Suburban Hotels/motel access to public transit

On our way to the SW USA, from Toronto, Ontario, we have allocated a two night stay in the fabulous Windy City (June 25.) We will be traveling in VW Westfalia Camper. I need a hotel/motel outside of the city with good access to the core via public transit. A hotel/motel with self-parking would be desirable, (Scarlet our VW Westy does not cotton to the gear mangling of strangers,) and close to highways headed west for a speedy exit to our ultimate destination. Any “burbs” or near city locations that would be suitable?

Cheers,

Suburban Hotels/motel access to public transit

If you%26#39;re coming in from the north, Skokie, IL will work for you. There%26#39;s a Hampton Inn and a Extended Stay America next door to each other right next to I-94. If you%26#39;re driving in from the south - www.midwayhotelcenter.com might work for you. Both locations have easy access to CTA public transit.

Suburban Hotels/motel access to public transit

The North suburbs (Northbrook, Glenview, Skokie, Deerfield) are great and have some of their own attractions, such as the Chicago Botanic Gardens (chicagobotanic.org; in Glencoe) and the Ravinia Outdoor Music Festival (ravinia.org).

There%26#39;s also a lot of NW/SW burbs with hotels, such as Arlington Heights, Oak Brook and Downers Grove.

Access (walkable) to public transit may be difficult, however, as in a lot of cases these hotels are an easy or moderately easy drive to nearby Metra or CTA stations, but the way that these areas are spread out, it%26#39;s often difficult to walk to a nearby station, in terms of not having sidewalks along some larger roadways and/or distance.

If you want to save money, I%26#39;d suggest considering looking up some of these burbs for your dates on Hotwire.com, which is a non-refundable deep discount service where you%26#39;re told star rating, amenities, area and price, but not hotel name. You get the name after purchase and, at that point, it%26#39;s not refundable or changable. However, you do get a discount.

For example, there%26#39;s a 3* in Northbrook for June 25-27 (you mention 2 nights and a June 25 date, so I%26#39;m guessing these are your dates), with the amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry. The price I%26#39;m seeing is $49 (you may see a slightly different price.) While not guaranteed, this is likely the Radisson Northbrook. *If* this is the Radisson Northbrook, the hotel website lists a shuttle that will take guests within 5 miles of the hotel. While I cannot guarantee they will, there are Metra stations within 5 miles of the hotel, so the shuttle should be able to take you.

Hotels closer to a Metra station (walkable, but there may not be much sidewalk - you%26#39;d just have to likely cut through the nearby office parks and parking lots and then cross the street) would be the Residence Inn Deerfield (530 Lake Cook) and Courtyard Marriott Deerfield (800 Lake Cook), which are near the Metra station at 601 Lake Cook. The Residence Inn offers free breakfast and the rooms do have kitchens (there%26#39;s a large grocery in a mall down the street and a larger Whole Foods about a mile or so North.) Unfortunately, both of these hotels seem unusually expensive for these dates ($189-209 on marriott.com.)

All three of the above are not far from the expressway, especially the Residence Inn and Courtyard.

Just tossing out some ideas, really. What would be your budget per night?

Thanks for your valuable input . Actually we%26#39;ll be driving to Chicago from Detroit. It would be more convenient for us to be able to access the Chicaga core from south of the city, (near I 80,) to avoid transiting the city by car. I guess there are motels around Midway that might work for me. Any other stops come to mind that are within an hours public transit.?

Cheers,

The Midway Airport area would be fine. You may also want to consider the Oak Brook area in the SW suburbs, which is a nicer suburban area.

You might want to consider Joliet. It is right off I-80 and southwest of the city. There is a Harrah%26#39;s Casino/Hotel a few blocks from the Joliet Metra station. My parents stay at the hotel frequently, so it is probably good.

I%26#39;d also recommend the Oak Brook or Westmont area. You would have easy access to Kingery Highway (Route 83), and I-88 or I-55.

If you take a look here, tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g36875-Westmont_Illin… , all 3 of these motels are located on the same street, right off of Ogden and Kingery, and from there it%26#39;s less than 2 miles to the Clarendon Hills Metra Train station (50 minute ride to downtown). Free parking and they may have free shuttle to the train station. The outdoor Oak Brook Mall is only a few miles north. Great location!

Thanks to all of you for your considered opinions. We have settled on the Holiday Inn in Oakbrook. They seem to have the free shuttle to public transit, and free parking. And it seems fairly easy to get to by road. I will report back my findings on this.

Thanks