mscarls

Of the Wyndham, Omni Chicago, or Westin River North, which is best based on: location for shopping and dining and on size and quality of rooms and furnishings (particularly the bed)? Thanks.

jlm_mi

I'm not familiar with those particular hotels, but a couple of questions will help those who are give you the best info:

Where do you plan on shopping? Do you want the higher end of North Michigan Ave or the State Street area, with stores like Marshall Fields (a wonderful store - their flagship) Old Navy, etc.?

Less important, do you have specific dining ideas - both cost and cuisine?

patg

Wyndham and Omni are only a couple of blocks apart; Wyndham is east of Michigan Avenue, Omni is west. They are close to the center of the North Michigan shopping district. This is a great area, very busy and upscale.

Westin River North is a couple of blocks west from the Nordstrom's on Michigan Avenue. It sits on the river at Dearborn Street, next to to Marina City/House of Blues. Westin River North is the closest to the Merchandise Mart and the home furnishings stores that surround it. To the south, you'll find State Street shopping, most notably Marshall Field's huge store. It also has a great selection of restaurants and several music clubs within a short walk.

None of these hotels is a bad choice, and they are close enough that you can walk the distance between them. See
http://www.choosechicago.com/hotels_location.html
for a map.

buzzer

Patg is right on.

If you're not restricted to just those three, check out Le Meridien, a 5-star boutique hotel in the Nordstrom/ North Bridge development. Winter rates are often as low as $159. I regularly put clients up there and they rave about it -- especially the beds.

summer04

Check out Tripadvisor reviews, too. We stayed at Westin River North a few years ago and liked it, but now use Sheraton. They have very low internet rates and rooms were just remodeled. Stayed at Omni before, but it was in need of remodel-this was 2 yrs. ago. Westin Mich, Ave. is also nice. Sutton Place looks good and they run some good specials also. Overall, Westin Mich. Ave. has the best location for shopping (IMHO) and great beds.

mscarls

In response to jlm_mi's questions --
because we are not from the midwest, my girlfriend will want to see Marshal Field(and I'll want the Frango's if they still have them) and Carson Pirie Scott -- at least for the novelty. Then she'll be serious about Nordstrom's and Water Tower Place, and will want to browse the Magnificent Mile.
Regarding restaurants, our focus is on quality food and comfortable (not ostentatious) atmosphere. We expect to have to take a cab to some of the restaurants we pick, but it would be nice to be able to walk to one or two as well (we will be in Chicago four nights).
So location is more important for shopping and sightseeing (biking along the lake, the Field Museum or Shedd Aquarium) than restaurants.

mscarls

To respondants so far, I picked those three hotels because they have the best Trip Advisor ratings of hotels that might honor the Entertainment Card (other than one that seemed to deep in the Loop). The Homewood Suites are also up there in the Trip Advisor ratings, but it didn't sound as nice as the other three.

For summer04, do you remember if the Westin River North had the Heavenly Beds? I'll have to check the hotel web site.

Thanks.

summer04

Yes, they did have Heavenly Beds. When are you going? I use the Entertainment Card sometimes, BUT also check "specials". Sometimes the "specials" will give you a better rate, as E.C. is 50% (and sometimes less) off rack rate, which is ridiculously high to begin with.
Westin Mich. Ave. is right across from Water Tower. You must see the State St. M. Fields, but there is one in the Water Tower too-in case you need more Frangi! You reminded me-I got a box for Christmas that needs to be opened!
Do you have any kind of hotel points? Starwood offers 50% off at some hotels for only 1,000 points. Did that at Westin Mich. Ave.

mscarls

We will probably go in early June. However, there are some big conventions filling up the hotels for one of the weeks we considered. May would be OK. We just want it to be late enough in May to be warm but early enough in June to not be too hot and humid.
So far the best rates I've found are $220 per night at the Westin River North,$199 at the Homewood Suites or #179 at the Radisson (the latter two are additional hotels we decided to consider when we found such high rates).

beachkomer

I love the location of the Westin N. Michigan Ave. and got it on Hotwire for $80 per night in late June during
"Taste of Chicago".

The Hotel was right across from the John Hancock building (and Cheesecake Factory). Perfect Location!
Nice room, with the Heavenly Bed. Our room overlooked an alley and construction next door, but, hey- it
was cheap!


Shopping is outside your doorstep...

summer04

It really is early to find a good rate. You can book something now, but continue to check for summer specials that will be coming out. Once it is closer to the dates you want, try 877chicago.com, hotrooms.com, and quikbook.com. Have you contacted the hotels by phone to ask when they start summer specials? There is so much going on on the summer there that I wouldn't let heat hinder you unless you really can't stand the heat. We went in Aug. last summer for the Air Show and it was great. Also, Sheraton is a good location in summer because it is so close to Navy Pier. As far as location goes, if you are near Michigan Ave.,you can easily walk to most places of interest in good weather.
Another reasonable hotel that gets good ratings is Hilton Garden Inn.