victoria_sw3

hello,

my fiance and i will be traveling to chicago for two nights in july. we have never been to chicago and have no clue where to stay. i'd like to stay somewhere near the lake so i can swim and lay out while he's occupied with work. the hotel is covered by his company but budget is around $200-$250/night. advice is appreciated!! thank you!

v.

jlm_mi

I'm sure others can chime in with specific recommendations. I typically use priceline and am not too picky about location. But, lucky for you Chicago is a skinny city so you're never too far from the lake. This map may help you get oriented:

http://www.choosechicago.com/hotels_northmichigan.html

There is a beach (not shown on the map) near the top of the map where Oak St. meets the lake. I'm not sure about other beach locations, but some hotels do also have pools. Any hotel in the N. Michigan Ave., Loop or River North areas (all have maps at the same location above) would be well-suited to site-seeing, shopping, etc.

cd

There are hotels with Lake views but I can't picture any downtown hotel that has a beach. You can walk to Navy Pier and sun at the end of the Pier at a little outside bar. You can also do boat, lake and river, tours from Navy Pier. Maybe someone else could tell you how to get to the beach from downtown. Just shopping Michigan Ave is a treat!!

Rocky

The Drake or the W on Lake Shore Drive are as close as you can get (across the street) from the beach.

swalter518

The W Lakeshore is a good recommendation-across Lake Shore Drive from a beach and very close to shopping on MI Ave. and Navy Pier-plenty to keep you occupied while he's working! The Drake is very nice and close to plenty to do as well near Oak Street Beach.

Racy

Any of the hotels at the North end of the Mag Mile area are withing walking distance of Oak Street Beach--which would include the Westin, the Kinckerbocker, the Sofitel, the Whitehall--even a Residence Inn. Oak Street is about 1000 North, so any hotel north of Chicago Ave (800 North) and east of State Street (which is the dividing line for east/west) is an easy walking distance.

HTH,
Racy

The beach near the W is much smaller and may not be sunny all day because of construction (I remember a controversey a couple of years ago about highrise development making the beach shady).

dweebe

There aren't a lot of Chicago hotels that are RIGHT on the lake.

The Drake is probably the best one I've stayed at. The Oak Street Beach is a very short walk away with a tunnel that runs under Lake Shore Drive for easy access. But it might be pushing it though with the low $200 range.

A half block away is the Doubletree suites. Not quite as nice (still very good though) as the Drake. It also has an indoor pool on the top floor with a great view of the lake.

I'm not a fan of the W Lakefront. It was a Days Inn years ago, has small rooms and thin walls. It has been very extensively remodeled but still has too many flaws for the price.

Lwc

Hi. I am not sure about Hotels, but we went to Chicago last year. We stayed in a resort outside the city. If you get a chance go to Wrigley Field and catch a game. It was beautiful. The city is also great. There are fountains and Navy Pier is really nice. Eat at Bubba Gumps on Navy Pier. The Lake is beautiful. We also went to the aquarium. It was too crowded for me. We took a water taxi from there to Navy Pier. The Sears Tower was awsome. And the public transportation system is great and easy to use. Have a wonderful time.

JJ5

All these locations place you pretty far North and here is another alternative you may not have considered.

There are numerous hotels much nearer to downtown and many other attractions (and probably closer to where he will be occupied at work, as well) that have terrific views and terrific pools.

Intercontinental has a vintage pool that is a good representation of some of Chicago's past architecture and has
been in the movies. Swissotel you can view the entire lakefront and the whole curve going North to Hyde Park from its pool complex. There are probably 100 hotel choices, you know.

They are both well within your price range and IMHO, you would have a much better room plus a better access to many Loop location venues that you may want to visit in the evenings- like the theatre district, Riverwalk areas,
Buckingham Fountain display or anything at Navy Pier like the theatre or IMAX.
(don't miss walking by the fountain and the museums at night by the lake- very
romantic)and you could also take a buggy ride- and of course the new Millenium Park.

You could do all these in a couple of hours and get a much better feel of Chicago, either alone or with your fiance- if you were near the River or closer to the Loop end.

Have a great time in Chicago and try a few new restaurants for fun. www.metromix.com has mapping/distance from your decided location and price ranges for hundreds of choices.

IMHO, Reva is the only place on Navy Pier that I would choose to eat. Navy Pier is definitely not the primary place for restaurant choices, either.

Lynn_Gibson

I have stayed in practically every hotel in downtown Chicago over the years and my favorite is the Hotel Monaco off Wacker Drive. It is within walking distance to Michigan Avenue and Lake Michigan. It is a smaller, boutique type of hotel and should be in your price range.

JJ5

That's the area I like best also, Lynn, especially for a Chicago newbie.

victoria_sw3

Thank you for all of your thoughtful suggestions! I'm so looking forward to going to Chicago for the first time. Just learned that my fiance's company is covering our hotel so we're staying at the Four Seasons! YAY!

Now how about a recommendation for a fun restaurant for a group of 6 twentysomethings?? Good cocktails, yummy food and fun scene? About $40-$50/person?

Thanks!

dweebe

To back up what Lynn said I also like the Hotel Monaco very much.

Victoria: you should probably start a new thread (or do a search) about restaurants. I know it's a chain (not very wide though) but Roys is my favorite restaurant in Chicago to eat. Its a wonderful Hawaiian/Asian/French fusion place that is excellent. Not too stuffy/ not too loud with some great foo foo drinks that even I like.

swalter518

Victoria, I have to recommend Cafe Iberico for the restaurant-great sangria, spanish tapas, so fun for a group!

wantsomesun

I'm surprised no one mentioned this but the lake is C O L D, so I'd suggest finding a hotel with a pool.

Also try www.hotels.com for price comparison, amenities and location. You also get discount coupons when you book through them.

Brad_Chicago

Any hotel on Michigan Avenue will suit your needs (north of the river) really. There are numerous bus lines (145, 146, 147, 148, 151) that run up Michigan Ave that will drop you close to Oak Street to hit the beach or the lakefront path.

I would recommend finding a hotel with a great pool for the swimming portion and close proximity to Michigan Ave for all the rest.

Brad_Chicago

Just noticed the restaurant message as well.

For a fun time and dancing (salsa) you could try Nacional 27. The food is very latin-oriented and the decor/dancing is fun to be a part of (even if just for watching).

Another recommendation would be to hit a restaurant of your choice and then continue on to any number of the music places downtown. There is Andy's jazz club, Blue Chicago, Howl at the Moon (dueling pianos) or even Baton (campy, cross-dressing performers) if you feel really crazy.

MerryTravel

This might get shouted down as too cheesey, but I always liked Heaven on Seven (600 N Michigan Ave, above the movie theaters). It's Cajun-themed and has good food and a fun atmosphere.