Chicago in March... Where to stay? :::BACK WITH PICS!:::
 

I'm planning a long weekend trip (Fri-Mon) to Chicago in March with my GF. I've never been there before but I've wanted to go for the past few years. I'm looking for a cool hotel to stay at that offers a unique atmosphere and is close to a lot of the main stuff to see and do in the city. Ideally, I'd like to keep the rates under $150/night.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions on things to see and do there in addition to places to stay, I'm all ears.

Thanks guys.

The "W" near the lake.

$125 a night, that's not gonna happen unless you stay in a dump. Everytime I go it is $400-$750 a night if you stay down town on/off Michigan Ave

The Ritz, The Drake & The Trump is the last three places I have stayed and it was great each time

Good luck

What about The Allerton?

The Allerton Hotel Magnificent Mile Chicago | Located Downtown Chicago on Michigan Avenue

^I stayed at the Allerton, if you do you have to get an Executive Ste, they are very large and spacious rooms. They do not have a restaurant and there bar stinks, other than that its a pretty nice room in a great location

do a search on Expedia or something, I'm sure you'll find a nice place for your budget

Embassy Suites on Columbus is nice

and the Sheraton on North Water St is nice as well

And once you find a place to stay, and want to have a real italian dinner, try LaScarola just outside of downtown on Grand Ave. Make reservations now.

I always have the best luck with hotels.com

I think the Seneca is great value and it's right next to the Hancock building

What about good places to eat? Are there any "must eat" restaurants that are worth checking out? Who's got the best deep dish pizza?

Geno's and Uno's^

You gotta go to Hot Dougs!! It's amazing....you'll have to wait in line for about an hour and a half though. Oh, and if you go on a weekend, they have fries that are fried and rendered in duck fat SO DELICIOUS

Sofitel Water Tower is a great place to stay and right by the lambo store.

eveything is good.....if you want a good steak try Gibson's or Morton's

I don't know if you have a Fogo de Chao in Mn but that place is definitely good eating. go during lunch though because they have a special

Thanks for the suggestions!

Come on guys... has everyone here gone crazy?
Alex is joke'n!!! come on, he is going with his GF??

j/k
a must do is CAF Tours

If a girl is involved, then afternoon tea at the Drakes is a must.

The mrs had her baby shower there.

Tavern on Rush for Saturday dinner. Gibsons and Mortons are good for steak/seafood however Tavern is equally as capable and the feel is much more fun and not so stuffy. Great people watching at the bar as well. Highly recommended, whe I lived in the city we used to have standing reservations every Saturday at 8:00.

Oh yeah, and it's a block from Bugatti/Lamborghini/Bentley Chicago.

Thanks BRobbins! How far in advance to you recommend making reservations for Tavern?

+1 Tavern on Rush is a great choice.....and they're all within steps of each other so you have a lot to choose from

^Not cheap, but a great place

More great advice

I would make the call soon. Weekends are pretty full, you will love it!

Make sure to go to the SkyBar at the hotel W. You don't have to wait in line, walk up the lobby in front of the line and slide one of the bouncers a $20.00. Your in and on the elevator. Also check out the place on top of the Handcock Building at night. Nice bar and you can see miles of Chicago's lights.

Thanks man, I owe you a drink if you're ever in MN.

EDIT: I checked out the menu at Tavern on Rush and booked a reservation for a Sunday night. The food looks delicious.

Second on the W and Sofitel choices.

What kind of food would you like to try?

Chicago has a lot of options (pizza, gastronomical crazyness, great sushi, etc) ... i can point to a IMHO best of breed for around the city in the categories you wanna try.

email me (first name at last name) for a timely response :-)

Some Hot Dougs inspiration: special of the week...Game of the Week 2/1~ Mountain Man Sausage (a damn tasty combo of Venison, Elk, Antelope & Buffalo) w/ Bacon-Garlic Mayo & Smoked Gouda

It is. You make sure you arrive a little early for a cocktail downsatairs before dinner. It's a hell of a show! Enjoy. You are driving through Madison to get there and back home, if you want to mid drive stop feel free to PM me. :yup:

Thanks! I'll definitely keep that in mind. We can't check in at the Allerton until 3PM so we'll probably stop around Madison for lunch.

Just looked at Tavern on Rush's website. Looks really good, I'm going to make a reservation there also.

We're staying here: Unsupported Browser

^ stayed there a few times, enjoyed that stay. Where in STL do you live?

Midtown/Downtown. I'm here for school but I'll be graduating in May and then moving back home to Hawai'i to take a year off before med school.

I know that hotel isn't a Four Seasons or anything spectacular, but I figure my GF and I will only be sleeping there anyway. It looks nice/clean/safe which is all we really need.

Plus it's only gonna cost me ~$270 for 3 nights. Pretty good deal imo.

You might be able to get it even cheaper if you have a AAA card. Just a thought. I used mine to get 15% off on my hotel room at the Allerton and saved another 10% by skipping the housekeeping since we'll only be there for 3 days. I think I ended up paying $200 for a King room at the Allerton right on Michigan Ave.

Last year I stayed at the W on Lakeshore. Hotel is OK at best imo. Debating whether or not I will be staying there again come May. Actually... I was told I was banned at the W Hotel in Scottsdale AZ, wonder if that applies to all W's from now on....

The one good thing about my stay there was that they were hosting Playboy auditions while I was there, so girls were coming in to do auditions all day for 2 days. I chilled at the bar and just drank and watched girls come in/out.

There was a really beautiful girl who worked the desk at the W, and while the girls were coming in I was making remarks about them all and she loved it. I ended up getting the cute chicks number - of course I got it the day I morning I was leaving and had to attend a convention up until two hours before boarding my flight.

Oh, and I'm not sure how regular it is, but it literally took forever to get back to the airport, I almost missed my flight. Traffic was horrible.

I booked my room online, I don't know if they'll add on discounts now, but I'll ask when we check in. Thanks.

Also, are you going to stop by Gold Cost Bentley/Lambo/Bugatti? While we have high end car dealers at home (in Hawaii), their inventory is nothing like that at Gold Coast and to be honest, I'm feeling a little intimidated by it. How exactly do you walk into one of these dealers as someone who obviously isn't serious about purchasing?

Yes, I'm planning on going to Gold Coast Bentley. I'm not at all intimidated. I'm a car guy and the employees are presumably car guys. There's definitely some common ground there and I know I'm not the only schlub that pokes around in there just to admire the incredible inventory they have. I'm just hoping they're not set up like Lamborghini of Las Vegas and charge $10 cover just to get in and look around.

no cover charge here :smilie:

I'm ashamed to say I haven't been in there since they completed their remodelling a few years ago. They're currently under new ownership. If you have the time, google Luxury Motors and you'll read some interesting stories, but the Gold Coast store is, for lack of a better term, Golden as far as I know

I"d love to meet you guys there but I work Saturdays :(

I'll probably go see the show room on either the 10th or 11th.. I think those are Wed/Thurs.

Oh ok, Al is coming on the weekend I think?

Well I'm off Wednesdays, maybe I will stop by then

Yea I think he said he's staying the 6-8th. I'm getting in around noon on the 9th i think. I've never been to Chicago.

how long you stayin?

Leaving on the 12th unless my gf decides she wants to stay longer.

Raul, I'll shoot you a PM with my phone number. Let me know if you want to meet up on Monday late morning/early afternoon. I wish it was open on Sunday...

Right now, I'm planning to leave on the 8th in the afternoon sometime but I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to stay another day or two. It'd be fun if we could all meet up somehow.