Parking in Chicago
 

I just made reservations at the Hard Rock Cafe Hotel. Towards the end of the phone call she told me it will be $30 to park per day at the hotel. That sounds very expensive to me! PLEASE don't tell me that it costs that much to park everywhere else in Chicago - including popular tourists attractions like shops and museums. If we go to a hotel in the suburbs, can we excape a parking fee? I know that's true in St. Louis, but I don't know about chicago.

ETA: Will I be missing out on a lot if I don't stay at the HRC hotel? I heard sooo many good things about it and I visited the site and I was impressed, but I never been there before.

Re: Parking in Chicago
 

Parking anywhere downtown is gonna run you some money so getting a hotel in the burbs isn't a bad idea. That way you can just take the train into the city. You'd probably be able to find a hotel with free parking in the city as long as it's not downtown.

Re: Parking in Chicago
 

I would definitely stay in the city and pay the extra $30 just to be closer to all the attractions. Otherwise, you'll need to drive in and out of the city, which is way more hassle than it's worth (the suburban trains stop running at midnight, BTW). $30 a day isn't bad, although you may be able to find rates for a little less at nearby garages (of course, then you won't have valet service). I'd just park your car at the hotel and leave it there.

If you do stay in the city, for the love of God, do NOT drive to the tourist attractions within the city!!! Take cabs and the L unless you need to go outside the city. I've never stayed at the Hard Rock, so I can't comment on it.

Re: Re: Parking in Chicago
 

Why not? :confused:

I'm coming with my family this time. I doubt I can get my mom to use public transportation.

a) CHEAPER! Parking around the museums and such can easily run $20 for several hours. You don't want to pay $50+ per day in parking, right?

b) Easier. You won't have to find the location, navigate Loop traffic, find parking, then find your way from the garage to the attraction.

c) Faster. No time spent looking for parking, and if you take cabs you'll get dropped off at the door. Plus cabbies already know the best route to take, and which routes to take at what time of day.

If your mom won't get on the L, put her in a cab. Just DON'T DRIVE!!!

I think as soon as your mom sees what it's like to drive in Chicago, she'll be happy to be in a cab.

I'm not a fan of staying in the city (of Chicago), mostly due to the parking problem. Staying in the burbs doesn't guarantee free parking - the going rate seems to be around $11 around O'Hare.

It all depends on who's going, and what you want to do. I usually stay at the Spring Hill Suites, where you get free garage parking, free breakfast, and a microwave & mini-fridge in each room. It's closer to O'Hare than the Loop, but we only seem to go to the city for (soccer, football, basketball) games, anyhow. Oh, and I've paid as little as $59/night, but usually it's closer to $89.

I live in the suburbs, so I always took the train into the city and walked.

If it's within 2 miles, try walking to attractions (during the day... later at night some of the shady people start coming out). Chicago really is a cool city and you'll get more out of it if you're walking the streets.

ETA: Oooh, I just remembered it's winter. Don't walk if it's below freezing.

*flashback of driving in Chicago during Rushhour*
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

*curls into fetal position*

Trust me: We drove around, and while we lucked out on parking, I still wish we had used a cab/public transit. Driving in Chicago downtown is scary. I mean, I found driving in NYC better.

Don't stay in the suburbs, especially around O'Hare. It's a wasteland with absolutely nothing to do, and you'll lose a lot of time commuting. I don't know anything about the HRC Hotel, so I can't tell you anything there, but you're way better off to at least stay somewhere in the city.

We're kind of on a budget. :( We really don't want to spend more than $150 on lodging including parking. Doesn't it cost a lot to take the cab too? I'm going to talk around some more about cheaper but not fleabag lodgding.

Two more questions.

Ok, Navy Pier - is that open year round? How is parking there?

Where are the ecclectic neighborhoods, like the equivalent to the U City Loop?

It depends what type of thing you're looking for. If you want a nice neighborhood that used to be edgy but now is yuppified and has some cute stores and restaurants, try Bucktown. If you want something that is yuppified but still wants to be edgy, try Wicker Park. If you want hipster trendy, try Humboldt Park or Logan Square (and keep in mind that I've been out of the area for over a year now, so those might be more yuppified by now). There's a great Indian neighborhood way up north at Devon, and Rogers Park is a very cool, diverse neighborhood but it's on the far, far northern edge of the city. If you want to see some nice architecture, you can take the train or the el out to Oak Park and tour the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio and check out some houses he built in town.

Let me know if there's something specific you'd like to find and I'll see if I can help. :)

You don't park in Navy Pier. It's a pier. There is parking near there. There is nothing to do there in general unless you count a handful of boring amusement park rides like a ferris wheel and an IMAX theatre really fun.

The tourist things are all downtown. All the general shopping is downtown and so is most of the good food spots. You will see all the usual white women coming out of tupperware conventions eating at the Cheesecake factory. ESPN Zone and all those theme places are downtown. The gold coast area is a part of downtown that has some pretty good spots but is more pricey. My favorite chill place is Elm Street Liquors. It looks like a liquor store outside but inside it's got hip music and it's a good place to see and be seen.

River North is a part of the city that's pretty cool and has some fun spots, but I wouldn't recommend it for a tourist. If you end up there, a good restaurant is Thyme.

Old Town and Lincoln Park are great neighborhoods and have incredible restaurants. Lincoln Park, in my opinion, has one of the best restaurants in the world - Charlie Trotter's. But given that your budget is lower than the cost of a meal there, I'd skip that. Maybe some tapas at Cafe Babareeba? Also the area around the restaurant (Armitage) is young and cool. There is a clothing store Active Endeavors that I like there. Fun bars are on Lincoln Avenue but you'll see quite a few college kids from Depaul - if you like young blonde things, buy one a drink and tell her if she comes home with you she won't have to worry about working in her dad's hot dog truck.

The Wicker Park/Bucktown area is a bunch of over-rated streets with some cool stores (North/Damen area) and ugly ass buildings that are pretty on the inside with a few cool bars and clubs nearby. In fact if you leave the handful of streets with anything cool on them you find yourself in the ghetto. Some of the cool spots are also "buppy" hangouts. Good food places in the area are Feast and Toast - recommended for brunch. Stop by Cans for a drink. Also I think Green Zebra is a part of Wicker/buck and that is the best vegetarian cuisine for its price in the midwest. The people will be retarded "I voted for Nader" types mixed with some angry locals that buy cheap liquor and weird dried meat products with food stamps.

The South Side's only attractions are the Kenwood neighborhood with its mansions and infamous residents, China Town which really isn't that great, and Hyde Park which is cool for sight seeing but has no night life.

Anything else in the city is the outskirts and not really "the city". If you go by wherever the heck Loyola is you'll find immigrant communities and furniture stores and perhaps a couple grimey college bars.

If I were you I would stop by the architectural center downtown and sign up for one of their many tours. You can pick things that even go out to some of the burbs I guess.

Cabs will really eat into your budget if you are trying to stay within it. Downtown has a free trolley service too. Stay downtown, do an architectural tour, go see some stores, and eat at one cool place and call it a day.

For clubs check out Soundbar and Wet.

-Rudey

That's $150 per day, not $150 total, right?

I agree with Rudey that Navy Pier isn't much fun in the winter time, unless you want to see an IMAX movie or do some shopping. That's honestly about it. However, you CAN park there. We've done it as recently as this past May.

I would advise checking out the Museum area. I personally recommend the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium. While the Adler Planetarium is cool for observing and lectures, I'll admit that the displays are pretty cheesy. It is a beautiful building however, if you want to admire the architecture.