I couldn't help but share this website I found today while looking for something else. www.economist.com/cities. It's part of the international news magazine. It covers about 30 cites around the world including my hometown Chicago. The information is geared more towards international visitors but it is very practical from "airports" and "public transportation" to opinionated such as "insiders tips" and "hotels" and "restaurants" which I thought were great choices. Enjoy planning your trip to Chicago!

Thanks, Laurie Ann! My husband are always looking for new places to check out in the city on Sunday afternoons. (We live in the western suburbs.) Saw some interesting stuff at that link.

When will I ever learn to *always* preview?! Should be "my husband and I"!

While I agree, chicagoist.com is a great site (I think locals may get more out of it), I think metromix.com is much more easily navigated and a more tourist-minded site. It really focuses more on eating/drinking/events. Try both just for the heck of it! Just my two cents!

Wow, I'm a dope. I obviously read that WRONG!! Sorry laurie_ann! Anyway, check out chicagoist.com and metromix!!

Well... on the "economist" website Tremont hotel is recommended as "easy on the pocket" meaning under $150.

Clicked on booking, it took me to Expedia to book. Even there the rating is 3.3 out of 5. I checked the price anyway. OUCH!!!! $325 September 10.

Faina - You picked a bad date for checking prices. The International Manufacturing Technology Show is in town that weekend with 90,000 delegates. That's a really, really big convention for Chicago to handle, so it will definitely drive rates up.

You can check the convention calendar at http://www.choosechicago.com/smi/calendar.cfm

Anything over about 25,000 will definitely affect hotel rates. Below that is a little easier to find deals.

FainaAgain: Try Priceline -bid 4 star Michigan Ave. and you can't go wrong. Don't worry about any conventions- if you do it before say July, you'll find something for about $100- but it will be taken off your credit card immediately and you won't be able to cancel.

Believe me, in Chicago, this works. And check out www.biddingfortravel.com to see what people are getting.

I have gotten 4 different hotels this way and all of them were better than fine.

On Hotwire you can guess the hotels from the amenitites but the deal is never as good. Same thing with no cancel and immediate credit card.

If you don't want to do this, then you are going to have a lot more expensive vacation.