Need help!! we are going to Chicago in late June, we already have 3 nights paid for at the Mag. Mile Courtyard. 6/27-6/30. We would like to come into town a few nights ealry, but want it to be economical. If we can get it under $100 a night we can spend 2 nights, but over that it will need to be 1 night.
I am not nervous of doing Hotwire/Priceline, but I am afaird that parking charges will get me. Are there any areas on Priceline, that you know that parking will be free or at least under $20 a night. Is it possible to get a hotel (clean and safe), doens%26#39;t have to be downtown, but accesiible to public transportation for that price???
Priceline/HotwireThe only downtown hotel with free parking is the Best Western River North, which does not work with Priceline or Hotwire. Otherwise, hotel parking is $30-40 a night. You can park in the Millennium Park lot, which is about $20 a night.
I%26#39;d be very happy to suggest some very nice suburban locations with free parking, and it%26#39;d be less for the hotel.
Hotwire has what appears to be the Radisson Northbrook for $49. That%26#39;s in the very nice North burb of Northbrook, which is easy driving distance to the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe (chicagobotanic.org) and the Ravinia Outdoor Music Festival (ravinia.org).
You could also bid for the Radisson and get it for potentially even less. (upper $30%26#39;s?)
The Radisson is about 3 miles from the Metra (metrarail.com) station in Glenview. You could drive there, park and take the train in. (about a 30-35 minute trip, but at least the Metra trains are nice and comfortable, and also have bathrooms.)
I think you could possibly get a 4* hotel downtown for around $100 per night for 6/25-27, but it would likely be pretty close to $100, as while 6/26 doesn%26#39;t seem that bad, the rates on 6/25 seem higher.
Just tossing out ideas. Let me know your thoughts and I%26#39;d be happy to go into more detail.
Priceline/HotwireAre you flying in and then renting a car?
Thanks so much. We are actually driving straight from Fl. The night of the 25th we will be getting in pretty late, so I would consider a hotel an hour or so south of chicago, just to spend the night. But I would be annoying to have to switch hotels 3 straight nights.
The Northbrook location sounds good, how would I bid on it in Priceline?? (area/star) Also any other burbs sound good, I wouldn%26#39;t mind paying a little more, but I love that suggestions so far. I think driving my car and leaving at Metra is fine.
I just booked a room with Priceline for July and we got the Hyatt at the Airport for $60 a night. I am not sure if parking is free, but since it is an airport property it probably is. The hotel is close to the blue line to get into town.
%26lt;%26lt;The Northbrook location sounds good, how would I bid on it in Priceline?? (area/star) Also any other burbs sound good, I wouldn%26#39;t mind paying a little more, but I love that suggestions so far. I think driving my car and leaving at Metra is fine. %26gt;%26gt;
I would bid $35 per night for a 3* in the Glenview/Northbrook zone. There%26#39;s no guarantee that you%26#39;ll get the Radisson (and the bid may not be accepted - if not, you could try tomorrow for a few dollars more), but if the Radisson is showing at $49 on Hotwire, $35 seems like a reasonable priceline bid in an attempt to get it.
It would be a bit more of a drive for you coming from the South to get to Northbrook, but it is a really nice area day and night, and you could go to the Botanic in the morning (really beautiful this time of year) and maybe see a concert at Ravinia if something there at the time was of interest. There%26#39;s also some very nice towns (Highland Park, Lake Forest) you could browse around if you had some time at night.
Two large, upscale malls (Old Orchard to the South, Northbrook Court to the North) are also within driving distance. The hotel is within
You could also attempt to get a hotel in the South burbs (Oak Brook is a nice one), but while that would be less of a drive in, it would be a bit more of a trip downtown and less convenient to a train station, depending on which hotel you got. The hotels are a bit more consistent in the North burbs, as well.
If you were to get the Radisson, the Metra station is 3.5M away in Glenview. There is also a closer Metra station in Prospect Heights (1.5M), but that is on a different Metra line and has a limited weekday schedule and no weekend schedule. If you could time it right, it would be less of a drive than Glenview.
Prospect Heights Metra:
metrarail.com/Sched/…prospect_heights.shtml
Glenview Station 1:
www.metrarail.com/Sched/md_n/glenview.shtml
Glenview Station 2 (more parking here)
metrarail.com/Sched/md_n/north-glenview.shtml
If you were to get a different 3* in the same area, the same station recommendations would almost certainly apply.
Let me know your thoughts and we can go from there.
You run the risk of not getting free parking at the O%26#39;hare hotels, as while several of the hotels there do, there are also quite a few whose rates can be around the $15-20 a day mark.
The above poster did get a very good deal on the Hyatt, but it does cost to park:
From the website:
Hyatt Regency O%26#39;Hare offers several parking options for our guests:
Valet Parking
Cost:
$28.00 per day with in / out privileges for registered guests
$25.00 per day with NO in / out privileges for non-registered guests
Self-Parking
Cost:
$17.00 per day with in / out privileges for registered guests
Self-parking is available for non-registered guests at the following rates:
Up to 10 hours:
$15.00
10 to 24 hours:
$20.00
';Thanks so much. We are actually driving straight from Fl. The night of the 25th we will be getting in pretty late, so I would consider a hotel an hour or so south of chicago, just to spend the night. But I would be annoying to have to switch hotels 3 straight nights.';
Since you%26#39;re coming in frm the south, consider midwayhotelcenter.com.
Free parking and you can catch the CTA orange line train downtown.
You are all amazing!! Thanks for the info. So far location wise Northbrook sounds the best, however I am not opposed to Airport areas. As far as hotels, it appears a little hit or miss by the airports. I wouldn%26#39;t mind paying a little extra for a 4* star hotel, but I don%26#39;t know how they will compare to the Raddison. I looked at betterbidding and it looks like the Raddison is the only 3* and no 4*. Based on our review the Raddison looks fine, but my wife is a little pickey.
Do u think that there are there nicer 4* stars/3* near the airports, that I could get for under $80 a night (including parking)???
';';You could also attempt to get a hotel in the South burbs (Oak Brook is a nice one), but while that would be less of a drive in, it would be a bit more of a trip downtown and less convenient to a train station, depending on which hotel you got. The hotels are a bit more consistent in the North burbs, as well. ';';';
Are there any other northbubs as you descibe Northbrook (near mall, safe day and night, near Metra), where there may be better similary priced hotel options??
Thanks again, so far Northbrook sound like the best option, just want to make sure I look at all options.
We drove in from Ohio a few years back. I dropped the family off at the hotel downtown, then drove the truck to Midway and parked in the extended parking lot for $7.00 per day. It probably costs more now. The airport shuttle took me to the terminal and I took the Orange line train from the airport back downtown. I saved over $200 doing that.
The reason I do recommend the Northbrook area as often as I do is because it%26#39;s a really pleasant area (safe day/night) with some sights of its own (Chicago Botanic, Ravinia) and if you%26#39;re going to have to come back to the burbs at night from the city, it%26#39;s a really nice area to come back to. Plus, there%26#39;s a wide variety of nice malls and restaurants nearby, easy access to transit and highways.
The only 4* in the Northbrook/Glenview zone is the Renaissance (an older Sheraton that was taken over by Renaissance), which gets some pretty mixed reviews. You do have the possibility to get upgraded to that if you bid for a 3* in that area, but if you%26#39;re bidding in the $30-40 range, it%26#39;s very, very unlikely, as Priceline rates for that hotel are usually more in the $65, 75, 85 and up range.
The issue with bidding for a 4* by the airport is that while there are some very nice airport hotels (the Hilton and Hyatt get pretty good reviews), there are some not so nice ones (the Sofitel gets some pretty bad reviews and the Westin also gets some pretty negative comments, although that%26#39;s more a mixed bag.) You may be able to get one of these for about $80 with parking if you bid around $50.
If you bid for the Oak Brook/Downers Grove area, there are some really nice 3* hotels (Hyatt Lodge @ McDonalds Campus), but there%26#39;s also some 3* possibilities in the same area that get some pretty bad reviews (the Embassy Suites Oak Brook, Wyndham Drake)
And really, with Priceline you do take the risk of not knowing what you get, but I think in this case, you could get something very cheap in a nicer burb. You could possibly get something in the $90-100 range downtown, but with $35-45 rates you can get in the burbs, you can save that money for other things (namely, gas, if you%26#39;re going to be driving a ton.)
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