Chicago trip--help
 

I am coming to Chicago (from Texas) with my son and brother, for 5 nights. We will be in town Mon-Fri nights. We will see the Cubs Mon. night, rent a car and drive to Milwaukee for a game there on Wed. night, and then be at the White Sox game on Fri. night. Yeah, we are baseball junkies! Just a good time to get away with my brother and my 22 yr old son. We would like to do at least one or two of the Museums, the CAF river tour, maybe a park or two, and DEFINATELY eat lots of good food. I have read many of your suggestions about not driving into downtown, so I plan to either take a cab, limousine, or the El from O'Hare to my hotel. Would River north or Mag Mile be a good place to try to stay, so as to be within easy access to the things I mentioned? I have looked at Whitehall, Omni Ambassador East, SAX, Allerton, among others. Are these all OK? My real question that I need help with, is when we want to rent a car and go to Milwaukee on Wed morning, we will be coming back into town late that night, probably around midnight. Will it be easy to turn the car in at that time, and then either walk to El, or call cab to get back to Hotel? The cost of the cab may be about the same as keeping the rental car another night and parking at the hotel, and turning it in the next day. Any thoughts/suggestions? Sorry for the long post.

I've stayed at the Allerton. The location is good, if you are interested in walking/dining along Michigan Avenue. The hotel is fine, nothing fancy. My room was a bit small, but it was just me, and only for one night.

Check with some of those hotels you mentioned to see if they have a rental car desk - and if so, can you turn a car in that late at night. Otherwise, be sure to ask about parking fees. We just paid $42 a night to park at the Westin! ugh.

The Ambassador East is in more of a residential area and would be a little farther to the L. The Wit just opened on State Street about 3 weeks ago. If you're looking for someplace with a little more space, you could try one of the all-suite hotels such as the Residence Inn or Spring Hill on Dearborn, Embassy Suites on State or Columbus or Homewood Suites.

All the car rental agencies have offices around The Loop. Hertz is in the Hyatt Regency, Union Station and at 401 N State, Alamo/National is at 203 N LaSalle and Avis is at 214 N Clark. The above post is correct, parking at any of the larger hotels will set you back around $50 for the night.

I suggest staying north of the river rather than the loop. That would be Mag Mile or River North.

I think the Springhill Suites on 410 N Dearborn is a good suggestion. There is an Enterprise Rental care not too far from there at Lake and Dearborn. They close at 6pm but I think you can return the car at any time. I used them once and they were very nice. You could call them and ask them about the ability to return late at night. It would be a quick walk or cab drive to Springhill.

LAKE & FRANKLIN
303 W. LAKE ST
CHICAGO, IL 60606-1703

Tel.: (312) 332-7783

Sorry, I meant Lake and Franklin. But the idea of a rental car desk at the hotel is a good one too... I checked train schedules from Chicago to Milwaukee and that did not work out. Last Amtrak out of Milwaukee is 8pm...

So i think you are indeed stuck with driving.

And if you are total baseball junkies, you could also try Harry Carey's restaurant which is right in River North. Lots of baseball memorabilia....

The CAF is a good idea.

Any of the museums work but its easiest to get to Museum Campus (aquarium, field museum, planetarium). The Museum of Science and Industry is further south - very cool - but not quite as easy to get to.

Totally Touristy but almost de rigeur is Navy Pier -

I happen to love Lincoln Park Zoo - and its free...



Top of Hancock is way better than top of Sears Tower..

IMHO, Navy Pier isn't worth 5 minutes of your time. The Art Institute, Millenium Park, a walk or bike ride along the lake, Michigan Avenue, the CAF boat tour, definitely worth your time.

BTW, we've done the baseball tour thing, too -- on that trip we did Wrigley, New Comiskey, Old Milwaukee (gotta go back!), Old Tiger (ditto), and the Jake.

You may want to consider staying in Milwaukee the night of the game. It really is a great town with decent downtown restaurants and hotels. You could always slip back into Chicago the next day and return your car or take the train back. You really don't need a car downtown Chicago and driving downtown Chicago (and Milwaukee) is not all that difficult.

I was thinking the same thing. You might want to price out the Amtrak fees from chicago to milwaukee. And see how far the train station is from the ballpark. Some here might know.

Also - Last I knew, there was a lot of construction on the way from C to Milwaukee and it was adding quite a bit of time.

I'm with Moo and chicagolori- stay in Milwaukee after the game. Take the train back next morning. Especially if you were driving. Too many beer-imbibing folk on the road just after a game. IMHO.

Milwaukee's a great city. (I think of it more like a town.) And in the summer, they've always got some fun stuff going on down by the lakefront.

Check it out:
http://www.visitmilwaukee.org/

You might try megabus.com. 4 or 5 buses a day between the Chicago Amtrak station and the Milwaukee Amtrak station.

WOW! Thanks for the replies. I didn't expect this good of a response, or this quick. I am still trying to decide. I looked into the Springhill Suites, but it seems they only have one bed in each room, with a pull-out sleeper sofa. Not sure that would be to convenient/comfortable for grown guy all week. The hotel and location seems good though. Might think about the train/bus option to Milwaukee, but that would mean having to look into transportation once there. Like the flexibility of having a car on that short part of the trip. Still figuring it all out. Thanks again.

Pick up a car after the train to Milwaukee and then return it before the train home. Rental may be cheaper too.

Any thoughts on the Amalfi, the Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown, Allerton, or the Best Western River North? They all seem to me to be pretty well located, maybe a little farther out for the last two.

DD,

Here's how I would suggest you roll.

Get the 4* Hyatt in Millenium Park by bidding $60 per night on priceline. You should have no problem getting a room with two beds, but at that price you might want to spring for two rooms. It is a nice hotel in a GREAT location.

Between Monday when you arrive and Tuesday before bed, I would focus on north of the river:

CAF tour
Second City - Tuesday night
Walk Michigan Avenue (Tribune Tower and Hancock for a drink)
Oak Street Beach and North Ave. Beach, too
Lunch at Harry Caray's (or dinner for $$$$$$)
Lincoln Park Zoo
Billy Goat tavern, Gold Coast Dogs, Al's beef, Ditka's (if you are a fan)

Also, make sure to leave enough time before the Cubs game to soak up the atmosphere around Wrigley.

For a guys trip, I'd plan to rent a car and get to Milwaukee early to take the tours at the Miller brewery and Harley Davidson. Miller Park is an underrated stadium, in my opinion, and the tailgating in the parking lot before the game is cool.

I would strongly consider an overnight stay in Milwaukee at the Hyatt which you can get for $45 a night on priceline. It would beat driving back to Chicago after a long day.

Between your arrival back in Chicago and the Sox game, I would focus on the Southside:

Museum campus and the Art Institute or Aquarium
Hit a blues club
Visit the Museum of Science and Industry
Chinatown?
BBQ Ribs?

Have a great trip,

Kevin

thanks Kevin. I've only used Priceline once several yrs ago, and then didn't really care so much where I stayed or the hotel, just wanted a good price. If I do Priceline, should I just list a 4* hotel as my request? And should I request a certain area? What about Milwaukee, will I get stuck far away from everything? Also, will I have the option to request 2 beds? Sorry for the many questions, but it just kind of scares me, leaving things to chance. But, it might be worth it.

One quick question. I was planning on doing a package deal, with both air/hotel on one of the online sites. Found some pretty good sounding deals. I don't think Priceline does any air bookings do they? Would I be better off just doing Air on my own separately, and doing hotel with Priceline?

<i>Also, will I have the option to request 2 beds?</i>

No you will not. Priceline guarantees a room for 2 <i>people</i> which might mean one double/queen/king-size bed. You can ask the hotel after you book it on Priceline to accommodate you, but they are not required to (and in fact, in some places, might not be able to -- there are hotels in NYC, for example, that do not have two-bedded rooms).

even when you specify 3 adults, you cannot also specify 2 beds?