Neither one of us have been to Chicago before and we're not looking for extravagant, just a hotel that's comfy and safe and centrally (ish) located.
The Loop = Downtown for most people. Mag Mile is just north of the Loop (north of the Chicago River). Just about any hotel in the Loop or Mag Mile is comfy, safe and centrally located to shopping, Wicked, museums, the lakefront.
I'm a fan of the Chicago Hilton and Towers. It's in the south Loop and v. pretty and the staff is great.
I also quite like the Hotel Burnham. Central Loop. Charming.
The Palmer House Hilton is also nice. Central Loop.
But really, almost any hotel in those areas are good. You can go here for more hotels. There are a few in that list I'd stay away from (Essex and Congress is okay but a bit dumpy).
Here's my favorite Chicago hotel. It's on Michigan avenue near the river.
That is a good one, Laga.
Squeee is right, Sail! October 11 - 15th. I hope you can join us.
Chicago, you say?
Wanna come?
Thanks for the info, y'all! I've bookmarked your posts for later inspection. My friend (M.) and I started pondering this trip yesterday morning, in a whole "what if" kind of way, and next thing I knew it was 7:30pm and I was booking a flight. Frontier airlines was having a one day sale for flights in and out of Denver, and Chicago was one of the cheapest routes. Go figure. Chicago! Yay!
Let me begin with saying that I agree with you Trudy. As for what I was trying to say, I'm sorry, I'm not explaining myself well. The way I've observed the process is that people say, "We want cheap but fabulous hotels! We want cheap flights!" and then the majority picks the (sometimes only slightly) more expensive choice. That's what I've observed. Which is why I didn't think anyone should worry about pulling Chicago just yet.
t makes out with Nicole because we basically agree
(Though I
would
like us to try and keep economical in mind so we don't suffer "can't afford it" attrition.)
I would love for it to be in KC. Heck, I originally helped out and pulled info for KC the last time it was an option. Great hotels at great rates! Very decently priced flights! Cool localistas! Fun things to do! But the majority chose the more expensive option. So - this time around I'll hold onto a teensy bit of hope for KC, so that it's more likely, cost wise, that I can attend. But I won't count on KC being the Chosen One just because it's the least expensive option.
t makes out with Nicole even more
KC would be wonderful and there is easily a weekend's worth of things to do.
I *know* my traveling companion and I will want to see Wicked
The Oriental Theatre is in the Loop, and ridiculously accessible via public transit.
I just adore Chicago, but all the other cities that have been mentioned are also very cool. I think what we can learn from NOLA was that the price break is very important.
I just loved the Highland Inn in Atlanta, btw, which while it wasn't shiny or modern or de-luxe, was quirky and clean and very accommodating....
NOLA also taught us something about the voting. The poll that put NOLA in the lead was a 4 parter if I remember correctly. NOLA won, but both Minneapolis and KC got sizeable votes as well. I've always felt that if those two cities hadn't split the vote one of them would have ended up hosting the F2F. The combined total for Minneapolis and KC was quite a bit higher than the numbers that NOLA had.
As the counter for that vote, I'll confirm ND's memory. It was a close vote among 3 of the cities, and the 4th (Nashville, I think) did fairly well, too. On the other hand, voters were allowed to choose 2 cities, which may have cut down on any city's taking votes from any other.
