Parking at Chicago's Swissotel
 

Does anyone know if there's a good alternative to the hotel's parking? Travelzoo has an awesome room rate of $99 per night on the 4th of July weekend. But when I called the hotel to inquire about parking they said it's $49 per night!! May consider taking the train from Detroit to Chicago - is this hotel near the train station or the subway? Thanks!!!

This hotel is on the Chicago River near Lake Michigan. Certainly, take the train from Detroit to Union Station, a car would be a hindrance in downtown Chicago as you can get by walking or via bus or EL, a short taxi ride will bring you to the hotel. Probably less than $10.00

I'd definitely take the train if that's an option. It's a very easy and inexpensive cab ride from Union Station. There isn't an el stop that's super convenient to the hotel, so I think in terms of both convenience and cost a cab would be the best.

If you're going to drive, about 3 blocks from the hotel are the parking garages at Millennium Park. There are 4 garages there, and the price ranges from $20-24/day. I parked there the last time I was in staying overnight in Chicago and it worked well. There's info on parking (directions, rates and maps) here: http://www.grantparkparking.com/Source/Home.aspx

Most downtown hotels charge around $40 per night for parking.

You can park at the Millennium Park or East Monroe garages for around $20 per day. From there, it's about a 3-4 block walk to your hotel.

To reach the garage, from northbound Lake Shore, stay to your left near Soldier Field and follow the fork for Columbus Drive. Stay on Columbus and the garage entrance is just north of Monroe Street. The Monroe Garage is $20 and the Millennium Park Garage is $23 for a 24-hour period.

Exit the garge to upper Randolph Street. Walk north on Columbus Drive past the AON Building and Fairmont Hotel and turn right on Wacker.

The train is another option, but Amtrak has a reputation for being late. You can easily catch a cab from Union Station or you can take the Number 151 bus from the Canal Street entrance to Michigan & Wacker and walk the last 3 blocks.

For either option, I'd recommend using public transit in town. You can purchase a visitor pass from the vending machine in Union Station near the Metra ticket windows. Passes allow unlimited rides on all CTA buses and trains for a 24-hour period. A 1-day pass is $5, a 2-day pass is $9. For other locations where you can purchase them, check www.transitchicago.com.

I live in the Detroit area and we opted to drive to South Bend, IN and take the South Shore into Chicago. You can pick up the train at the South Bend Airport (convenient parking) and it goes as far as Millenium Park. For our weekend, it worked out great as our DS rode the train free and the adult fare was $9/pp each way (weekend). We found the schedule of the South Shore more flexible as Amtrak only has three trains a day. The South Shore is not what I'd call an 'express' but it worked out well for us.

You can also catch the South Shore from Michigan City.

Wow...thanks for all of the great ideas. I think the train may be the way to go. I just wasn't sure about cab fare from Union Station to the hotel. And thanks dsgmi for the tip about South Bend!

Hey tdmort;

Travel Zoo has great deals don't they? I got a great deal for the Amalfi hotel in Chicago. It got me hooked on that hotel.

I found excellent deals on airfare to Chicago out of DTW. And once you land at Ohare or Midway you can take the train into downtown and walk or cab it to your hotel. Parking is outragous and driving in Chicago even worse. It's so bumper to bumper all day long.

<i>Parking is outragous and driving in Chicago even worse. It's so bumper to bumper all day long. </i>

Which is why Chicago is the perfect place to take the El (metro train) from the airport (either one) to downtown. You can sit in your seat and watch as you pass all the traffic standing still!

dm you said it right. I could only pray that detroit had the same transp. system that chicago has. Oh how I miss that city