Hotwire Hotel: 4.5* Chicago (Magnificent Mile Area - River North) InterContinental Chicago

[arnovdb]

I have found in this area a hotel (Essex inn?) for $132 with the following amenities using your HOTWIRE link

Free internet

Indoor pool

Fitness center

Pool

Restaurant

Business center

Accessible for the deaf

Accessible path of travel

 

Is this a good guess for this hotel?

Is this a nice area for site seeing Chicago or can I better find a hotel in the Magnificient mile area?

What do you think of the price for 3* in this area?

 

It is our first time Chicago. We stay there for 4 nights and after that we fly from O' Hara to Denver an start a trip ending in LA.

 

Thank you for the advices

[thereuare]

I believe there are more amenities then what you have posted above as HOTWIRE has a new interface that does not show the complete set of amenities unless you click thru a few extra links.

If you repeat your search using our BiddingHelper.com tool... use the HOTWIRE EASY VIEW tab and then click the GREEN BUTTON next to this listing, do you see more amenities then what you have listed above?

Using the method above this is what i'm seeing for the 3* hotel in this zone:

Free Internet

Indoor Pool

Fitness

Pool

Restaurant

Business

Hi-Speed Internet

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Room Accessible

Handicapped Parking

--> if this is what you're seeing my best guess for this one would be the Essex Inn.

HOWEVER, why not the 3.5* hotel with a 95% recommendation (better than the 80% recommendation of the property above) for $119/nite (cheaper than the property above):

Free Internet

Smoke Free

Fitness

Restaurant

Business

Laundry

Hi-Speed Internet

Blind Accessible

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Room Accessible

Bathroom Accessible

Handicapped Parking

Roll-in Shower

--> best guess for this one would be the Silversmith Hotel

With the above noted, this zone is closer to the museums and such and can get a little quiet at nite, whereas the River North zone is closer to bars, restaurants, shopping, etc. and has more nightlife. Neither zone is necessarily too far from the other, so both are quite do-able (especially for the right price), but the River North zone is generally slightly more favorable (especially if looking for nightlife, shopping, etc... if most of your itinerary involves museums, the aquarium, etc then the Grant Park zone could possibly be a better choice)

Around the same price point there is a 3* hotel for $128/nite in the River North zone with:

Free Internet

Fitness

Business

Laundry

Hi-Speed Internet

Golf

Tennis

Blind Accessible

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Bathroom Accessible

Handicapped Parking

... more importantly this property has a 4.5/5.0 TA rating which is excellent. I'm not certain of which property this one may be, but my guess would be the Homewood Suites Chicago Downtown. With the 4.5/5.0 rating I wouldn't be too concerned with quality with this one, and the zone is geographically small enough that location shouldn't be an issue either (as well, previous HOTWIRE guests give this property a 5 out of 5 for location, so again, shouldn't be an issue)

AaronJB is local to the area so he may be able to add more insight into the zones and area once he sees this thread.

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.

[arnovdb]

Thank you Thereuare. With the BiddingHelper.com tool I see the same amenities as you do. I like the Essex inn because of the pool for my son. If the other 3 star property is the Homewood, that would be a great option. Homewood Suites does have a pool and free breakfast but these 2 amenities are not shown. I will do a little more searching and hope that Aaron have any extra advices.

[AaronJB]

Unfortunately, the Homewood and Embassy Suites properties downtown haven't been reported as wins in ages - too bad, as all three are very nice. If you could even possibly get the Homewood, that would be a great win. The other thing I think the 3* in River North might be is the Acme Hotel.

 

My issue with the Essex is that it's close to museums (still a walk, but about as close as it gets in terms of downtown hotels) but not particularly convenient for much else. At the Essex, you're in the South Loop - there are colleges right around so there will likely be some activity at night, but otherwise there's not much directly around it.

 

It is a ways from the Essex to Michigan Ave and it's definitely a ways from the Essex to Lincoln Park Zoo (which I'd recommend.) 

 

The potential Silversmith hotel mentioned above is still in the Loop and likely going to be quiet at night, but it is by one of my favorite "value" dining options in the city - Flat Top Grill, which is a "make your own Stir Fry" restaurant where you can mix and match ingredients and, if you pay for the option, go back again and again. Greatest? No, Good? Yes, and I think a solid value (they also do breakfast.)

 

In terms of listings with pool, I am seeing the Intercontinental for $130 - that hotel has an awesome location right on Michigan Ave by the river. The negative is that the pool - while one of the most gorgeous pools in the city and an incredibly historic pool - is an olympic-sized lap pool and really not very "family friendly" - it's more for lap swimmers.

 

Otherwise,  I think it really boils down to having a pool versus convenience. The Essex offers a large pool, but it becomes more of a trek to get to a lot of places and there aren't many dining options around. The potential River North 3* (Homewood or Acme, possibly) also gets much better reviews, with a 4.5/5 tripadvisor rating. The Intercontinental would also be a nicer hotel (4.5*) for about the same price.

 

Let us know your thoughts and if you are interested in the Intercontinental listing I'd be happy to point it out on Hot.wire. Also, please let me know if you have any Chicago questions.

 

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

[arnovdb]

We have booked the 4,5* Intercontinental in the Magnificient Mile Area - River norh area for $128 for the periode 7/17/14-7/21/14

AaronJB. Thank you for the Chicago advices. If I have more Chicago questions, can I ask them to you in this same topic?

 

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success. :)

 

Very nice deal for this property, which is in a top-notch location on Michigan Ave. right by the bridge. The hotel has a really interesting history, too 

 

I was not aware of this, but apparently there's a historic tour of the hotel that they offer if you ask for it: http://www.upchicago.com/the-secret-intercontinental-hotel-tour. The hotel certainly does have a cool history, with a pool that's absolutely gorgeous - it was one of the first public pools on a higher floor and was considered a major engineering feat at the time.

 

Hotel history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/InterContinental_Chicago_Magnificent_Mile

 

Despite being a historic property, I thought this hotel has a nice mix of modern and historic feel. It's a huge property and rooms vary in size. What I would recommend trying to do is ask for a room NOT facing North. Rooms that face North basically look square at another building right next to the hotel.

 

Can you confirm the amenities that were showing with this HOTWIRE listing? This information can be found under the trip information in your HOTWIRE account.

 

Please let me know any city questions you have at all in this thread.

 

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

 

Enjoy your stay.

[arnovdb]

Thank you for your help

The shown amenities in my account are:

Pet friendly, Indoor pool(s), Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, Internet access,

We are certainly visit a White Sox game. The Cubs are not playing when we are town.

We also want to bike a nice route.

Do you have any advices for this?

If we don' t want to use public transport, what is the best way to go to the hotel from the airport? And at the end of our stay from the hotel to the airport?

Are there nice priced breakfast options around the hotel?

[AaronJB]

Are you seeing additional amenities when trying to "see all" under your account, such as accessible amenities?

 

If you do not want to take public transit into the city, you can definitely take a taxi, but the price difference is $2 and change per person versus probably $40ish (and maybe a tad higher) each way in a taxi. It is a fairly long trip from ORD into downtown.

 

Basically, there are three options to the airport: CTA (cheap, but long and least comfortable), Metra and taxi combo (comfortable, but complicated and the Metra trains don't run as frequently) or taxi (comfortable and you go right to the hotel, but it's going to definitely be more expensive than the other two options.)

 

If you want something that is sort of in-between but more complicated, you could take a taxi from ORD to the Park Ridge Metra station (http://metrarail.com/metra/en/home/maps_schedules/metra_system_map/up-nw/station.PARKRIDGE.html) then take that the remainder of the way into the city. The Metra trains are nicer and more comfortable than the CTA trains that run to/from ORD. The Metra trains go into one of two large stations next to each other on the West side of downtown. 

 

What I'd suggest re: bike would be to rent at Navy Pier, which is a few minutes East of your hotel. This (http://www.bikechicago.com/rent-a-bike/all-equipment) is an option. You can then ride straight up the lakefront (I wouldn't go any other direction) Once you get far enough North (to North Avenue Beach), you can then go under Lake Shore Drive and into Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park Zoo is right there.

 

Breakfast, I'd say Yolk (http://www.yelp.com/biz/yolk-river-north-chicago-2) or Wildberry (http://www.yelp.com/biz/wildberry-pancakes-and-cafe-chicago-2) are within a reasonable walking distance.

 

Let me know if you have any additional questions.

[arnovdb]

Thank you for the great advices

Here are all the amenities:

Pet friendly

Indoor pool(s)

Smoke Free Rooms

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Internet access

Accessible for the blind

Accessible for the deaf

Accessible path of travel

In-room accessibility

Accessible bathroom

Handicapped parking

Roll-in shower

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the follow-up! :)

 

Happy to help and please let me know if you have any other questions at all. In terms of biking, you could head South along the Lakefront, but I think North has a lot of possibilities in terms of Lincoln Park and the surrounding area. Lincoln Park Zoo is great, plus there's the Peggy Notabert Nature Center (which is a block North of the N end of the Zoo), the Old Town neighborhood and a lot of restaurants and shops in Lincoln Park.

 

Enjoy your stay.

[arnovdb]

Hi Aaron, is it easy to bike from the InterContinental area to Wrigley Field or do we have to ride between a lot of traffic? We are experienced bikes (we live in the Netherlands and lots of people uses the bike on a daily base)

Thanks for your advices

Arno

[AaronJB]

You could ride to Wrigley Field, but it would be a long ride. I had never really thought about bikes to Wrigley, but oddly enough, they actually have a bike valet (http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/chc/ballpark/transportation.jsp?content=bike)

 

Head East of your hotel (walk out the front door, then there is a street that goes along the South face of the building. Take that East and you should see a staircase. Head down the stairs to Illinois. Go one block North to Grand. Go East on Grand and you will go under Lake Shore Drive. Right after that, look to the left and you will see a park. Head into the park and on the other side there is the Lakefront trail. Take the Lakefront trail North to Belmont. Head under Lake Shore Drive on Belmont. After that, it becomes a little more difficult. Once you get under Lake Shore Drive, there is the Inner Drive that runs alongside Lake Shore Drive. DO NOT get on Lake Shore Drive. You can take the inner drive  Lake Shore Drive is effectively a PRICELINE EXPRESSway, while the inner drive is a street that runs alongside it and you can turn on all of the connecting E/W streets. Take that North to Addison, then Addison Westbound to Wrigley.

 

The Red Line subway is definitely much easier to get to Wrigley. It would be a really very nice bike ride to Wrigley, but that's a long ride. I would suggest considering taking the subway to Wrigley, but maybe considering a bike trip for another day.

 

If you like long bike trips, there are some great trails throughout the North suburbs, but it's a fairly long trip to get out to the burbs to start with (and I don't know if there are any bike rental places left in the North burbs.)

 

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

[AaronJB]

I was able to take a look at Divvy, the bike service downtown. I wasn't able to use it and hadn't really taken much notice before, but upon closer look, was really impressed and wow, people were certainly using it a lot in downtown, which I was kind of surprised about.

 

The stations are all over the city. The only thing about Divvy is that it is for 30 minute trips. You can buy a 24-hour pass, but it's still 30 minute trips. You have to keep checking in and there are stations all over. If you keep it for more than 30 minutes, there are overtime fees. I took a few pictures, I'll post them tomorrow in this spot.I don't think this would be a good choice for going to Wrigley, but I think would be really good if you want to bike around the city otherwise. The service is the second largest bike sharing service in the US.

 

https://www.divvybikes.com/stations

 

I'll also note that Eataly is right by your hotel - that is a must to browse around. It's like a Nordstrom or Bloomingdales for Italian food. (http://www.eataly.com/eataly-chicago/) I wouldn't have a full meal there, but it's fun to browse around and the focaccia bread area offers some of the best focaccia I've had in ages.

 

 

Divvy bike rack

 

 

Divvy check-out machine

 

 

You can see your hotel (the tall, cream colored building) towards the left side of the picture and the stairs mentioned above towards the right side of the picture. When you walk down that street alongside the South face of the hotel going East towards the stairs, off to the side, you'll see the circular driveway for the NBC Tower. There is a Divvy location back in that area. The pictures above are of a Divvy stop by Millennium Park.