Affordable (i.e. cheap!) accommodation?
 

Hi all,

Heading to Chicago in late September. Will definitely be there Thursday 23rd and Friday 24th, but haven't decided about the Saturday night yet.

We're really struggling to find accommodation in our price range that seems to be in a 'commutable' location. We want to spend less than $80/night, and if we can't be downtown, we want to be somewhere that's no more than 30 minutes from downtown by bus or train - and somewhere we can get to even late in the evening.

We don't want, or expect, anything fancy, but not a hostel - a cheap place within walking distance of a train station would suit us just fine. Can anyone suggest areas I should be looking at?

We will try Priceline for a hotel closer to the city centre, but having had a look on betterbidding.com I'm not hopeful we'll get very far.

Any help much appreciated - even if it's to say we need to be looking at spending $100 realistically!

It doesn't meet your 30 minute rule (it's about 40 minutes, IIRC), but you could stay out by Ohare. The hotel shuttles will drop you off at either the Ohare or Rosemont blue line stops.

I can't help you with under $80/nt downtown, but for under $100/nt downtown, you might try Silversmith Hotel located near Millenium/Grant Park.

I recently saw a $93 rate listed for early August.

Reviews and photos: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT

I just checked...1 win reported for your dates...3* $95 River North Courtyard...why are you pessimistic 2 months out?

From what I can tell, prices in Chicago seem to just be generally quite high, and the winning bids in September & October that I've seen were $80+.

I'm afraid I'm not terribly experienced at using Priceline - the times I've got bargains on it have been more by luck than judgement - if it's worth holding on a month or so to see if prices come down then that's what we'll do.

It's going to be a challenge to find a hotel in your price range ... anywhere close to the city. One option, probably right at your price-point or a couple of dollars above ... is the Heart O Chicago Motel. Public transportation is good and it's close to the Andersonville, Rogers Park and Devon Ave. restaurants. Check the website to see if it fits your needs:

http://www.heartochicago.com/

If I wanted cheap and central, I'd pick the old standby - The Ohio House on LaSalle St.

It's supposed to be clean, inexpensive, and quite centrally located. For similar money, I'd rather be downtown than out by the Heart O Chicago, but that's just me.

Dave

Not downtown, but University of Chicago area has its own charm. A commuter train, 1 block away, takes you to downtown in about 10 minutes. Room rates start at $65: http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/residency...cy_short.shtml

Walking distance from President Obama's house. :)

"Guests must be at least 18 years old and affiliated with either the University of Chicago or another cultural, educational or professional institution. Such guests include University guests, visiting scholars, current and prospective students, faculty, and staff. Guests of such affiliates are also welcome."

"Affiliated with a cultural, educational or professional institution" seems pretty broad category to me. :) Anyway if the idea appeals to OP, he can call and check.

That's lame. Obviously the text is referring to other institutions affiliated with the university. No need to steer someone into a borderline neighborhood to try to get a room under false pretenses.

Don't forget to look at Hotwire or Travelocity for their unnamed hotels, usually at the last minute. Memorial Day weekend I got the Holiday Inn-Mart Plaza for $55 per night on a Travelocity "hiidden" deal.

I have family coming to visit 7/20 (today) - 7/25, and it was really diffficult for me to find anything reasonable downtown. Hotel prices just seem (to me) to be up this week.

And yes, I used all my Priceline permutation bidding tricks along with Hotwire and the usual suspects.

Make refundable reservations somewhere.

Then try Priceline.

I have been very successful using PL for friends coming to visit. Four star Michigan Ave or Loop in the range of $55-90, both weekends and weekdays.

Unless there is a major convention/event at that time, you should easily get one.

I expect more from a MOD.

http://www.chicagotraveler.com/chica...es.htm#sep2010

...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. :rolleyes:

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