Any place to Stay on the Way From ORD to Iowa City?
 

This July I'll be getting into O'Hare around 6pm on a Friday, and am just looking for an easy place to stay overnight before arriving in Iowa City the next day. I'd rather not stay at an airport hotel, and am thinking of driving an hour or so before calling it a night. Is there anyplace on the way to Iowa City, or not too far out of the way to stop? BTW I'm not flying into Iowa City because last year at that time there were huge delays due to tornadoes, and I don't mind the drive. TIA for your suggestions.

An hour's drive from O'Hare will still leave you in the Chicago suburbs. I'd suggest looking for accomodations in the Naperville region, as that lies on your general route.

How about either Aurora or Dekalb. Both are on I-88. If you're not used to the Illinois tollway system, you might want to study the tollway maps to know where you'll have to pay tolls. They have a tendency to sneak up on you and if you're not in the right lanes, it is tough to get over and you end up missing the tolls and driving through the PASS lanes. If this happens, note which toll you missed, go to the tollway website, and you can pay the toll on-line.
Hope this helps.
www.illinoistollway.com

Before you reach Naperville, Aurora or DeKalb, you'll be near Oakbrook, an upscale Chicago suburb with excellent Priceline availabilities, and a ton of decent restaurant possibilities.

If you're arriving ORD around 6, you probably won't be on the road til 645 or 7, so Oakbrook could be a good choice if you're looking to have a good dinner, relax and turn in early.

I agree with the previous posters. Naperville and Oak Brook are both right off I88 and have lots of hotel and dining options and they are only about 10 min apart. I don't know if you are just planning on sleeping right away, but if you wanted to stay out a little, Naperville has a fabulous downtown area. Lots of restaraunsts, bars, and a nice riverwalk. It might be fun for you to stroll around there before calling it a night.

I'm surprised that you'd be willing to fly into one of the most-delayed airports in the nation to avoid a possible delay in Cedar Rapids.

Tornados are a pretty rare occurance on any specific day in an area.

I fly into Nebraska all the time and I've never been delayed because of a tornado.

tpl: Fly on into Cedar Rapids from ORD (~40-min flight). Weather will very rarely delay anything in C.R. in July and from there it's an easy half-hour drive to Iowa City. You will have one heck of a nasty drive to get out of O'Hare and the 'burbs, then you have to contend with I-80 once you cross over into Iowa. Been there, done that, way too many times....it's not worth it. If you do get into C.R. and don't want to drive to I.C. that night, there are two nice hotels about 2 mi. down the road from the C.R. airport.

Thanks for the responses. I'd rather fly direct to ORD and risk a delay in my departure city (San Francisco), because it it easier to deal with. Last year (at the same time) getting in to ORD from the west coast was fine, but leaving there was absolutely horrible. I was delayed getting into CR an entire day because of tornadoes. I don't mind driving and have traveled this route before, but I never paid any attention to a stop along the way. Aurora, Dekalb, Naperville and Oakbrook sound like good options.

tpl: you seem to have the idea that Iowa is nothing but tornadoes in the summer. So San Fran has earthquakes every day? I'm teasing... :-)

Truly, ORD has one of the worst records of delayed flights in the U.S. I wouldn't be so quick to assume your last delays were due solely to tornadic activity out here. That really sounds very suspicious.

And honestly, if there do happen to be strong storms in the area that day, do you really want to be on the road either?

But, Aurora, Dekalb, etc. would all be nice to stay overnight - lots of hotel choices. Have a safe trip and I hope you enjoy Iowa City!