Advice on where to look for hotel in Chicago area
 

I'll be going on a road trip with friends over Labor Day weekend. Originally our plan was to not <i>stay</i> in Chicago - just go in and out "on our way" from Indianapolis to Michigan - but due to some scheduling issues and the length of the drives, we're now looking at staying a night in the area. I've been to Chicago several times and am familiar with the downtown areas, but have never been there with a car and do not know the suburbs at all.

If you had the following situation, where would you look for a hotel?
- Three women in our 30s
- Driving in from Indianapolis on Friday morning
- Heading to Fremont, MI Saturday morning (north of Grand Rapids - Google takes us along Lake Michigan from Chicago proper); willing to either stay in Chicagoland or get a little ways into Michigan Friday night
- Will want to do some touristy things (mainly eat, let's be real) and meet a friend who lives on the north side somewhere (not my friend, so I don't know if that means Wrigleyville or what)
- Completely comfortable with public transit, especially the el
- Budget is a priority - basically, we want to go as inexpensive as possible while being safe, clean, all that. We don't need an exciting place to stay; I just don't want to book us a hotel in a scary or extremely inconvenient area (my friends from the Midwest have already said "NOT Gary!")

Thanks in advance for any advice!

First, let me say that I have not stayed at this place but some friends did when they drove into Chicago to see me last year when I was in town. I was staying not far from there in the River North area and walked there easily from the Magnificent Mile. It's nothing fancy to be sure but the friends liked it -- especially for the downtown location, free parking (1st come 1st served), easy freeway access and the good price. They had a room with 2 queen beds if that would work for you. I think it would be fine for a short stay and puts you within easy walking distance (and L access) of everything downtown. You can read lots of reviews of the motel on tripadvisor and yelp.

http://www.ohiohousemotel.com/

Thanks so much, bluestar - I honestly didn't expect we'd be able to find much downtown! I'll see the other girls tonight and see what they think. I'm sure something in the suburbs under $100 would be even better, but a room with two double beds is $156 that weekend and that's hard to beat for that location (plus if we ended up needing to drive in, we'd have to pay $20-30 to park anyway). Thank you!

traffic is going to be horrible so getting on the road really early in the morning on Sat might save you hours. Have a great weekend!

fishee, do you mean that we might as well leave Saturday morning vs. sitting in traffic Friday, or that traffic will be terrible Saturday if we don't leave early? Either way - thanks for the tip!

Traffic along the 90/94 will be really terrible all weekend (including Friday) but driving in and out of the city before 7 am and after 11 pm will help. Once you're here, parking the car and taking public transportation is a sensible idea.

If you're going to take the time to drive in and out of Chicago, I'd plan it pretty carefully and make the most of the time you spend here or you might feel it wasn't worth the time and effort.

Thanks for clarifying, fishee! That helps a lot. I am definitely a planner, but really our main goals are 1) meeting up with this friend and 2) eating Lou Malnati's, so anything else will be a bonus. :) We've all been to town several times and I don't think there are any absolute must-dos otherwise, though we have a mental list of "well, this would be fun."

Still looking at places in outlying areas and keeping the Ohio House in our back pocket - do either of you know anything about Portage or Chesterton, IN? We can get a room in either for under $100, and also get out of the city late Friday night instead of dealing with it Saturday morning. We just need a clean, safe place to sleep, so it's fine if it's boring, but I don't want to book us somewhere sketchy!