Husband and I are going to Chicago in February for Strictly Sail, boat show. The event is held at the exhibit hall at Navy Pier. What hotels are best for getting to Navy Pier. Things to consider.

1) It's February, any hotels that have underground or connecting access to Navy Pier without going outside?

2) If I have to walk outside, which hotels are closest

3) If I can't walk, what other transportation is available. We will have a car, however I prefer to park it and use locally available transportation and not have the headaches of parking and where to go.

4) What hotel won't charge me an arm and a leg to park my car for the weekend.

Thanks in advance

sweetsailing
I don't know if there is a hotel closer to Navy Pier, but the Sheraton Hotel and Towers is walkable. http://www.sheratonchicago.com/location.html

Here is a link that has some options that all look within walking distance.

http://www.roomrate.com/chicago/attr...s/navyPier.asp

Any hotels in this area will be getting you for parking. Prepare to part with at least an arm and you may have to throw in the leg!

1) There are no hotels that are connected to Navy Pier.

2) The hotels that are closest are:
W Lakeshore; Embassy Suites Lakeshore; Holiday Inn City Center and the Intercontinental.

Near Grand and State there's a Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Hampton Inn and Courtyard. From there you can take the bus or free trolley to Navy Pier.

3) Public transportation in Chicago is excellent. You can reach Navy Pier from the Loop via the the Number 29 (State Street). From the North Michigan Avenue area you can take the Number 65 (Grand Avenue) or Number 66 (Chicago Avenue) buses. These all connect with the buses on Michigan Avenue and the Red Line Subway, so you can get to navy Pier from any hotel downtown.

In addition, there is a free trolley that runs from the Pier to the Grand Avenue stop of the Red Line. For bus and train info, check www.transitchicago.com. For info on the Navy Pier trolley, check www.navypier.com.

4) The going rate for hotel parking is about $40. One of the cheapest alternatives is the Millennium Park Garage which is about $15-20/day. It's a short walk from most of the hotels. Parking at the Pier is $25 per day.

Great replies, thanks! Place, I liked the link you provided. I hadn't seen a website like that that provides the distances. That's great.

So, I think I have it narrowed down to perhaps 3 hotel choices:

1) Embassy Suites
2) Sheraton Hotel & Towers
3) Holiday Inn

Based on this information, are 1 of these a better option than the other 2? Any experience with these hotels? It appears to me that the Embassy Suites is the only one that would be on the Free Trolley route, is this true?

Thanks for all your help!

Chicago Lakeshore Embassy Suites is much nicer than the usual Embassy Suites. Plus you have extra room with your suite vs a regular hotel room. I would definitely stay there again.

Will the boat show be the only thing you'll be doing while you're here? Most of the shopping and restaurants are centered around Michigan Avenue. Millennium Park and the museum campus are south of the river along Michigan. If you'll be spending time at any of those places, you may want someplace that's more central to both.

It will be cold in February, but not totally unbearable. People in Chicago do walk outside in February and even live to answer questions on Fodor's afterward. ;-)

It's about a half-mile from Michigan Ave to Navy Pier. From the river to the north end of the Magnificant Mile is about 3/4 mile. As a general rule every 800 addresses equals one mile. The Holiday Inn is at 300 E Ohio and Navy Pier is 600 E Grand. So, that's just under a half mile. Ohio is 1 block north of Grand.

If we get some real February weather, you'll want to do what a real Chicagoan does - take a cab. It will be around $5-7 from the Michigan Avenue hotels. You won't want to stand out in the cold waiting for a bus or trolley, trust me. The exhibit hall at Navy Pier is a long walk from the entrance, albeit indoors.

We stayed at the Embassy Suites before, which is an easy walk to Navy Pier. It was in March, which also can be very cold. There is a trolley close by, but we never used it.
For the time you would wait for the trolley, you can walk to Navy Pier.

Embassy also provides a cocktail hour and breakfast, included in your room rate.

Your choices are fine and work well with Navy Pier event. Embassy Suites is a good buy, and I've never heard negative at all from the users I have know.

Have a great time, and don't assume it will be minus 5- as there are many periods of thaw.

And do know that if it is cold and you still have time to walk- there is a underground shopping and walking venue that connects the Swissotel, Hyatt, and Intercontinental too, I think. This is along the Chicago River/ Michigan Ave. central "pocket".
Actually many of the buildings too, have sheltered shopping etc.

You won't be using your car while here and going to the places you describe and as described above so well, the distances are not over-whelming for walking at all.