...and he can verify your estimates re commuting time and distance to the Metra stop.

As a former Hyde Park resident, I say "pass" on this wonderful suggestion.

Thanks for the link to the list of conventions, etc. We'll be there Sept 23rd & 24th.

There's a HoJo 'downtown' on N La Salle St which is coming up pretty cheap - around �65, so about $100/night. Can anyone comment on this location?

I think we'll go with Priceline, but this might be the backup plan!

I can't speculate why your memory is failing you, but only one building stands between International House and the 59th street Metra station: http://maps.google.com/maps?near=141...,0.020235&z=16. As for the commuting time, I take this train regularly and while the time is rounded, it is in the ballpark.

There is a tendency among some people to regard Hyde Park as unsafe, but while this is no Singapore it is as safe as Downtown Chicago. Plenty to do: Chicago's most popular museum (and most other museums of any consequence are along the Metra route!), best bookstores, campus environment, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and now the president's home. However, for a 2 day visit by a person I don't know, I'd also recommend the Magnificent Mile area.

The location is OK, but for the same price "Red Roof Inn Downtown Magnificent Mile" (162 East Ontario Street) may be better. If you can spend a little more ($130 or so), I'd suggest "Inn Of Chicago" (162 East Ohio Street). These results are from Hotelscombined.com. However, after shortlisting your hotels, call them directly as well. Sometimes that has gotten me great deals that were not showing up on mega-portals.

For only two days in Chicago, you should stay close to the Magnificent Mile. (When visiting a big city for a long period, let us say 5+ days, I like to experience staying 1-2 nights each in different neighborhoods, instead of trying to cover the whole area from one location.)

Failing memory...perhaps.

Failing objectivity and veracity...never.

We were able to secure the Embassy Suites Lakeside through Hotwire for our stay in June. The rate included free breakfast & 2hr free drinks at night which certainly made our rate look good.From memory the breakfast mention helped us identify the hotel before final booking

Yeah, those $500,000 - $1,500,000 houses are in a pretty bad neighborhood, all right.:

http://www.chicagorealestate-bw.com/....asp?Area=8041

To the OP: Doesn't look like too much going on that weekend per the convention calendar. Cubs are in town, and Bears on Monday, I think. I imagine prices will drop as we approach the date.

Yeah, IIRC, the location and the "S" in the attributes (for suites) designation mark it uniquely.

Where did I say anything about Hyde Park? The property being discussed is at UIC and the borderline areas I was referring to are both Washington Park and Woodlawn.

This is getting to be a comedy of errors, rather strange in this age of easy google and google maps. The "property being discussed" is nowhere near UIC. As a matter of fact, it is in Hyde Park, which is considerably safer and more upscale than the areas of Washington Park and Woodlawn that you "referred to".

I based my UIC comment off of your original post, #8, in this thread where you said it was in the UIC area. I presumed I didn't need to google map it when you already told me it's location.

You're referring to this post of aktchi's?I'll add my own here.

In post #8 I said "University of Chicago", with no abbreviation. I don't see how that abbreviates to UIC, even if someone didn't know that the latter stands for "University of Illinois at Chicago", a different institution in a different neighborhood.

Fortunately, there is no pressing need to resolve any of this here; why don't we all just wish OP a pleasant visit to Chicago?

There is much gnashing of teeth in Hyde Park over your confusion of UIC and UofC. Those on the near west side are beaming with pride, and those of us who went to school in Evanston are chuckling at the dis.

In case any of you are interested, we got the 4* Renaissance Downtown for $100/night on Priceline (for a Thursday and Friday night). We may have got it cheaper if we'd waited a little, but we needed to spread the cost of our trip out (i.e. book something just before payday!).

Thanks for all the advice on this thread!

Just out of curiosity did you mean the Renaissance on Wacker Dr. or the Renaissance Blackstone on S.Michigan? Both have their charms but I would have different recommendations regarding restaurants etc.. depending on the location. In any case please enjoy your visit to my beloved city and know that you are coming at a wonderful time of year.