Hi all.. I may be attending a two day meeting in a suburb of Chicago called Melrose Park in the near future. My question: What is this place like? It has been described as an older industrial area that is redeveloping. Is this accurate, or is it a really undesirable place to visit/live?

Thanks.

Its an older area in transition; I believe it used to be heavily Italian but I'm not sure now - would not recommend staying there as a home base for seeing Chicago - don't know if there are even hotels in the area. If there are, be careful - You might be better off staying in Elmhurst which is across the expressway west from Melrose Park or in Oak Park which is just east a ways.

IT is an older industrial suburb, used to be very heavily Italian, reminds me of the places they visit in Sopranos. I don't know aobut the redeveloping aspect. I'd stay in Oakbrook or Chicago.

Basically, it sucks.

If you'll have a car and can get either an early or late (8:30am type) start, Oak Brook would be a good place. There is a Hyatt, Mariott, Mariott Courtyard, etc right off I-88 which you'll take to get to Melrose Park. This is a busy expressway and jams up badly between 6:30am and 8am on weekdays. In Oak Brook, you'll have shopping and plenty of restaurants to choose from. If you decide to go to Oak Park, I'd try to stay at the Carlton (I think). Its an old style hotel - There is a quirky downtown area with shops, restaurants and a lot of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings with a tour if you're in to architecture.

I guess I will stay in Oak Brook.

Thanks to all who responded.

Priceline has a wide array of hotels in the Oakbrook area - go with at least a 2.5 star and I don't think you'll go wrong. Oakbrook itself is a very upscale and pleasant area. There's a very large mall and tons of other shopping opportunities in the area.

There is a Renaissance Hotel in the parking lot of the mall. There are alot of great restaurants in that area. One of my favorites is Tuscany which is across 22nd street in an office building. However, there are a ton of good restaurants in the mall and down 22nd Street.