Stayed 2 nights at the Hotel Allegro in Chicago's South Michigan Ave. area - $75 on Priceline. The hotel bills itself as being hip and jazzy - it's in the theater district - and seems to attract the theater/opera going crowd. As this area is Chicago's main business district (office buildings - not a lot of action after 6), if you're coming to Chicago and hoping to be in the thick of things (clubs/bars/shopping), stay north of the river. The lobby is cozy, with a fireplace and has a lot of seating. There is a complimentary wine hour at 5pm each evening, when they dole out reds and whites. The lobby can get quite festive during this time. The room we stayed in was small - a typical standard room with king bed - the decor was funky, with a very bright color scheme. There was an honor bar/magazines/TV/CD boom Box/and coffee maker all housed in an armoire. The room was clean, and well cared for. However, this is an old building and some of the fixtures in the bathroom looked dated. The hotel does have larger rooms and suites available. The hotel supplied Aveda products in the bathroom (shampoo/conditioner/moisturizer/soap), this is a very nice touch. :) On the lower level, there is a restaurant that turns into a lounge in the evening. It's nothing special, but convenient as a meeting place. Chicago has so many restaurants and clubs that I would suggest checking out Metromix.com before settling for the mediocre. All in all a good stay for little $$$.
