my gawd.
Some hotels' parking garages and parking lots are ran independently of the hotel. This is Chicago...not Boone, IA
Hotels near Chicago
- Thread starter RollsRoyce
- Start date
my gawd.
Some hotels' parking garages and parking lots are ran independently of the hotel. This is Chicago...not Boone, IA
Some people are afraid of downtown. too daunting I guess. Why go stay in a suburb? Enjoy a 1000 different places in the Loop during your stay. So what its a few $$ more?
Memories are made while staying downtown Chicago. Head up to the top of Hancock on Michigan Ave, if it's a clear night.
You sure as h@ll won't remember staying in Naperville
Last edited:
I got a good deal friday through sunday at the Swissotel near Navy Pier for $75 a night on hotwire.
While there's street parking in downtown in Chicago, it's not a lot compared to the ramps - and this is especially true in Manhattan too (where not many people drive anyway). You have to compare the ramp costs - and Manhattan costs more for that.
Also - to the OP. This is Chicago, not Clive. It's one of the most walkable cities, with tons of visitors and residents. Space, while not as much at a premium as a place like Manhattan, is still at a premium. You're going to have to pay for parking if you drive in and stay downtown. You won't really be using your car though - if it were me, I'd just take the Amtrak in if you're concerned about money. You could save a lot by doing that and still stay downtown.
Last edited:
Not a great hotel - says it's downtown but not really. I guess the good news is that you're just down the street from what's left of Greektown, and to the north is the West Loop with a bunch of good restaurants near streets like Randolph.
Ok so this hotel's cheapest rate is $160 on there site. I got it for $75 which is $20 above the state rate for hotels in Iowa and this is for a 4-star hotel downtown chicago by navy pier.
Check Hotwire people! Downtown Navy Pier area. Chances are you will get this one.
This is near magnificent mile and tons of other places.
Your uber costs are still going to be a lot if you're staying in somewhere like Schaumburg and you are in or near downtown. UberX might be cheaper than a cab by a little bit, but it's still not cheap if you're traveling all over or ar. As a business traveler who lives in Chicago who frequently makes trips between downtown (where I live) and the airport (on the way to Schaumburg), it's going to be at least $45 in an UberX between an area like downtown and Schaumburg. More if you factor in any surge pricing.
So just do the math - if you got a hotel in a place like Schaumburg for $60/night and what you'd want in downtown Chicago is $100/night but your Uber is $45 each way while staying in the suburbs versus let's say $13 between UC and downtown hotel, then you would still be spending more to be in the suburbs.
I love uber, but people need to stop with this fantasy that getting an Uber is cheap. Just because it's cheaper than a taxi doesn't mean it's going to save you money versus other logistical alternatives.
When my wife and I went to the Bears v. Packers final game 3 years ago we stayed at the Hilton on Michigan Ave, she got a screaming deal on Hotels.com I still don't know how she got it. The nice thing about that hotel is its just south of the Magnificent Mile and within walking distance to the Shedd museums. Give that a shot.
That is a very nice hotel and probably the best tourist/vacation location possible. I've been to a couple weddings there, you're probably going to be pleased..
Pro tip for Hotels. Using a business account on Booking.com (just come up with something random, they don't check IIRC) get's you their genius tier service and an automatic 10% off
Regarding parking downtown with a hotel, ask what their rate is and then compare it to the SpotHero app spots nearby. The app allows you to pre-book parking spots and is almost always cheaper than hotels. You just scan a QR code when showing up & leaving, very easy & I use it often.
https://spothero.com/invite/sorx87
This invite code will save you $5 (half a beer in Chicago).
https://spothero.com/invite/sorx87
This invite code will save you $5 (half a beer in Chicago).
That's what I was thinking too. In Chicago Uber is usually like 10-20% cheaper than a cab depending on the time of day...and sometimes easier to get but not always because there are so many normal cabs. I guess the big advantage is easy to get Uber in burbs.
It's no joke that Chicago parking is expensive though. They privatized garage systems about 12 years ago and those rates shot up 50% when they did that. They privatized meters 6 years ago and the rates went up 500% in some places, sounds like hyperbole but sad truth.
So lets get back on topic here a bit - those staying in the City and want to be in the middle of the action, where are you staying?
Just switched from hotel Monaco to Godfrey hotel downtown. Something like $139/night. About 4 blocks east from the magnificent mile
The hotel has a very sceney club/lounge (IO Urban Roofscape) with awesome views of the skyline. During the day it's great when it's nice out. Beware though because the music at the place is bumping usually. My friend's company rented it out for a holiday party this year and gave them all rooms. His room was only one floor removed from the club/lounge and you could hear the bass in my friend's room. Kind of a weird-ish area but it's within a few blocks of the good stuff in River North, which is about 100 times better for nightlife/food than Streeterville (what you may refer to as Mag Mile and near Navy Pier). If you're looking for good food near Godfrey, I'd go south a few blocks to around Grand, Hubbard, Illinois, Kinzie, etc.
For anybody who is wanting to be right near nightlife, I would NOT recommend staying near Navy Pier. While it's a good area, it's quiet - not much actual good nightlife and a lot of chain restaurants (though there's some good non-chain ones - but percentage wise, you won't find a high percentage of local actual good eats around there).
The area you want to be in downtown for nightlife is River North or Gold Coast. Gold Coast hotels that are nicely located are Sofitel, Thompson Hotel, Tremont, and Whitehall which are all within a few blocks of one another.
I live very close to the Sofitel Hotel in Gold Coast. It's two blocks west of Michigan Avenue (5 minute walk - the area of Michigan Avenue it hooks up to is where the John Hancock Tower is, as well as Water Tower Place (i.e. Macy's), H&M, Uniqlo, Ghiradelli, etc). It's about a 10-15 minute walk to the nightlife in River North, and about a 5 minute walk to the nightlife in Gold Coast (though around here are a handful of bars/lounges too - not a dead zone at all). Also fairly quiet noise level wise at night.
Last edited:
Good advice.
I'm biased because it's my old hood but I'd take a 15-20 block cab ride to Milwaukee/north/damen after the game at the UC and barhop in WP/Bucktown as opposed to downtown. You could even take the bus up Damen.
Not a lot of hotels there but I had a better time going out in that neighborhood than downtown.
If any young hipster types are flying in without a car I'd check out Urban Holiday Lofts in that area. It's like a youth hostel thing. Ideal for somebody flying in, taking blue line to there, then cab or bus to UC and back to that hood.
Yep. I like Wicker Park nightlife better on average than downtown (but downtown has a lot more - so depends on the mood, what you want, etc). Urban Holiday Lofts is in a great area - right near Wicker Park which can be bumping. Another good one in the area is Holiday Jones, which is on Division Street and right near the Bedford, which is a great bar/lounge that used to be a bank vault. For anyone interested, there is some good nightlife near Damen/Division (including one of my favorite places that has become extremely popular - Pub Royale). Similarly, if anyone wants to stay downtown in a pretty nice hostel, then there is Freehand Hostel kind of on the Streeterville/River North border. Has a good hipster-ish cocktail lounge in it and there's another good one right next door - and close to River North nightlife too.
Love Wicker Park though, but not sure how many people would go for it here. I kind of wish the boutique hotel they're doing in Wicker Park was already open.
