room block booked

While in Chicago, my parents and I visited a number of Chicago city hotels to try and find one that would be a good fit for our wedding guests. Prior to my visit, I did extensive research into hotels that would be:

1. In the city
2. Easily accessible for out-of-towners
3. Close to fun Chicago things
4. Close to Salvage One
5. Clean (obviously)
6. Reasonably priced

I started with #6, and was able to rule out just about every downtown hotel, since most are $250+ a night. I don't think it's fair to ask our family and friends to travel to our wedding and to have to spend a small fortune to do so!

After taking all the above things into account, I ended up with 3 hotels that we went to visit, to see exactly where it was, what was near it, and that it was nice, clean, and habitable, haha. As it turned out, our  #1 choice, by far, was the La Quinta Chicago Downtown. Yep, it's a La Quinta, which some people may scoff at, but it truly had everything we could want.

• It's modern, roomy, and well kept.
• It's 3 walking blocks from the Blue Line L, so people who aren't intimidated by public transportation can just fly into O'Hare, hop on the Blue Line, and get to the hotel for like $5 round-trip.
• It's 2 blocks in just about any direction from fun things to do (ie, Willis Tower, shopping, siteseeing)
• There's a Starbucks and Potbelly's directly across the street
• They have complimentary breakfast, a pool, and free wi-fi
• It's less than 3 miles from Salvage One, so cab fare back from our reception will be super cheap
• Our room block will get the rate of $129 a night; by far the cheapest hotel, given the location

So the paperwork is in, and rooms are now available under our room block...yeah, a year and a half early. If you're interested in making your travel plans so far in advance, you can, haha. At least I can now check that un-fun wedding to-do item off the list!

I do still want to find a hotel that's under $100 a night, near the airport, for guests that may want or need that option. I have a few in mind, but I have no desire really to put much effort into that yet.