need hotel in chicago?

[MimiKay]

My family is flying to chicago to see the cubs play.... We know nothing about chicago and would like any recommendations of other things to do and where to stay for a reasonable price. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[PrincessMonkey]

If you don't mind a 30-minute drive, depending on traffic and your game time, I would recommend staying at a hotel in the suburbs. They are less expensive than the hotels in the city.

Schaumburg is a great tourist town, with one of the nation's largest indoor malls, Woodfield Mall, and a Gameworks arcade, and it has TONS of hotels. I would check there if you don't mind driving a bit.

You could end your day with some deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati's or UNOs out in Schaumburg.

Another option is to stay near O'Hare airport, but that is not the most attractive area.

 

[shrpgrl]

When I stay in Chicago I have gotten great deals on Hotwire. I have done this many times and never been disappointed.I love staying either in the theater/loop area or michigan ave/gold coast. So much to do and see there and so many unique places to eat. Of course when I go I enjoy shopping the loop as well as Michigan Ave. They have many theaters with great shows too and the Blue Man Group is fun to see. Of course if you are going to the game you might be too busy. I almost forgot....the zoo is great and Navy Pier is fun too.

 

[LanaJae]

It's so much fun to stay downtown Chicago! I would look at the community sites that rate hotels, like trip advisor.

I have had a little trouble with discount sites because there are many old hotels in Chicago with tiny rooms. We stayed at the Hilton Palmer House last time and our room was the size of a closet, many won't guarantee bed numbers or bed size.

 

[MimiKay]

WOW! Thanks, all my disney friends!!!!

 

[lady_hlh]

I stayed at the Hampton Inn and Suites downtown for a business trip one year and it was really nice plus the suite would be great for a family. Also they had a free hot breakfast buffet and an indoor pool. My business training was actually out by O'Hare but I was dying to check out the city. I was so glad that I made the decision to stay in the city instead of the suburbs.

 

[MimiKay]

anymore ideas? restaurants?

 

[vsimeone]

I LOVE Chicago! We've always stayed downtown. Our best price on a hotel was with Sheraton Four Points. It's one block off Michgan Ave and right next to Trader Joes.

We've also stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott, Omni Suites and Wyndham. We got good deals at the Omni and Wyndham through the Entertainment Book and used Marriott points when staying there.

As for restaurants... if you're looking for something fun to do downtown, eat at Ed Debevics. My kids LOVE this restaurant. It's so fun! If you want "food to die for", try for a reservation at Table 52. It's really small so you have to book ahead but the food is amazing!

The steakhouses are also wonderful. We've eaten at both Lawry's and Mortons and enjoyed both. Shaw's Crab House is expensive but REALLY good!

Have a wonderful time and be sure to get some Garrett's Popcorn for a snack or dessert!

 

[LanaJae]

anymore ideas? restaurants?

Some fun "Chicago" food...
-Famous from SNL skit: Billy Goat Tavern, in the underground area under Walgreens on the corner by the Wrigley Building. Not a nice place, but fun to experience.
-Chicago hot dog
-Chicago Pizza

A boat tour at night is a lot of fun if it's warm enough.

Double-Decker tour bus!

Navy Pier - great Ferris wheel and free stained glass museum.

One year we did the "Go Chicago" card: http://www.gochicagocard.com/chicago-attractions.html

Legoland

We took a train (cheap family rate on weekend) to the Brookfield Zoo and loved it.

 

[mom of princessx2]

Nothing better than staying right downtown. I think alot of hotels will have discounted if not free or included passes for the museums and aquarium. It has been over 10 years since we have stayed but we enjoyed the Palmer House alot and they do have several types of rooms, although as pp stated many are the size of a closet. We have also stayed at the InterContinental which was a nice hotel in a good location. I sure miss my weekends in the city

As far as resturants, depends on what you are hungry for. If you want Chicago Pizza I would go to Ginos East-Great pizza and you can leave your mark on the Graffiti walls. There is also Little Itay with great Italian food and GreekTown with, of couse, great Greek food. Several resturants in each. We always find that when visiting a new place the best thing to do is talk to the locals, cabbies, hotel clerk. They always love to share their city and most can give info you wouldnt get elsewhere. Have a great time!!!

 

[mom of princessx2]

The steakhouses are also wonderful. We've eaten at both Lawry's and Mortons and enjoyed both. Shaw's Crab House is expensive but REALLY good!

Have a wonderful time and be sure to get some Garrett's Popcorn for a snack or dessert!

I forgot about Shaw's.......is a tad on the expensive but so good!

 

[nd5056]

There’s only one “First Impression” you may experience, regardless where you go. If you want to make this trip memorable, my advice would be this:

Don’t waste your valuable time trying to commute between the Downtown and suburbs. You’ll save some $$, but the traffic around here is terrible, especially downtown Chicago. And for downtown it stretches past the rush hour too, including weekends and evenings. Beside, there is so much to see here, Downtown Chicago & Navy Pier is just beautiful at night.

Must try Deep Dish Pizza – Gino’s East is my top choice too, but when it comes to Vegetarian Pizza, Lou Malnati's Spinach Deep Dish Pizza is the best. Also make sure you try the freshly Cinnamon rosted Almonds sold at Navy Pier.

Also, the Seneca Hotel is a place you can find some great deals online for, and it’s wonderfully located next to the John Hancock building, great location.


Explore more options HERE: you'll find maps and all kind of info there.

PS.There is this Free Chicago Trolley Bus you could use, but there were some talks of shutting it down due to lock of funds... .

Any more ??? Feel Free to ask.

.

 

[mommyrants]

I live about 3 miles from Wrigley Field and am a Cubs' season ticket holder. There isn't anyplace to stay in walking distance of the park. I recommend finding a Hotwire/Priceline deal downtown and it's a short and safe EL ride to Wrigley Field.

Then you'll be close to Michigan Ave, shopping, the lake, the awesome Disney Store.

Enjoy your trip!!

 

[My2Cinderellas]

shop around for hotels, when I took the girls for a short trip a couple summers ago, I decided against priceline since they would only guarantee room for 2 ppl and Chicago is one of the cities where they really mean only 2 people. I ended up finding a cheap rate on the AAA website (what a PITA that site is to use, but the rate I got was worth the hassle) at the Palmer House. You could tell the room we were given was once 2 rooms, there was a lot of empty floor space and the closet was where the other bathroom had once been.

Can't say enough great things about the location - right by a redline subway stop, a block from several other loop el lines and a bus stop kitty corner from the hotel. I bought MTA 3-day passes, they were good on busses and the el, but we used busses to the museums. We took Amtrak to Chicago and I bought the MTA passes before we left Union Station.

Another consideration is parking costs at the downtown hotels, it is steep! $30-40 per night. This was one of the reasons we had an Amtrak adventure!

 

[kateydid]

the past 2 summers my friends and i have stayed at the best western grant park. we liked it so much the first time we stayed there again. great location, on michigan ave, right across the street from grant park and within walking distance to museum campus. the price was reasonable and the room was nothing fancy but clean and decently sized. we found a good deal last year on one of the travel sites, expedia i think. it's also a great location for public transportation, busses stop right outside the door and a metro stop for the red, green, and orange lines is right around the corner. it might be a little farther from wrigley but you could get there easy enough by using the metro and it's near so much other stuff that it'd be worth it IMO.

a few other tips...if you're going to use public transportation buy the unlimited passes. we bought multi-day passes and saved so much money! we bought them before we even left o'hare. we took public transportation everywhere and found it to be very easy to navigate and so much less stressful than driving and parking. what made it even easier was that the hotel had free wifi and we googled directions using public transportation before leaving in the morning. chicago also has a number you can call and give them your location and destination and they'll tell you how to get there using public transportation, which came in handy for us once before. like PP we also did the "go chicago" card and loved it. also, the shedd aquarium is fantastic, a "must-see" in my opinion! chicago is a great city, you'll have tons of fun!

 

[cabanafrau]

We love to stay at Embassy Suites on State & Ohio. You can literally step outside the hotel to board the el (underground at this point, but the el nonetheless) which takes you north, I believe even right into Wrigleyville. The Hampton Inn a previous poster mentioned is right around the corner & a great option also.

The 3-day MTA pass is a great deal & can also be purchased at Jewell Osco Market, just across the street from Embassy Suites. Several years ago we did stay out in the burbs, Arlington Heights, I believe. Not a bad place by any means, but definitely not worth the hassle or any "savings" IMO.

You've already had lots of great suggestions on things to do, but if I could suggest putting that MTA pass to good use, it can take you via el to the Cermak/Chinatown stop (redline I think). From there it's a short one-block walk to Chinatown, w/ lots of neat little shops & great restaurants. You can also catch a bus on Michigan Avenue that will drop you off at the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is a nice/smallish zoo w/ free admission & a beautiful park & conservatory too. (I think it's the 151/Sheridan bus if I remember correctly.) If you don't really know Chicago, the on/off trolley & bus tours are fun & a great way to get an idea of many things Chicago has to offer.

 

[Sandy321]

I also encourage you to "google advanced search" put in Chicago Hotel, but add disboards.com for the url -

I've read and posted on several of these threads - I totally completely encourage you to go to betterbidding.com read Chicago Priceline bids won, read hotels, and how to bid - it works!! I only bid 4* hotels in Chicago - or I Hotwire hotels (betterbidding has a list of hotels based on icons from Hotwire!)

Citypass (probably .com) you can buy this pass and then you go to the museums, and up to the Hancock - if you dont buy the pass go to the Hancock (by water tower place) but bypass the line to pay to see the view, and spend that money on a coctail in the Signature Room Lounge!! Same views - better (check out the bathroom views!! AWESOME!)

 

[MimiKay]

Thank ya'll SO much! My husband and 14 yo son are big CUBS fans. My husband has been to Chicago, but I'm just a Mississippi girl who has never been to a big city like this before. You don't know how much I appreciate all the advice. I am having so much fun researching this!!! Thanks again!

P.S. I didn't know about the big Disney Store!! We'll have to make time for that!!!

 

[nd5056]

... go to the Hancock (by water tower place) but bypass the line to pay to see the view, and spend that money on a coctail in the Signature Room Lounge!! Same views - better (check out the bathroom views!! AWESOME!)

My personal choice is to see Chicago from Hancock during the daylight, but you can't beat the night view from Sears Tower...

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