Hotel Advice - Chicago
 

Hi<BR><BR>Coming to Chicago for 5 nights (from UK) April 2003.<BR><BR>Can anyone recommend an exceptionally good hotel (minimum 4 star) that is slapbang central to everything in the city - we really want to walk everywhere!<BR><BR>Hotel must be in safe area, particularly as we will want to go out to eat in the evenings.<BR><BR>Many thanks.<BR>D

The Four Seasons is my favorite. And you are right in the middle of everything. Great Bar!<BR> Have fun, Kris

The new Hyatt at the water tower.

The Four seasons is very nice. But I prefer The Drake (which, incidentally, is where Princess Diana would stay. It is right in the center of the shopping district AND is right on Lake Michigan. Be sure to ask for a higher floor room facing north for a great view.

Hi, I recently stayed at The Peninsula and had a great stay. The service was excelent and everyone we encountered were very nice. The room was great with a very comfortable bed and the bath was large with a very nice soaking tub,tv, and double shower.

The best hotel rooms in Chicago right now are at the Peninsula.<BR>The Four Seasons still provides better service.<BR>The P is more centrally located.<BR>The P has cheaper rooms. If you can swing it, please reserve an Executive Suite at the P. Corner rooms with separated living room and bedroom.<BR>The Ritz (owned by Four Seasons) is third on the list and inconvenient IMO as well as lower quality rooms.<BR>The Park Hyatt has nice rooms, not as nice as FS or P, and is waay overpriced for what you get.<BR><BR>Hotels like the Drake, InterContinental, Swissotel, Fairmont, Omni and such are a full notch (or more) below the ones above.

As a resident of Chicago, I often make reservations for my friends through hotrooms.com. However I'm not sure that you can make reservations 6 months ahead, you can try though.. What I would do is make a reservation somewhere, be sure it can be cancelled, and then check hot rooms a month or two in adavance. Chicago is a very expensive city for hotels, but if you know where to look you'll find there are many BIG discounts. You should be able to get a good price for April.<BR><BR>Four Seasons and Penninsula are very nice but very expensive. In my opinion the Drake has seen better days. I usually try and book Le Meridien on Michigan Ave through Hot Rooms. I've been able to get rooms for between $149 and $179. Great location too.<BR><BR>Good luck and have a wonderful trip.<BR><BR>Dan<BR><BR>

topping

All of the hotels suggested are terrific.<BR><BR>My family, including 2 boys ages 11 and 9, refuses to stay anywhere except the Swissotel.<BR><BR>Try quikbook.com for good rates and dependable reservations with no strings attached.

So it's not the fanciest, but the NEW Embassy Suites, Lakeview (downtown) is a great location, walking to everywhere and relatively cheap - I got a rate of $169 for a double Nov 15-17 , very busy weekend - great rate!

Debbie, I highly recommend using Priceline.com to book a hotel (althoug hotrooms is good too). If you keep your search parameters to North Michigan Avenue region (one of the nicest urban areas anywhere in the US), and 4 stars, I'm guessing you should get very good accomidation for well-under $100. Of course, they pick the hotel for you. Check biddingfortravel.com to review a list of hotels in Chicago most frequently obtained through Priceline.

We got a room at the Westin on No. Michigan Ave. for $75/night this past August using Priceline. Nice hotel and great location.<BR>Good luck!<BR>Kal

Ditto the Peninsula. This is a great new hotel right in the heart of things and with classy Hong Kong service. Also I have heard that the new Sofitel is wonderful but haven't been there yet.

The Westin by water tower is ok if you get it cheap, but the poster said she was looking for an exceptional hotel, and the Westin is definitely not an exceptional hotel. She's better off with Ritz, 4 Seasons, Peninsula etc.

That old Westin is a 3 star hotel at best in my book. It survives because of its location for the most part.<BR>It certainly doesn't compete with the high end hotels which surround it (Four Seasons, Park Hyatt, Ritz), and in the mid-quality range there are many better option in the area. Esp places like the Omni, W, etc.<BR>The priceline people who get the Westin for $40-50 have good reason to stay there. Otherwise, I'd avoid it.