Hotwire Hotel: Close to zoo and downtown

[samanthajo]

Hey - I'm new to this board but I would love your help booking a hotel from 8/19/08-8/21/08. I need three rooms during this stay as my family and I will be joined by two other families. We must have a pool as we all have little children. I've only been to Chicago once and I'm not very familiar with the area. Any advice you have would be appreciated! Thanks!

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

The zoo is North of the city and AaronJB can comment further, but you'll have to doublecheck to see if the zoo is accessible via mass transit (i suspect it probably is). My guess is that you'll more than likely want ot stay downtown in either the Loop or NMA zone. The NMA zone is more lively at nite and has more restaurants 'at your door' while the Loop gets a bit quiet at nite but is closer to other venues such as the aquarium. However, the two zones are adjacent to one another and for most users they bid them interchangably, taking whichever zone offers a cheaper hotel for their dates.

If you start by searching HOTWIRE for the dates of your stay (using the correct number of rooms and occupancy that you need) do you see any hotels in the Loop, Mag Mile, or North Michigan Avenue zones with a pool and within your budget?

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[Ronio]

Yes, the Brookfield Zoo is about a 4 block walk from the Hollywood Metra Station using the BSNF line.

http://metrarail.com/Sched/bn/hollywood.shtml

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar enough with the BSNF line to recommend hotels that are along this route. However, if you stay downtown this train leaves from Union Station. Chicago runs free trolley's through out downtown between Memorial Day and Labor Day. They have route maps available at Union Station.

http://www.chicagotraveler.com/chicago-free-trolley.htm

[AaronJB]

The Lincoln Park Zoo is accessible either via public transit or, if you're up for a long walk, it is walkable from some hotels. However, in this case, it's probably best to take the 151 bus. In terms of Brookfield, it is best to take the Metra. Lincoln Park Zoo is free, and can be worked into a day since it's near downtown. Brookfield is larger, but given the trip it becomes more of a full day thing - it also does have admission cost.

There is also the Peggy Notabert Nature Center next to the Lincoln Park Zoo - that does have an admission fee, but it also does have a gorgeous live butterfly exhibit. You can combine a trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo (which is actually a quite nice, large zoo) with Peggy Notabert.