coondogg97

I always click the links in any replies posted, a number of times. Due to unforeseen circumstances I never made it into Philly that last trip. With everything going on it didn't cross my mind to reply since I didn't make the reservation. I have replied now. Thank you

Thank you for the help. Unfortunately, due to a loss in the family we were not able to make it into Philadelphia.

Amenities are below. This is a 4.5* boutique hotel in the Penns Landing area. Price is $152 and the date of the stay would be June 26th. FULL AMENITIES: Pet friendly, Boutique hotel, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Thanks for the reply. There is one 4* listed now but its $229. Still a great price for a 4* in Old City. Looks like The Hilton? Full amenities according to BiddingHelper.com tool: FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Indoor pool(s), Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking

Sorry about that, it was for this Saturday 3/26-27.

Can you please help me ID this 3.5* hotel in Old City. It is coming up as $125 per night. Amenities are as follows: FULL AMENITIES: Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Self-service laundry, Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking, Roll-in shower There is a 4* too that's $186 but I am pretty sure thats The Hilton (old Hyatt): FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Indoor pool(s), Fitness center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access, Accessible for visually impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Accessible parking Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply and you were right, it was The Omni Hotel. Sat, Dec 05, 2015 - Sun, Dec 06, 2015 Want to stay longer? Extend my stay Rate per night $312.00 Nights 1 Rooms ( 2 adults ) 1 Subtotal $312.00 Tax recovery charges + fees $94.13 Hotwire total $406.13

Looking to stay overnight in the Rockefeller Center area this Saturday. Found a 4* hotel for $380 a night with the following amenities using the BetterBidding tool. FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Smoke-free rooms, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Internet access There is also a 4.5* for $312 with these amenities: FULL AMENITIES: Pet friendly, Fitness center, Restaurant(s), Business center, Self-service laundry, Internet access, Accessible for hearing impaired, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Wheelchair accessible, Accessible bathroom Any help ID'ing this hotel is appreciated. Thanks!

Aaron, I just wanted to follow up and thank you again for all your fantastic suggestions. Unfortunately there was a small family emergency so we ended up going home a couple of days earlier than expected. But what we saw was incredible. Chicago is a beautiful, clean and friendly city. Here is what we ended up getting done: Monday: Took a walk to Portillos and grabbed our first authentic Chicago dog. Then it started to rain so we got a car from Uber (great service) back to the hotel. We were going to go to Second City tonight, but they didn’t have any shows on the main stage all week so we headed over to Eataly. I am embarrassed to say, this was possibly the highlight of the trip. There are rumors of opening one in Philly, I pray that’s right!! I can’t imagine it will be anything like Chicago, but still….talk about a foodies paradise. Just the inventory they had in cheese on the floor must have cost tens of thousands. Whew….needless to say we ended up going back to Eataly three times just to look around and shop. We left Eataly and headed to Lou Malnatis for some pizza which was great. Tuesday: We headed to Lincoln Park and started at the Zoo. Between the Zoo, Hall and Conservatory this took most of our day. The zoo was much bigger than I had expected and the conservatory was amazing! We ended up grabbing a snack at an outside restaurant by the zoo. This was one of the unexpected highlights of the trip. Sitting outside on a beautiful day, overlooking the Chicago skyline and park….it was a perfect backdrop. We left the Zoo and headed back to the hotel to freshen up and then we went to Balena to eat and then Wrigley Field. I know you suggested doing the park and ballpark on the same day because they are close to each other, but by the time we finished at the zoo we wanted to freshen up before the game. The game and stadium were incredible and the Cubs won which made it even more entertaining. The restaurant, although it was ok, it was probably one of the low lights of the trip. The service was decent and the food was ok, the place over all was just meh. Wednesday: We ended up leaving later Wednesday night. But we were still able to take our time at The Taste Of Chicago event. We got 6 strips of tickets and used every last one. Sooooo many highlights here, but there was this donut stand that was out of this world! On the way back we went to Eataly to do some shopping and then went back to the hotel. We still had a few hours to kill and even though we were ridiculously full from the Taste Of Chicago event, we headed out to dinner. We wanted to check out the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre site and learned there was a pretty cool pizza place in the area called Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company. So we headed in and to our surprise, it isn’t much of a hidden gem. The place was mobbed, but we only waited about a half an hour to be seated and I am glad we waited. The Pizza Pot Pie was incredible and the place was awesome. The biggest disappointment was not being able to catch a show at Second City, but now we have an excuse to go back. The biggest surprise, was how clean the city was and how nice people are. I know every area has it’s undesirable’s, but everyone who we ran into was friendly and accommodating. Thanks again Aaron, your suggestions were spot on and you have a wonderful city! PS – The Langham Hotel was gorgeous and the service was out of this world. We ended up upgrading to a King Size bed on the top floor for an extra $150 a night. Not sure if that was worth the cost. I was hoping to get a good view of the river, but we were only able to see a small section of it. The room, bed and bathroom were amazing though.

Talk about good timing! The Taste Of Chicago event looks awesome (can you tell we are foodies?!)! We would have to do that either Wednesday or Thursday. Do you think we could pull that off the same day we are doing Lincoln Park? We would obviously skip breakfast and get to Grant Park when it first starts at 11am. Wednesday Pittsfield Cafe for breakfast (*make sure you have cash*) -- Move Pittsfield to Tuesday (replace Wildberries)Taste of Chicago event (11am-9pm)Head to Lincoln Park --Lincoln Park Conservatory --Green City Market --Itto Sushi --The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum --Lincoln Park Zoo --Lincoln Hall --Oz ParkCap the night off (again) with some pizza at either Giordano’s or Lou Malnati’s.Or are we better off moving Lincoln Park to Tuesday with Wrigley FIeld and miss the farmers market? Then do Millennium Park on Wednesday before or after the Taste Of Chicago event so we have more time? I am so happy we have a decent plan in place. I can't wait to see Chicago!

Aaron, you should be on Chicago's payroll. The information you have is priceless and those tours look perfect. I will defenitely look into doing one of them. Here is some irony. I get a Thrillist email everyday about different spots in Philly. Today's email had a Chicago snippet attached. I could really go for some good food now...... WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 50 Things You Need to Eat in Chicago Before You Die Would you mind commenting on some of those places? Pan pizza - Pequod’s Pizza Lincoln Park Known as the deep-dish pizza locals actually eat, the pies at this Clybourn Avenue mainstay sport a hallmark caramelized cheese crust that’ll make you think twice about how you want to tackle each colossal slice: crust first, or save the best part for last? Churros and chocolate - Xoco (address and info) --- Xoco (http://www.yelp.com/biz/xoco-chicago) is a casual option from famed Fronterra Grill chef Rick Bayless River North, West Town Rick Bayless’ casual sandwich place (and its very similar airport sibling Tortas Fronteras) is recommended for lunch. But a couple of freshly made churros (like unrolled donuts) and a pot of thick chocolate dipping sauce is a combo that works anytime. Cake shake - Portillo’s (address and info) --- Hot Dogs I'd go with Portillo's in River North. Unfortunately, Hot Doug's which was quite famous is closed. Multiple locations This legendary chain goes full-tilt dessert Inception with a dessert within a dessert known as a “cake shake,” into which an entire slice of diabolically rich chocolate cake is ground. Balance out all that sweet with a Chicago-style dog. Depression Dog - Red Hot Ranch Logan Square, Lakeview With the noticeable absence of Hot Doug’s in our lives, we’ve glommed onto a dog that’s much more simple but still every bit as traditional. The late-night hot dog stand offers steamed dogs simply dressed in mustard, relish, onion, sport peppers, and an overly generous mound of fresh-cut fries. Peach Italian lemonade - Mario’s Italian Lemonade University Village Slushy Italian lemonade is different from hard Italian ice, and the place to go for it is this stand opposite Al’s on Taylor. It’s only open in the summer and the peach flavor is rarer than that, popping up for a few weeks every summer when peaches get cheap (and some years not at all). Mozzarella sticks - Roots Handmade Pizza --- (This place sounds fantastic!!!!) Ukrainian Village You’ll know that Chicago truly is the mecca of the Midwest when you look over a menu of ridiculously cheesy Quad Cities-style pizzas and think to yourself “I could use some jumbo mozzarella sticks too.” But your gut instinct is spot on here, because the mozzarella is made from scratch, coated in garlic breadcrumbs, and will inspire the envy of neighboring booths as you chew on a strand of cheese stretching to infinity. Black Truffle Explosion - Alinea Lincoln Park Pop this ravioli in your mouth and it will explode with the intoxicatingly lush flavor of real black truffle. Grant Achatz invented it at The French Laundry and it’s the signature dish at his world-famous Alinea to this day. Sausage biscuit - Bang Bang Pie Shop Logan Square Bang Bang’s small-batch sour cream biscuits are topped with ginger-sage sausage, gravy, and a poached egg and come with a side of seasonal jam. Only sandwiches of this high a quality could make it a tough decision of whether to order a biscuit or a slice of pie (“both” is the correct answer). One last question, I assume you can't walk around Chicago with an open beverage. We will be on vacation so I would like to stop for a drink every now and then. I am not looking to get sloppy drunk, but would like to have a drink with meals and when we are walking around the parks. I'm not sure how that works. Are there even bars in the parks? Thanks again!

Ok, we will plan on skipping the observatory and stick with the Signature Lounge. We actually don't plan on staying for an entire game at Wrigley. I have gotten out of baseball over the passed few years and my wife has never been a fan. But I can't imagine going to Chicago and not checking out Wrigley Field. Fortunatly since there is a double header that day we have our choice of when to go. I planned on grabbing a couple of cheap tickets from somewhere/someone and walking around the stadium to explore. I don't see us being in our seats for more than an inning or two and I don't see us spending the entire game there. So I guess this would be a good day for Second City. After I posted that I realized that was the one thing I wanted to do but forgot to add it. So I think this is our finaly itenerary. My wife had mentioned going to Logan Square Farmers Market, but it looks like they only operate on Sunday. We will be doing Green City Market when we are at Lincoln Park on Wednesday anyway. Monday Check into hotel and look aroundGrab a hot dog at Portillo'sHead to Michigan Avenue and window shop--Stop at The Signature Lounge for a quick bite to eat--Check out Eataly (sounds like our Mecca!!!!)--Go to the Hancock ObservatoryCap the night off with some pizza at either Giordano’s or Lou Malnati’s.Tuesday Breakfast at WildberryMillennium Park--The Bean--Lurie ParkWrigley Field 12:20 or 7:05 game (double header)Wednesday Pittsfield Cafe for breakfast (*make sure you have cash*)Head to Lincoln Park--Lincoln Park Conservatory--Green City Market--Itto Sushi--The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum--Lincoln Park Zoo--Lincoln Hall--Oz ParkCap the night off (again) with some pizza at either Giordano’s or Lou Malnati’s.Thursday Shedd Aquarium (Opens 9am - aquatic Show 10:30am, 12pm)Grab a hot dog somewhereArt Institute (Open 10:30am - 5 pm)Back to hotel to get cleaned upHead to North Pond or Balena for dinnerThanks again for all the help. We were going back and forth on where to go and I am looking forward to seeing what Chicago has to offer.

Wow, thanks again for such a detailed response. The help on this board is priceless. I think I have a pretty solid itinerary down. I want to get to Wrigley Field and there isn't a game Thursday night (figures), so I switched a couple of things around. My wife doesn't have much interest in baseball so we will probably not be at the ballpark for the entire game, but I still want to catch part of a game and grab a drink/snack. Let me know what you think. Monday Check into hotel and look aroundGrab a hot dog at Portillo'sHead to Michigan Avenue and window shop--Stop at The Signature Lounge for a quick bite to eat--Check out Eataly (sounds like our Mecca!!!!)--Go to the Hancock ObservatoryCap the night off with some pizza at either Giordano’s or Lou Malnati’s.Tuesday Breakfast at WildberryMillennium Park--The Bean--Lurie ParkWrigley Field 12:20 or 7:05 game (double header)Wednesday Go to the Pittsfield Cafe for breakfast Head to Lincoln Park--Lincoln Park Conservatory--Green City Market--Itto Sushi--The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum--Lincoln Park Zoo--Lincoln Hall--Oz ParkCap the night off (again) with some pizza at either Giordano’s or Lou Malnati’s.Thursday Shedd Aquarium (Opens 9am - aquatic Show 10:30am, 12pm)Grab a hot dog somewhereArt Institute (Open 10:30am - 5 pm)Back to hotel to get cleaned upHead to North Pond or Balena for dinnerThanks again for all the help. We were going back and forth on where to go and I am looking forward to seeing what Chicago has to offer.

Wow Aaron, just wow!! Thank you so much for taking that much time to reply. Between your explination of the hotel areas and now the city itself I feel a lot better about going in blindly. I am used to Manhattan and Philly so a lot of that did make sense. I was wondering the same thing about The Navy Pier. I have read the same thing in the research I have done. Sounds like you get a great view of the city and if you're able to get there for sun-up it's worth the visual, but other than that it's a miss. Except for the stain glass museum, that seems to be a nice attraction. As I said we only had those three things planned. I will put The Navy Pier on the back burner now. If we have time we will swing by, if not no loss. We will replace that time with the parks. I have heard a lot about Millennium Park and The Bean so we will be sure to check that out along with Lurie Garden, that looks great. I am fine with walking, depending on the weather. If it's ridiculously hot or raining I prefer to take a taxi. Are taxis readily available? Do you have to call them or can you just wave down a cab? I have no problem taking cab’s to different spots, but I would like some experience with the Chicago metro system too so we will probably switch it up depending on where we are going. I will check out the CTA app, thanks. I will do some more research on Lincoln Park as well. I don’t know much about that park except for the zoo. But if we do end up at Lincoln Park it would probably be Wednesday since they have the farmers market too. The Art Institute and Shedd Aquarium are great suggestions! We are going during the week (Monday-Friday) so I don’t think the Aquarium would be too packed, but it is the summer and kids are out of school so we will see. I will research that as well and see what the best day to go would be, or as you said just try to get there early. We are thinking about renting a car just for a day. This way we will be able to get to the couple of Blue’s Brothers spots that are worth seeing (like Daley Plaza and Chez Paul). I honestly forgot about Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Maybe we will rent a car and make a day out of seeing movie locations from a few different movies. I will map out a lot of the routes you listed tonight and see what they look like on paper (or screen). As for food…..man, I am going to have to starve myself before we get there because I plan on eating like a pig!! The North Pond sounds like a great spot as well as Balena. We will be sure to check out one of those places (if not both). I am used to thin crust pizza; the closest I have had to deep dish is Pizzeria Uno’s. I am sure that makes Chicagoans cringe. But I think I am looking at the Chicago pizza wrong. I am looking at it like NY thin crust where you can just grab a slice and go. A slice of pizza is more like a snack than a meal. Sounds like when you eat a heavy, Chicago pizza you need a while to digest. So it's not like we can grab a slice at 2 and then have dinner at 6. Maybe we will stick with the dogs for a quick grab and go food. Does that make sense? Here is a very rough draft itinerary: Monday: Land at noon. Check out the hotel and surroundings grab a hot dog. Go to Millennium Park and spend the rest of the day there. Check out The Bean, Garden and maybe people watch or something. That night go to Giordano's or Lou Malnati's for some fantastic pizza (which one would you suggest for a first timer tourest pizza)! Tuesday: Grab breakfast at Wildberry Cafe and head to the Art Institute. Spend the day there and head back to the hotel. For dinner go to North Pond. Wednesday: Grab something quick for breakfast and head to the Shedd Aquarium trying to get there as early as possible. Leave the Aquarium and head Lincoln Park to check out the Farmers Market. Dinner at either Balena or Giordano's depending on if we want to dress up or not. Thursday: Possibly rent a car and hit the movie tourest spots. That night head to Wrigley FIeld for a 7:30 Cubs/St. Louis game. Friday: Flight leaves too early for anything fun. Does that look right? Am I trying to get too much done? Am I waisting a lot of time? Once again thank you for all the help. It has been huge! PS - And thank you for changing the title. It was driving me crazy!

Thanks again for the help Aaron. I ended up booking today and between this site and the Bidding Helper site I was able to confidently book The Langham Hotel using Hotwire. I have read great reviews and I am sure we will be happy. Now I will take you up on the city info offer. This will be our first time in the city. It is just my wife and I and we are in our late thirties. I figured we would live on pizza and hot dogs for the week. I grew up in Queens, NY so I am really looking forward to trying some Chicago deep dish! Since it will just be my wife and I we would like to check out a decent (semi-romantic) restaurant. We usually stick with Italian, but any suggestion would be appreciated. As for pizza I keep reading about Giordano's. So we just stick with them or should we try a few different pizza shops out? Also any suggestions where to get a good Chicago hot dog? Other than eating we planned on checking out a game in Wrigley FIeld, seeing a show at Second City and checking out the Navy Pier. We will bein Chicago for 5 days so we will have time on our hands. We wanted to check out some Blues Brother stuff, but it doesn't look like there is much of that around. I found a site with all the filming locations but most of them are gone. Any other suggestions? Thanks again for the help!

Aaron, thanks for the reply and information. If I read that a couple of weeks ago I would have been lost, but I think I am getting the hang of this North of the river, West portion of the loop stuff. I was leaning towards the Langham when I had posted that last night and I think I am going to go in that direction. It's understandable that if you want a room with a view you're going to pay for it. We will take our chance on an upgrade when we get there. Worse comes to worst we don't get our view, but we will still be in a fantastic hotel in the middle of everything. Thanks again!

Wow, I can't believe the amount of information out here. Thanks in advance for the help so far. My biggest problem now is I can't make up my mind as to where to stay. I was originally looking in the loop, but it seems like a lot of people here suggest staying in the Magnificent Mile area. I am clueless. My wife and I are staying from July 7th to the 10th. We will not have a car so we will be walking or taking a taxi most places. I looked at the conventions going on during those dates and there was only one thing listed with 1200 people so it shouldn't be too bad getting a room. I am looking to spend +/- $200 a night. I was looking at what I think was the Langham Hotel (5* hotel with 100% positive feedback and one of the amenities was free internet) for $223 a night. Someone I work with had stayed at the Hotel Felix and suggested we stay there, but I couldn't find what looked like that hotel on Hotwire. More than the number of *'s I would prefer a hotel with a nice view and convenient location. I am sure I am over thinking this but it's our first time in Chicago and I have no idea what to expect. Any help and/or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks!