mendota98

I'll be in Chicago June 10th for a week and it appears that demand for hotels is very high. So my best rate($80) is at a 4 star hotel near O'Hare.

I don't know which hotel but would taking the train to downtown each day be an alternative to paying $300 per night?

The travelers will be my son and I.

Thank you.

P_M

Some friends of mine will be there that same weekend and they also felt the sticker shock for hotel rooms. I learned on this forum that there are 2 major conventions in town during that time.

You could try making a priceline bid. Check out www.biddingfortravel.com and familiarize yourself w/priceline's rules. Also take a look at what bids have been won by others for that same time and use that as a guide.

Another suggestion my friends got from this board was to stay in an area north of the city and take the train downtown. I'm sure a Chicago expert will jump in and help.

jlm_mi

By the "north area" I would imagine P_M means Evanston. It has more to offer than staying by O'Hare, but will take a little longer to get into Chicago by train.

Just a quick look makes it seem like the difficult days you're looking at are the first half. Starting the 14th, things look better rate-wise. The 50,000 delegate NeoCon convention is the 12th-14th, so this makes sense.

If I were you, I'd consider two things:

1) Split your stay. Stay in Chicago proper for the last half of your trip so that you can be closer to everything and experience what it feels like in the city.

2) Book a cancellable hotel in a cheap location (such as near O'Hare) for the first part of your stay, then keep trying hotwire or priceline for those dates to see if you can get something more affordable.

GoTravel

I'd shorten my stay and try for a hotwire room before I'd stay out by the airport.

sandypo

I produce a show at the convention center in Rosemont (O'Hare) and have stayed at the hotels there. The best part is they are five minutes from the airport. The worst part is it is at least 45 minutes into downtown Chicago from there -- but the elevated train runs right from Rosemont, so if you wanted to go in and out with the least cost and stress, you can jump right on the el easily. The Sofitel, the Doubletree, the Embassy Suites, the Comfort Inn (all either have Rosemont or O'Hare or both in their titles) are all quite nice and you might be able to get some inexpensive rooms if you try, it depends on whether or not there is a show at the convention center that week. But those hotels are all safe bets for a stress free stay.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Since you'll be usingpublic transit a lot, get the 7 day visitor pass at the train station in the airport (or other locations). It will cost you < $4/day for unlimited use of local trains, buses, subway and the "L". Also look at the route planning page, a bus route might well serve you between your hotel and a station -- cutting out on having to pay the courtesy shuttle driver tip as well.

Trip route planning:
http://rtachicago.com
Visitor passes:
http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/fares.html#e

(The page shows 1,2,3,5 day passes, but last week we found it was 1,2,3,7 but I don't remember what price the 7 day was.)

I'd be tempted to stay with a 4 star hotel for only $80 for the bulk of your trip. If you are a male,and you and your son are a little adventuresome, you could stay at the HI/AYH Hostel on Congress Parkway between State & Michigan. We stopped to look at it, and would have stayed, but our $35 Comfort Suites room won out over the $38pp at the hostel - altho in retrospect I now think we should have tried the hostel. There's a good chance you'd be sharing a room with as many as 4 other people - a big jump from a 4 star hotel!

Also try availability at hotels for a smaller window, such as first 3, last 3, first 2, last 2 ... etc nights of your stay and should you find something acceptable, CALL your current hotel and reduce your length of stay and/or arrival date.