Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* Chicago (Arlington Heights-Elk Grove) Sheraton Suites Elk Grove

[ecremean]

Hello. I'm starting a new thread as advised. I hope I'm doing this correctly...

I like the sound of the Sheraton Suites Elk Grove, and if I could book it for $45/night that'd be wonderful. Would you please advise me as to how I would find this deal on HOTWIRE? Also, would you happen to know how far it is from the "El" subway system? Thank you!!

Or if there are other hotel suggestions (closer to the El and/or tourist attractions) around the same cost (we could go a bit higher) then that would be appreciated as well.

[thereuare]

If you search HOTWIRE for your dates do you see a 3.5* property with the following charcteristics in the (Arlington Heights - Elk Grove) zone:

Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Interent, Business, Golf

This amenity combination has previously been associated with the Sheraton Suites so while no guarnatees, that would be my best guess for this one.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[AaronJB]

I will also note that this Priceline Chicago thread also offers a great deal of information about transit and family-friendly activities/restaurants, as well as discussion of the suburbs.

Which city/area attractions are you interested in seeing? If you are driving in, the suburbs are certainly a good choice; if you are flying in, I would stay by O'Hare, as it's a little too difficult to get around the 'burbs without a car.

If you stay at the Sheraton Suites, the only CTA station/s nearby are the ones to the Southeast on the O'Hare Blue Line, including O'Hare and the Rosemont station.

However, as I noted in the other thread referenced above, I'd recommend traveling on Metra, instead, and the nearest Metra station to this hotel is Arlington Heights, which is about 3 miles due North of the hotel. Metra trains are two levels and offer more comfortable bench sets, and the bench seats can be flipped so a family can sit all together. There are also bathrooms and conductors; tickets are bought in the station (if it is open, if not - then on the train from the conductor.)

The Metra trains do not run as often during the weekend (although there are weekend passes available for $7 that work on the Metra trains only), but there are express trains during the weekday rush morning/evening. An adult round-trip from Arlington Heights is $9 total (and $18 if done on both Saturday and Sunday), so while the trains do not run as often on the weekend, the $7 pass for both days works out to be a nice discount.

These areas (both the North and Northwest burbs) do have some attractions (Woodfield Mall, the huge Ikea Store, Legoland in the NW; Ravinia Music Festival, Chicago Botanic Gardens, Long Grove and others in the North burbs) and hotels are definitively more reasonably priced (especially if you're driving, as parking is free at most suburban hotels), but it is definitely a trip downtown - that is why I do suggest the Metra trains, as they are more comfortable for that distance than the CTA trains. Additionally, kids 11 and under do travel free on the Metra with a paying adult.

As noted in the other thread, I highly recommend a stop at Trader Joe's grocery stores for snacks; they are both downtown and in the suburbs. Trader Joe's stores are small, cute organic/natural stores largely offering their house brand - you get a lot for the money, and the snacks are really very good; whether in the burbs or downtown (there is a store right off Michigan Ave. at 44 East Ontario), it's a good choice to grab some snacks to take along while you're out walking around the city.

Thank you for using the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

[ecremean]

I read through (and printed out and highlighted spots) the other thread you suggested. Thank you so much for all of the information! I will rave about this website to all of my friends!

Assuming that all goes well with booking the Sheraton Suites (the pool and "suite" space are spot on for our group), looks like we'll be traveling downtown via the Metra and then taking the El to move around downtown.

I will be driving into town with teenage girls (and grandma), so if you have any tourist suggestions for that age range they would be appreciated. Trader Joe's sounds great. The Gold Coast and Lincoln Park farmers markets as well as the Botanical Gardens sound interesting too. I've heard that the Magnificent Mile is fun for window shopping and strolling around. Is this true? What is at Museum Campus?

[AaronJB]

In terms of shopping, Michigan Ave. is certainly is good for window shopping and State St. in the Loop does have a few good discount options that are worth exploring, such as Nordstrom Rack. The Macys store (which was formerly the historic flagship Marshall Fields store) is also on State.

The Museum Campus is a large space along the lakefront just to the South of the downtown. The Field Museum, Adler Planetarium and Shedd Aquarium are all there, and essentially next to one another. I'm not a big fan of the Adler, but the Shedd and Field are impressive. If you are interested in the Shedd though, I would recommend getting there early, or it does get awfully crowded in the Summer months.

Trader Joe's is really fantastic, and their prices are really excellent - if you stay at the Sheraton Suites and decide that you would like to take some items hope with you, there is a location about 5 miles away from the Sheraton in Arlington Heights.

A suggestion that grandma may enjoy is afternoon tea at the very historic Drake Hotel on Michigan Ave; you can find more information at this link.

The Chicago Botanic Garden (chicagobotanic.org) is a wonderful, massive garden museum. However, it is a sizable trip North of the city (despite the name, it is actually in a North suburb.)

Please do let me know if you have any questions at all.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[ecremean]

Thank you for all of the wonderful help. I booked the Sheraton Suites at Elk Grove Village for $48/night.

Now I just need to nail down our itinerary... Google maps say that the Botanical Gardens are about a 30 minute drive from the hotel. Do you know if parking is an issue there?

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using the site's HOTWIRE link.

Enjoy your stay at the Sheraton.

There is definitely no problem with parking at the Botanic in terms of spaces. The only problem is that parking is expensive at $20. However, there is no admission cost, so if you have a group of 4/5, you can think of the $20 parking sort of as a $4/5 admission fee for each person. The 385-acre Garden features 24 display gardens and four natural areas, situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes. There are also interior exhibits and a very nice cafe. It's a beautiful place, and even if it's crowded it's such a big place that it still doesn't feel crowded.

If you are leaving the garden and going downtown, the entrance/exit for the garden is on Lake Cook Road. Just slightly to the West of the entrance is the expressway, and you can head on the expressway downtown.

There are also Metra stations nearby the Gardens, and you could also drive to a Metra station and take it the rest of the way.

Additionally, you could also - depending on your plans - see the Gardens on the last day after you check out of the hotel.

In terms of shopping for teens, they may enjoy some of the funky thrift stores around the Belmont and Broadway area in Lakeview, a neighborhood to the North of the city. Ragstock (which has a coupon on its website) is one example, but there are others, as well. Given that this area is primarily a younger crowd of people in their 20's and 30's, many of the thrift stores in this area (and there are quite a few) have clothes that appeal to that crowd. Ragstock and nearby Buffalo Exchange are pretty big operations and have multiple locations in multiple states.

Additionally, Reckless Records is nearby at 3126 North Broadway; that is a used music chain with a vast selection.

Lastly, the lakeview area is not far from the Lincoln Park Zoo - a trip to the stores above could be combined with a trip to the Zoo.

[ecremean]

Thank you!! :)

[snewsie]

Do we know what the amenities ended up being for this? Are they the same ones you suggested Aaron?

I'm looking for the same hotel ...

[AaronJB]

snewsie,

Please start a new thread and we would be happy to help. The amenities reported w/this listing were Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Interent, Business, Golf.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[thereuare]

Please start a new thread...

... and click this HOTWIRE link before doing so.