[QUOTE=milepig;12273681]
Originally Posted by
ORDflyer
Unless you want to leave the car alone for your entire stay, the usual free in and out privileges at valet park will likely trump the rate differential. The closest option that is not too far is the Millennium Park Garage. It is accessable from lower Stetson St. or from Columbus Drive. Getting there in your car from the Swissotel will be a challenge the first time, but it is a short walk. And if you park overnight it is not cheap.[/QUOTE]
And rather desolate after workday hours. The walk from that garage to upper Wacker at night is not for the faint of heart. (Most likely perfectly safe, but rather grungy.)
I know OP has solved his/her problem, but I have to disagree on this last point -- the Millenium Park garage is far from desolate after work hours. There's a lot going on in the Park these days, and even during the winter there are lots of (non-scary) people around, because of the Loop's night life. Quite a change from 20 years ago.
The layout of the garage, on the other hand, IS pretty grim (think mad scientists putting in concrete pillars every which-way to see how the lab rats will respond). But getting back to upper Wacker just involves taking the garage's North elevator to the street level (which is upper Randolph) and then walking north on upper Columbus a couple-three blocks to upper Wacker. The business skyscrapers quiet down after 6pm, but you pass the Fairmont and Hyatt Regency hotels, a new CVS (the only street-level retail, it's true), and the fire station, so it's never really deserted. "Grungy" as in too much concrete, perhaps, but not dangerous.