I'd be glad to help with whatever you need. Travelzoo is an excellent place to start. Please don't hesitate to contact me...PM if you want and I'll be glad to help you plan.

 

[gate_pourri]

I agree with a few of others who said to try to 'name your price' at Priceline.

My mom and her partner came to visit and stayed at The Renaissance hotel (less than 4 blocks from Navy Pier) just last weekend (4th of July weekend!) for only $85 a night. You should bid for like $90 a night, 4 star, in the "North Michigan Ave" or "Millennium Park, Loop, Grant Ave" neighborhoods and I am sure you will get a nice hotel for half the price you are currently paying within either a very shot subway/trolley ride or walking distance of Navy Pier.

 

[2minnies]

If you bid on Priceline you are only guaranteed a room to accommodate two adults (one bed). If you are counting on two beds this may not be your best option.

 

[tinkerbell9227]

have you checked hotwire for a good deal ? I have booked hotels for my parents in the past downtown for as low as 100 for a four-five star hotel.

otherwise, you could look into staying in a close suburb like rosemont where you would have access to the cta train to get you downtown, once there you can either walk to navy pier or take the free trolley that runs during the summer.

 

[winterhart534]

Here's another option: http://www.raysbucktownbandb.com/

When you consider the prices, remember that you'll also be getting breakfast for 4, which can add up fast!

My mom and sister stayed at Ray's when they came for my graduation this May. We live 2 minutes away but just don't have room for guests. They loved it. No, I mean they LOVED it, loved it. Still talk about it every time I'm on the phone with my mom loved it. My DF and I got to see the inside when we picked them up and it's just charming. The breakfasts there sound incredible as well.

 

[NotUrsula]

have you checked hotwire for a good deal ? I have booked hotels for my parents in the past downtown for as low as 100 for a four-five star hotel.

otherwise, you could look into staying in a close suburb like rosemont where you would have access to the cta train to get you downtown, once there you can either walk to navy pier or take the free trolley that runs during the summer.

Just FYI, the trolley is gone, it was a victim of recession budget cuts in 2009. We never rode it anyway, it was always packed and insanely hot; several times the drivers would have to skip stops because they were already full to capacity. They didn't run as often as the CTA buses, either.

OP, buy your CTA passes ahead of time via the web at www.transitchicago.com; they will mail them to you. They will also mail you a transit system map, which are hard to find at stations, but very valuable for tourists.

BTW, while Priceline won't let you specify number of guests in a room, Hotwire will. The deals are not as good, but they are usually better than the hotel's own price. If there are any discounts to be had on the Loop or the Mile area on your weekend, you can look at Hotrooms -- if they don't have anything, then there is some major event going on that is jacking up hotel prices, and it's time to look at suburban possibilities if you need cheaper digs.

 

[Lucille1963]

My mom and sister stayed at Ray's when they came for my graduation this May. We live 2 minutes away but just don't have room for guests. They loved it. No, I mean they LOVED it, loved it. Still talk about it every time I'm on the phone with my mom loved it. My DF and I got to see the inside when we picked them up and it's just charming. The breakfasts there sound incredible as well.

Good to know! We don't have space for more than one or two guests in our house so they're usually spread out in hotels. This will be on our list next time!

To the OP: Ray's and Two Urns are both located very close to free public pools! My mother swims at the one near Rays 3 times a week, and we may be at the one by Two Urns this afternoon. Both have nice facilities!