Boyfriend's birthday & it's a surprise trip. Where to stay, eat, things to do, etc. Hear the city is a blast & want to do it right! Going mid-Sept. Any advice?

Click on the Chicago 4 girlfriends thread on this board right now and you will have a start.

IF there is just the two of you and you are going mid-Sept. - you might go to www.hotwire.com and pick your desired area and see what is left for the best price. They may be pretty booked, and unless $$ is no object, you might have very good luck doing that or Priceline. Priceline you need to know your areas pretty well. There are probably about 100 good downtown hotels.

My pick would be on the River, but central LOOP or Watertower areas would all work for mid-Sept. very well. The trolley is still going for free and you'll get around regardless to the others.

Go to Wicked if at all possible and also Art Institute and/or Aquarium. The Aquarium is not like other aquariums- it's better- and takes about 4 hours.

Go to Buckingham Fountain at night for its performance with your lovie- it's very romantic, I think.

September is the best time downtown all year long, IMHO.

Navy Pier is touristy and if you are young and like clubs etc.- there are many better places to be, IMHO.

We have stayed twice at the Lenox Suites at Rush and Ontario. It's smaller and more intimate than the big chains, and we got a fair price from one of the booking websites. So much of the city is walkable from there, and there are plenty of restaurants in the area. (We loved Big Bowl, a Chinese place with very fresh food and big portions.) I agree about the Aquarium, and you should go to the Hancock Tower observatory at night. If you have money for a more expensive dinner, try Sal & Carvao, a Brazilian steakhouse. They have an unbelievable salad bar and the servers continuously circulate with various kinds of meat on skewers. Both the Field Museum and Museum of Science and Industry are well worth a visit. The big ferris wheel on Navy Pier is fun, and they have fireworks and an IMAX theater there too. There is much to enjoy in this city--have a great time!

Katamat, How old are you and what are you interested in?

Thanks for the help - I'm getting excited about the trip. I'm trying to decide between the Park Hyatt, the Omni and Sofitel Chicago Water Tower for hotels...any opinions?

swalter518 - I'm 34 & he's 37. We love to go out & have fun (nightlife meaning cool bars...not so much dance clubs. Love to dine out at nice places but hate to be in a stuffy or formal environment. A restaurant that is cool/hip with great food & wine list but not uptight - suggestions? Thx for the help.

katamat,
If money is no object go with the Park Hyatt. You won't go wrong. Its restaurant, Nomi, is wonderful!

If you like wine, try Bin 36 at 333 n. dearborn. They have recently opened a cheese bar as well but I haven't been since. Another wine bar with a great city view is the Tasting Room, it's pretty far west on Randolph but the skyline view is great on a clear night.

Katamat
My husband and I were in Chicago in June. We spent 7 days and it was wonderful! Very hot and humid that week but wonderful still. Our best dining out experiences were at (i) Le Colonial which is vietnamese/french, the service was a bit spotty but the food and the atmosphere were excellent. Afterwards we went right next door to a jazz bar called Jilli's (I think that is the name) for drinks - very nice (2) Catch 35 - great seafood, great service, we ate there twice actually and (3) our absolute favourite, Spring, which is in the Wicker Park neighbourhood about a 10/15 minute cab ride from Swisshotel on Wacker Drive where we stayed. The service was exceptional, so personal and accomodating (my husband is not a meat eater and they were quick to alter one of their dishes to suit). The menu on the whole was very creative, contemporary, interesting. The food was excellent especially dessert which was heavenly. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience there and would go back in a heartbeat.
As we were in town for a convention, we did not get to do as much as we would have liked to outside of the convention but we did see Wicked, attended a baseball game, spent lots of time at Millenium Park, shopped till we dropped along Mag Mile, we had a really great time and cannot wait to visit Chicago again. It is one of our favourite cities.

So many ideas! Thanks for the help everyone. Is the Sofitel nice if anyone knows!?!

I haven't stayed there or seen the rooms but it's supposed to be very nice.