Hotwire Hotel: 2.5* Chicago (Northbrook) Holiday Inn Express Lincolnshire-Deerfield

[wjones]

Hi,

We are traveling to Chicago this Saturday until next Friday (6 nights of hotel), never been to Chicago so any famous attractions is a must. Only the 2 of us so a room is good.

I checked Chicago city area, all range from $150 to over $200 + expensive overnight parking! Man, I thought only SF bay area rate is outrageous!

Since I have car with me for the whole trip, i don't mind driving 30 min to the city if staying in sub-urban area is cheap. My budget for 2.5-3 stars is $50-$60/night (per Hotwire.com quote), my problem is I don't know which area is safe. Can you please give me some guides on which location is safe and cheap that is within 20-30 min. of driving and good for first timer to Chicago?

I have checked hotwire and found: $49, 3.5-star hotel in Arlington Heights - Elk Grove Village Area, very likely to be Sheraton, which charges $11/night for internet :)

BTW, I don't mind bidding on priceline or buy it at hotwire, as long as i can find good price with good location :)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

[AaronJB]

Welcome to the site. :)

What I would strongly recommend doing would be to search on HOTWIRE for your dates (11/1-7) for Northbrook, IL - a very nice, very safe burb to the North of the city.

You should see a 2.5* in the Northbrook area with the amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Complimentary Breakfast, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry for $35 (the price you see may differ slightly.) This would likely be the Holiday Inn Express Deerfield/Lincolnshire. That Holiday Inn Express gets excellent reviews.

Plus, free breakfast and, at least according to the website, free internet.

If this is the HI Express, then that hotel is at 2600 Lake Cook Road. There is a Metra train station at 601 Lake Cook Road. You can drive over there and take the Metra train into the city rather than driving downtown and trying to find expensive parking. If you were to take the Metra on multiple days, you could get a 10-ride pass, which provides a 15% discount over 10 one-day tickets. That train would take you to Union Station downtown, then you would go from there. There is also a mall nearby, and the Chicago Botanic Gardens (chicagobotanic.org) are about a 5-10 minute drive East of that hotel (despite the name Chicago Botanic Gardens, it's actually in a suburb.) You could probably catch some fall colors in the Gardens.

If you want a cheap hotel in a really nice, really safe area, this would be the best bet, in my opinion.

Nearby Metra Station: http://www.metrarail.com/Sched/md_n/lakecook.shtml

Please use the site's link to HOTWIRE.com (Click the HOTWIRE) to start your purchase.

[AaronJB]

Please post if you have any questions, and let us know what you decide.

[wjones]

Wow, AaronJB, thank you for the EXCELLENT info :)

I checked out the Holiday Inn Express at 2600 Lake Cook Road, it is about 30 miles/39 mins (up to 55 mins in traffic) drive to the city. Do you know if any other locations that are closer to the city (like Evanston, Skokie, Des Plaines, ORD, I don't know any of them, just looking at the google map and copied them here :) )?

How about this one here? Is it a good location? About 20.0 miles/27 mins (up to 40 mins in traffic) to the city.

4* Chicago (Oakbrook-Downers Grove) Hyatt Lodge at McDonalds, $48 ... 10/28/08-10/30/08

[AaronJB]

It's probably 10 minutes to the train station from the HI in Deerfield/Lincolnshire, then another 35-40 minutes or so by train.

I still think that's a great option considering how far it is under your budget, plus the train is easily accessible. It's a little further out than you want to be, but it does offer a nice, safe area and breakfast and internet for free. I'd strongly recommend the Metra train, as they are very nice, comfortable trains and you're going to find traffic and parking prices dismaying if you try to drive downtown.

If you do still want to drive downtown, I'd be happy to suggest a few scenic routes - these would lead you through areas of the city rather than just being on the expressway all the way in. Once you get a hotel, I can suggest directions to what you want to see.

Let me look to see what other suggestions I can find for hotel for these dates.

[AaronJB]

A couple of versions of an idea that would allow you to stay downtown for half the time.

VERSION ONE:

1. Search for 11/4-7 on Expedia.com for Chicago. The Comfort Inn Downtown (free breakfast) is on sale for $89 per night for a special limited time only 50% off sale. Use coupon code FAN50 for an additional $50 off the total. Divide $50 over 3 nights = $16.66. $89 - $16.66 = $72.34. Free Internet and Breakfast.

2. Search on HOTWIRE for Northbrook for 11/1-4 for Northbrook and you'll see the 2.5* with the amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Complimentary Breakfast, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Laundry that is likely the Holiday Inn Deerfield/Lincolnshire for $45.

$72.34 for 3 nights + 45 for 3 nights = $352.02 - divided by 6 nights = $58.67 per night average.

There will be the matter of parking downtown, but otherwise, this would allow you to stay downtown for half your stay. I did come back to the HI Express for the second option, only because when you're talking about the 2.5*/3* category in the suburban areas on services like HOTWIRE, it's tough to find one that actually gets very good reviews + it offers free breakfast/internet.

VERSION TWO:

1. Search for 11/1-4 on Expedia.com for Chicago. The Comfort Inn Downtown (free breakfast) is on sale for $89 per night for a special limited time only 50% off sale. Use coupon code FAN50 for an additional $50 off the total. Divide $50 over 3 nights = $16.66. $89 - $16.66 = $72.34. Free Internet and Breakfast.

2. Search on HOTWIRE for Arlington Heights for 11/4-7 and you should see a 3* in the Buffalo Grove/Arlington Heights North area for $46 with the amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Business, Golf, Tennis, Laundry. This is likely the Hotel Indigo Palatine.

$72.34 for 3 nights + 46 for 3 nights = $355.02 - divided by 6 nights = $59.17 per night average.

The benefit of staying downtown for the weekend and the burbs for the other 3 would be the ability to try and take advantage of the Sterling Self-Park lot downtown, which has weekend rates (which I would take to mean SAT-SUN; you would have to call to get their current rates.)

This is what their rates USED to be up until recently. They have gone up, but you would have to call to get current rates. Note the bold $6 weekend rates. While they have gone up, I can't imagine they've gone up too vastly beyond that for weekends. Again, you would have to call to get current rates, but this would be a lower-priced garage near the Comfort Suites Downtown.

The Sterling Self-Park Garage

(located between Clark and LaSalle on Kinzie)

312.341.3463

$24 per day

In by 7 a.m. out by 7 p.m. - $14

In by 9 a.m. out by 7 p.m. - $18 per day

After 3 p.m. and weekends - $6

________________________________________________________________________________

________

Version Two is probably the better of the two if you are able to take advantage of lower parking rates at the Sterling for at least the first 2 nights.

If this is of interest, it would be greatly appreciated if you could use the site's links to HOTWIRE and Expedia.com. (click the HOTWIRE and Expedia.com)

Please ask if you have any questions.

[AaronJB]

Staying downtown for at least half the time would allow you to see more on those particular dates and not have to spend any commuting time. The Comfort Inn Downtown that is the hotel on sale on Expedia is also in a terrific location downtown.

If you do pick the version that allows half your stay at the Indigo, there is also a Metra train near that hotel.

I haven't used the Sterling Self-Park myself (I don't drive), but it does have the cheapest weekend rate I'm aware of.

Again, please ask if you have any questions.

[wjones]

YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLE!!! Not matter what I decide after discuss with my wife later, I will definitely use your HOTWIRE /Expedia / PRICELINE links to buy or bid.

Your advises are worth much more than the little cash back from some other websites, let alone you planned the stay for me with options to choose! Now I have pretty good idea where to stay and how to find good deal! Thanks for the $50 off coupon.

By the way, since i am going to stay in downtown for 3 days, I do NOT need a car for these 3 days, right? I will arrive at MDW and leave at ORD. Do MDW and ORD provide train to the downtown area? So that i can take train from MDW to downtown, then take train from downtown to ORD to get car after the 3 days.

[AaronJB]

Very happy to help!

If you can extend your budget a little further (rather than $60 or so a night, $75-85 a night average), you can probably stay downtown the entire time. You would take the subway into the city and then out to ORD; there are "L" trains that go to both.

If you would not have to rent a car at all, could you put that money towards hotel?

Additionally, there's no reason to have a car if you're staying down. It would be more hassle than help downtown.

[AaronJB]

An example of a wholly downtown stay:

Search on HOTWIRE for 11/1-4 in Chicago. There should be a 3.5* in the Mag Mile/Streeterville area with the amenities: fitness, business, internet, restaurant, pool. $82 is the price I'm seeing. This is likely the Doubletree Chicago Mag Mile.

Then you would combine that with:

Search for 11/4-7 on Expedia.com for Chicago. The Comfort Inn Downtown (free breakfast) is on sale for $89 per night for a special limited time only 50% off sale. Use coupon code FAN50 for an additional $50 off the total. Divide $50 over 3 nights = $16.66. $89 - $16.66 = $72.34. Free Internet and Breakfast.

$72.34 x 3 nights = $217.02. + $82 x 3 = $246.

Total = $463.02 divided by 6 nights = $77.17 per night.

So, that would be more than you had budgeted, but you would have no car expense (rental fee, gas.) and no commute.

Thank you so much for using the links to book your travel. It supports the site, and is greatly appreciated.

[AaronJB]

You could also potentially try splitting your stay on Expedia.com

In other words, for 11/1-4: The Comfort Inn Downtown (free breakfast) is on sale for $89 per night for a special limited time only 50% off sale. Use coupon code FAN50 for an additional $50 off the total. Divide $50 over 3 nights = $16.66. $89 - $16.66 = $72.34. Free Internet and Breakfast.

Then do the same thing again in a separate reservation for for the Comfort Inn for 11/4-7 (which is also on sale for $89) and try using the FAN50 coupon code again. That *may* not work if the site doesn't let you use the coupon twice (it probably will let you, but there's a chance it may not.)

One note though: The Comfort Inn for $89 sale is a 24 hour sale (it may go on longer than that, but it says 24 hours/today only on the website) on Expedia.com. That's 50% off.

[wjones]

Additionally, there's no reason to have a car if you're staying down. It would be more hassle than help downtown.

Thanks again, this is good to know. Time to change my car reservation (haven't paid for it yet).

As for hotel options, I love your second option to stay in downtown for the first 3 nights. I think 3-4 days are more than enough for the downtown alone, I will pick a hotel in suburbs for the last 3 nights since I want to visit some other areas other than the downtown, thus I need the car.

[AaronJB]

Sounds good! :)

Let us know what you can decide and then we can edit the thread title with the Hotel/s name. And, as always, any questions - please ask. I'd also be happy to provide directions to sights once you decide on a hotel.

[wjones]

End up with your initial suggestion: the Hotwire 2.5* $39/day deal. Of course, with your HOTWIRE link :)

It is no surprise, which means good: Holiday Inn Express at 2600 Lake Cook Road.

The main reason is due to car rental. Initially, I rent the whole trip for $141 (6 days, pick up at MDW, drop of at ORD). Then I tried to check for 11/4-11/7 and the rate is $267!!! The $126 increase for 3 days less is a surprise to me. So I stay with original reservation of $141 and decide to take the train to the city to avoid hefty parking fee. The nice neighborhood of Northwood, complimentary breakfast & free hi-speed internet are added bonuses :)

Hotel rate per night: $39.00

Nights: 6

Rooms: 1

Subtotal: $234.00

Tax recovery charges & fees: $31.85

Total price: $265.85

My next location after Chicago is Atlanta, will try to book it tomorrow.

[AaronJB]

Please let us know if you need help with ATL: very glad you were able to take the Holiday Inn Express.

The Holiday Inn Express for $39 for these dates is an awfully good deal - the hotel website has an average rate of $134.33 (the lowest refundable rate on the hotel website is $149) for these dates! That's a pretty remarkable savings, even for Hotwire! :)

Thank you again for using the HOTWIRE link & reporting your results. If you have any questions about sights/directions, please ask.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you received the hotel you were expecting and are happy with the results (who wouldn't be! :) )

Another "props" to AaronJB for another excellent job well done!

wjones, can you please add the amenities shown before your purchase as a reply to this thread... you can still view this information by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Have a great stay.

[wjones]

thereuare, thanks for this great forum!

Amenities shown on hotwire:

smoke free, complimentary breakfast, fitness center, pool, restaurant, business center, laundry facility. high speed internet

BTW, I just posted a help request at Atlanta forum:

Priceline Atlanta