My first marathon will be in Chicago this fall. I made the cut off for registration, but of course all of the hotels in the city are booked. The closest I can find is near Midway. I am driving from SW Michigan and I don’t think I want to do that for packet pick up on Sat AND the race on Sun. Are there any suggestions out there that I haven’t thought of?
Thanks!
Christine
Midway wouldn’t be so bad if you could find a place on the subway line.
If hotels.com or hotwired hasn’t got anything a longshot would be the Belden-Stratford building which is an apartment building but has 2 or 3 hotel rooms in it.
Keep checking. Last year the Hilton had some rooms open up two days before the marathon…same is probably true for other hotels in the area…
The last few years, Michigan City, IN and the south shore train have been doing a special for the marathon. Should be easy to get a hotel room in MC and use the south shore to get to/from the marathon. I think they have special pricing and a limited stops train just for the marathon.
This wouldn’t be the most luxurious of places, but you might want to check out International House at the University of Chicago. It’s a grad student dorm but doubles as a hostel. You’d have a private room, access to a kitchen, nearby grocery, close to the lakefront path if you want to get in a short run, etc (it’ll also be cheap - not sure what the current rates are but probably around $40-50 a night).
It’s located on 59th street, right next to the Metra tracks and a couple blocks from the Museum of Science and Industry which makes it a 10 minute trip to the Expo (the University is on the Metra line that services McCormick place) and about 15 minutes to the race start (the last stop on the line is about 1/4 mile from the start line). I just googled their website - here’s where they have short term visit info http://ihouse.uchicago.edu/residency/residency_short.html
Like I said, not going to be as luxury as a Hilton, but comfortable, convenient, cheap, and really easy to get to and from the race.
Check out hotels.com or the like and look for hotels near O’Hare, Oakbrook and Evanston. All have large hotel bases, and you can get downtown via public transportation (CTA or METRA). If you coming from SW Michigan, Oak Brook would be closest to you.
PM me if you have any questions.
My first marathon will be in Chicago this fall. I made the cut off for registration, but of course all of the hotels in the city are booked. The closest I can find is near Midway. I am driving from SW Michigan and I don’t think I want to do that for packet pick up on Sat AND the race on Sun. Are there any suggestions out there that I haven’t thought of?
Thanks!
Christine
If you cant find anything in the city maybe you could try the rosemont/ohare area. 20min to downtown. midway is not so nice. did you try travelocity or orbitz for hotels?
Try these guys, they might still have a few rooms left that are very close to the start/finish line:
GREAT suggestions EVERYONE! I will check into the different options. THANK YOU!
:-)Christine
Somebody said the Midway area isn’t nice and that is false…If you are just looking for a place to sleep and don’t care how close you are to downtown, the hotels near Midway are new (er) and nice and very convenient to downtown…just take the Orange line from Midway, which is about a 15 - 20 minute ride into the Loop…much more convenient than O’Hare or other outlying areas…the Midway neighborhood isn’t “hip,” but it has plenty to do if you want to see Chicago neighborhoods…the Baby Doll Polka Club on Central is a gem…and this area isn’t far from the Beverly neighborhood, one of Chicago’s lesser known (to non-residents), but more enjoyable areas…
I have a reservation at the Sheraton near the starting line which unfortunately I won’t be able to use this year. If there is a way to transfer the res I would be willing to do so.
Check with the Sheraton and see if it is possible and get back to me at lalpeduezz@yahoo.com
Great race (I’ve done it twice).