Hotel suggestions

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This posting is from: Jamie
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I am trying to narrow my search down for a hotel. I am using
Expedia and the choices are varied. Do I need to look in the
"Ohare North" area. This includes Elk Grove, Arlington heights,
Elmhurst, Shiller Park, Addison, River Grove, Melrose Park,
Wood Dale, Des Plains.

Are these ares close to any public transit? Are there any events
close the these area, or am I totally off base?

Any help is appreciated.

Jamie R

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This posting is from: annie
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The big burning question is will you have a vehicle? Since you
mentioned "public transit", I'll assume no. :)

The hotels in the central part of Chicago which are close to the
things we do in that area will be noted as "River North" or
"North Loop" on most travel sites.

The area colloquially known as Boystown, where there's the big
concentration of "Alternative" bars is known as "Lakeview" on
travel sites.

>Do I need to look in the "Ohare North" area. This includes Elk
>Grove, Arlington heights, Elmhurst, Shiller Park, Addison, River
>Grove, Melrose Park, Wood Dale, Des Plains.

That's a HUGE area! River Grove, for example, is nowhere near what
I would call "O'Hare North", as it's southeast of O'Hare. (River
Grove is where Janna's Place is.)

>Are these ares close to any public transit?

All hotels in the Loop, and most in the River North area will be
an easy walk to El/subway stations. There's a regular CTA bus on
most significant streets in these areas too.

The only hotel I know of in Boystown/Lakeview which is within an
easy walk to the El is City Suites. The Days Inn where I stayed
in 2006 is about a 6 block walk to the El. This was in the Lincoln
Park area.

The only hotel I know of in the O'Hare area which is an easy walk
to the El is the one both I and Ginger have stayed at, which is
known infamously as the "OJ Hotel", and was a Ramada Inn but is now
rebadged Holiday Inn Express. It's a good compromise between price
and convenience, but it is a 40 minute train ride to the center of
the action, and if you have to run back to the hotel for something,
like I did once last year, it kills a couple hours!

>Are there any events close the these area, or am I totally
>off base?

Yes, yes, and no. :)

Our activities are all over the place, with some concentration in
a few areas.

The past few years we've done one night in the River Grove and
Oak Park areas. Janna's Place has kind of been our anchor there,
and that's an easy walk (sorta) from either the Milwaukee West
station or the Cumberland bus. The restaurant we like is a very
easy walk from the El. The one bar we liked in the area closed,
but we found another one. I would not want to walk there to/from
the El at night, but nobody had trouble bumming a ride.

We've usually done one night in the Boystown area, but kind of
skipped it last year when the restaurant we liked was no longer
serving dinner. Boystown is right under the El, literally.

At least one night we'll end up at Hunters Dance Club out in
Elk Grove Village. (Think of Hunters as Chicago's answer to Gipsy,
but without the smoke and with some quiet areas.) This is out in
the toolies, northwest of O'Hare. There's a Days Inn next door
and a HoJo across the street. You will almost certainly need a
vehicle or a committed ride if you're staying out there. The
Days Inn does claim 24x7 shuttle to/from O'Hare, where there is
a El/subway stop, but I don't know about the frequency and the
punctuality of their shuttle.

We also seem to do a number of things in the River North area.
Public transit is actually much more convenient than your own
car there! Parking on the street is a challenge at best. There
are tons of pay lots, usually convenient, but ex$pen$ive!

Hope this helps somewhat. :)

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This posting is from: Jamie
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Annie,

I did neglect to say that I was going to be driving. It is MUCH
shorter than to Vegas. I don't necessarily want to drive around
Chicago though. I did learn how to drive on the new Chicago Toll
roads, in the early 60s. It was a challenge even then.

This information does shed some better light.

Thanks,

Jamie R

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(This posting was entered by Jamie, an external user of MyDLV.)

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This posting is from: annie
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>I did neglect to say that I was going to be driving.

Ok, then, you have countless options.

I might suggest that you select a hotel out in the O'Hare area,
as you will have countless choices from bargain basement to
hoity-toity. You can then drive to the things that are hard to
get to via public transit, and you can drive to a park-n-ride
lot and take the train into the city for the River North stuff
if you don't want to have the hassle of parking downtown.

If you do want to be closer in, the Best Western River North
has free parking for hotel guests, which is the exception to
the rule in that area. I've stayed there. It's clean and
comfortable, but the rooms are small and the place is showing
its age.

Another caveat about driving is Hunters Dance Club. We've
been warned a couple of times that the local cops will watch
the parking lot of Hunters during the wee hours and swoop in
very quickly on anybody who appears to be driving under the
influence.

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This posting is from: Francine
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I'd love to see a map with location of events marked on it. Then
someone could pick a hotel close to the events they are most interested
in.

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(This posting was entered by Francine, an external user of MyDLV.)