Girl Scout Trip to Chicago, trying to stay inexpensively 16 people
Oct 15th, 2009, 09:04 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Girl Scout Trip to Chicago, trying to stay inexpensively 16 people
We are trying to take 13 girl scouts aged 12-14 , with 3 adults, t. chicago to the toy/game show at Navy Pier on Sat November 28th. We could stay over Friday or Sat night, near the Pier so we could save on travel fares too. We will take the train from Geneva, but the Hostel charges $30 per person. Does anyone have experience in staying in a conference room or suite with adjoining bedroom? We could bring our own sleeping bags. We do need an indoor pool and would love a continental breakfast. Our girls only have their cookie money to use and therefore cannot pay retail. Any advice would be appreciated. THANKS
Oct 15th, 2009, 09:11 AM
#2
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 57,890
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hotels or hostels won;t let you do that since, if nothing else - it's against fir laws and occupancy codes.
I thnk your best bet is to contact a local troop and see if there are families willing to put the girls up for free.
I thnk your best bet is to contact a local troop and see if there are families willing to put the girls up for free.
Oct 15th, 2009, 09:14 AM
#3
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 23,138
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That is Thanksgiving weekend - a difficult time for finding cheap lodging. Are you sure any place will let you do what you suggest - stay in a conference room? Often there are occupancy regulations that prevent such a thing. And then to find such accomodations with breakfast and a pool seems even more unlikely.
Ordinarily I would suggest contacting a Girl Scout Council local to that area to see if you could get host family volunteers or someone locally who might have a big facility to offer - but the timing of Thanksgiving weekend makes that more unlikely.
Although I am not familiar with Chicago, I did a fast search on Expedia for hotels near that location and came up with several in the $120/night range, assuming you put one adult and 3 kids per room - the hotel will not care who actually sleeps where, but had to do that for pricing purposes. There would be additional fees for tax - so even the cheapest hotel would exceed your budget.
Ordinarily I would suggest contacting a Girl Scout Council local to that area to see if you could get host family volunteers or someone locally who might have a big facility to offer - but the timing of Thanksgiving weekend makes that more unlikely.
Although I am not familiar with Chicago, I did a fast search on Expedia for hotels near that location and came up with several in the $120/night range, assuming you put one adult and 3 kids per room - the hotel will not care who actually sleeps where, but had to do that for pricing purposes. There would be additional fees for tax - so even the cheapest hotel would exceed your budget.
Oct 18th, 2009, 01:59 PM
#4
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Try going to one of the group travel sites. They don't cost anything and you can usually get some decent rates. Here are the three i know
www.hotelscouter.com
www.hotelplanner.com
www.groople.com
Hope that helps
www.hotelscouter.com
www.hotelplanner.com
www.groople.com
Hope that helps
Oct 18th, 2009, 04:10 PM
#5
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,499
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Something IMPORTANT to know before you start making any plans: I believe that you might have the wrong dates for this event. The Chicago Toy & Game Fair (ChiTAG) at Navy Pier is going to be November 21 and 22, 2009 - not the following weekend. See www.navypier.com/MoreInfoEvent.jsp?Event_ID=4033 for details.
That is also the weekend of the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and Parade. See www.themagnificentmile.com for further information.
Many, many come in for this so...good luck with your hunting for rooms.
Yes, the hotel does care who goes in which room. Wherever you go, you'll no doubt need to have at least one adult per room and probably no more than 4 to a room (unless it's a suite - then *maybe* 5 or 6 individuals to a suite - tops). That means you could only have 4 adults and 12 children total under this scenario, if you get 4 rooms. As another poster indicated this is because of the city's fire and occupancy codes.
I take it you are coming into Chicago from Geneva via Metra's Union Pacific/West Line. Just to remind you of their $5 weekend passes. That's *unlimited rides* for the *entire* weekend (Saturdays and Sundays). So if you get a pass to use on Saturday, you can also use it on the following day. And I believe that children under 7 may still ride free on weekends with a paying adult. You'd have to check on that last to be certain.
It looks as if this trip usually takes only 1 hr. 20 minutes each way, which isn't much more time than if you were to stay out by O'Hare and take the Blue Line in. You could always think about staying at a hotel out by Midway and taking the Orange Line downtown (only about 45 minutes) but I don't know if that would be worth the extra effort.
Perhaps you'd just like to come in for the day, since your funds probably won't support getting a room in Chicago proper.
That is also the weekend of the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and Parade. See www.themagnificentmile.com for further information.
Many, many come in for this so...good luck with your hunting for rooms.
Yes, the hotel does care who goes in which room. Wherever you go, you'll no doubt need to have at least one adult per room and probably no more than 4 to a room (unless it's a suite - then *maybe* 5 or 6 individuals to a suite - tops). That means you could only have 4 adults and 12 children total under this scenario, if you get 4 rooms. As another poster indicated this is because of the city's fire and occupancy codes.
I take it you are coming into Chicago from Geneva via Metra's Union Pacific/West Line. Just to remind you of their $5 weekend passes. That's *unlimited rides* for the *entire* weekend (Saturdays and Sundays). So if you get a pass to use on Saturday, you can also use it on the following day. And I believe that children under 7 may still ride free on weekends with a paying adult. You'd have to check on that last to be certain.
It looks as if this trip usually takes only 1 hr. 20 minutes each way, which isn't much more time than if you were to stay out by O'Hare and take the Blue Line in. You could always think about staying at a hotel out by Midway and taking the Orange Line downtown (only about 45 minutes) but I don't know if that would be worth the extra effort.
Perhaps you'd just like to come in for the day, since your funds probably won't support getting a room in Chicago proper.
Oct 18th, 2009, 04:45 PM
#6
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 3,403
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
not to be a naysayer, but you seem to be asking a lot for a small amount of money (ie. cont. breakfast, pool). Can't you skip the pool ? Take the girls to Kalahari for a different trip instead. For breakfast, pack lots of cereal in advance.
Sounds like a great opportunity for the girls to work on their 'personal finance' badge!
What about sleeping on a church floor ? Does your pastor or anyone in your troop know a pastor/minister in Chicago where you could sleep on their floor ? You could offer to do extra cleaning as a trade ?
I think you are trying to pull this off on a very short time frame... good luck!
Sounds like a great opportunity for the girls to work on their 'personal finance' badge!
What about sleeping on a church floor ? Does your pastor or anyone in your troop know a pastor/minister in Chicago where you could sleep on their floor ? You could offer to do extra cleaning as a trade ?
I think you are trying to pull this off on a very short time frame... good luck!
