Any suggestions for a Hotel in Chicago we arrive on the Empire Builder on a Sat. and are going to stay until we fly back on Tuesday out of Midway. Would like to be near the train station to start
Posted by PaulB (Member # 4258) on :
Last year my mom and I stayed at the Hotel Congress. It's under a mile from Union Station, but it's a long walk. You can take either a cab or a free trolley that runs around Chicago during the summer.
The hotel was good, but it's quite old, so many of the old fixtures are still in place. They are renovating it. There's no in-room Internet access, however.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
If you can get in, Club Quarters located on Adams St near La Salle is value and is not more than 1/2 mile away from CUS.
The rates are likely in the $175 range at present.
Now for the "if you can get in" part; the property is one where large corporations lodge their "lesserlings' ("higherlings" and entourages stay on the Mag Mile in places with names like Four Seasons and their $500 rates) and a corporate membership is required. However on weekends, they are open to anyone with a piece of plastic in the pocket that says "I'm good".
Club Quarters has their own website and they also are represented by several of the web travel agencies and resellers.
I stayed at the Best Western on Ohio St nr tMichigan Avenue, recommended here. You have to take a short cab ride, but it is an EXCELLENT location for Chicago, and it is where Amtrak personnel stay. It is also near those wonderful architecture tours by boat (Michigan and Wacker, I think).
Last summer I got a decent Triple A rate of about $125/night including an OK (not great) Continental breakfast. However, I believe the price has gone up; you might see how much. Also, I recall rates were different weekends and weekdays; remarkably, they were HIGHER on weekends! (that is rare in a downtown hotel but I suppose they get a lot of tourists)
I believe there is a Comfort Inn nearby, and also a Red Roof Inn in a good downtown location. These may be less expensive; don't know what they are like but NY Times travel article recommended them for people on a budget.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
The "River North' area in which the Best Western property noted by Ms. Sojourner is located, has an array of the major chain's "econobrands'.
Hotel rates are on an upward climb; the post 9/11 travel slump is in the history books. On the trip to the New York area I made last month, one hotel at which I customarily stay indeed was pushing my "obscenity button" - and I'm not known for traveling about "on the cheap".
But I stayed there anyway.
For an upcoming trip at the end of the month to Iowa City, even an "econobrand" is popping the triple digits with its base rate!!!
Oh well, at least it has a "room with a view' of the Rock Island from which I've caught some action during previous stays.
Posted by sojourner (Member # 3134) on :
Oh, is that River North? I thought River North was the other side of Michigan Avenue and the hotel's location is in the first block or so of Streeterville. But whatever, they are very close--and it's a very convenient and attractive area.
Still, I was surprised how much the prices have shot up in less than a year. And NYC is even worse. Although, I was not checking for July-August--those months are usually better in those cities. And, come to think of it, it was last August I stayed at the Best Western, so I suppose I got the lower summer rate.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
OK Ms Sojourner, you win. If East of Michigan, that is "Streeterville".
The properties I had in mind are located between Dearborn and Orleans/Wells North of the River. They are part of name brand "chains", as distinct from "affiliations", as is the case with "Best Western".
But I'm pleased to learn you were happy with your stay at that property and as such deserves commendation here at the forum. However, the rate you note, I fear, has been obviated by "supply and demand" factors.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
The following material was also posted at the Alberta hotels thread, but bears mention here at this tioic.
Lest anyone think that the quoted room rate plus taxes is "all you will pay", read this New York Times article to note how hotel's imaginations are working overtime.
I thought the auto rental concerns were the "toppers' when on my trip out East last month I was exposed (and paid) to a "goodie' called a "concession recoupment fee".
Where do they dream those names up?; just build them into the auto's daily rental rate.