Chicago - Looking for a hotel location near chicago

I am planning a six State road trip with a stop for 3 or 4 days near Chicago.

My criteria

1. Easy access to make a day trip or 2 into Wisconsin.
2. Not too close into Chicago CBD but on a commuter line.
3. Reasonable area with Shopping Mall.
4. Intend to head to Iowa so easy access to Highway 88/80 to Des Moines.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

Just about anywhere in the northwest or west burbs would work. Easy access to either 294 or 90 to Wisconsin (depending on where you're going), 294 or 355 from NW gets you down to 88 (or 55 to 80) to get to Iowa. Malls aplenty, Metra stops aplenty.

No idea what hotel rates look like, but a couple thoughts would be:
ORD area (no mall real close, but easy enough to get to them)
Schaumburg (most hotels near Woodfield mall, so you'd have to drive to metra)
Oak Brook (same thing, most hotels near Oak Brook Center mall, drive to metra)

Location when you state your conditions, I'm thinking the O'Hare area.

1. I294 north takes you to Wisconsin
2. I294 south takes you to I88 and west to Iowa
3. Blue line into Chicago at the Rosemont stop.
4. Woodfield Mall on I90 (in Schaumburg about 20 minutes NW from ORD) and OakBrook Mall (20 minutes southwest from ORD)

294, 88 and 90 are tollroads so make allotments for that.

As Wisconsin and 88/80 to Iowa are not too far apart, any of the other suggestions could work, or you could split the hotels if you are OK with "moving". The Wheeling Westin is on the corner of Milwaukee and Lake Cook, 10 minutes from Schaumburg, 10 minutes from the Lake Cook Fox line station to the city, and 5 minutes from 294 to head north to Wisconsin. If all you need is a hotel before a trip west, your options are unlimited really.

The Wheeling Westin is on the corner of Milwaukee and Lake Cook, 10 minutes from Schaumburg

Care to revise this before it is scoffed at?

OK - so I drive faster than most people and if you're on vacation you can avoid the rush hour :) Let's call it 15 - 20 for most....

Location when you state your conditions, I'm thinking the O'Hare area.

1. I294 north takes you to Wisconsin
2. I294 south takes you to I88 and west to Iowa
3. Blue line into Chicago at the Rosemont stop.
4. Woodfield Mall on I90 (in Schaumburg about 20 minutes NW from ORD) and OakBrook Mall (20 minutes southwest from ORD)

294, 88 and 90 are tollroads so make allotments for that.

I second the O'Hare area, Rosemont specifically. Pretty much any hotel brand you want. Easy access to downtown from the Rosemont or Cumberland Blue Line (or from O'Hare via the hotel's shuttle if you don't want to pay CTA for parking). My fiancee and I (from southern WI) usually stay in Rosemont when we visit Chicago.

OK - so I drive faster than most people and if you're on vacation you can avoid the rush hour :) Let's call it 15 - 20 for most....

Uh-huh, sure you do. It's 14-15 miles depending on route, so that's an average of 80-90 mph. With a big chunk of the road being Lake Cook or Dundee with lights before you get to 53. Even with some fast driving on 53 and no traffic, 15 at a minimum at 3AM, and more likely 30 at a normal time of day.