Where to stay...hotel tips please.

We are staying the last two nights of a trip at the Westin on Michigan Ave for a conference. However, I am looking for where to stay in the first three nights.

It is just my husband and I, and we would like a nice hotel in the center of activity. One option would be to spend all nights at the Westin, but some of the TA reviews were pretty marginal.

I havent%26#39; been to Chicago, and am just geting started. All advice is welcome.

Where to stay...hotel tips please.

Please read reviews for other hotels here in the Chicago Hotels section of this web site. There are many ';nice'; properties to choose from. A property in the Mag Mile or River North area is best from a tourist standpoint.

Where to stay...hotel tips please.

Thanks Dave. I have read the reviews, but being a complete newbie and reading mixed reviews, I am looking for a bit more guidance.

I%26#39;ve not stayed at the Westin so I can%26#39;t comment other than to say its in the area you want IMO. Problem here is that ';popular'; area probably has nearly a hundred hotels and many of them are great places to stay. I%26#39;ve stayed at the Affinia, Sofitel, Four Seasons, Talbott, Suttons Place, Sax, Hyatt, Fairmont, Four Points, Wyndham, Hampton Inn, Intercontinenal, Marriott, Park Hyatt, Doubletree, and others. All of them good but priced wildly different.

Maybe if you could suggest a price range? Dave quite often posts special prices from Travelzoo and dvd has helped many find rooms. One of the problems you can run into even after you find the hotel you want, is price. If there%26#39;s a big convention going on or a festival of some sort, prices can be through the roof. I would look for hotels, in general, north of the river and within four or five blocks of Michigan Ave. If you find somes options post them and I%26#39;m sure you%26#39;ll get a response.

In addition to price range, including your dates of travel and what you are looking for when you say ';nice'; would be helpful. Even all the nice hotels are different, and maybe one or a few will suit your tastes better than some of the others.

Sorry, one more thing. Reviews are one person%26#39;s opinion based on one stay. That someone didn%26#39;t like a hotel doesn%26#39;t mean it%26#39;s a bad place to stay. If they list concrete reasons they were unhappy with their stay, and those things are also important to you, then that can be helpful.

If they simply say that a place is boring or small or impersonal or tired . . . That doesn%26#39;t mean very much when making selections.

You%26#39;ll find negative reviews of pretty much every hotel that has ever been built.

Personally, we always stay at the Palmer House Hilton. I believe they have just finished their reonovations, we are staying there again tomorrow night. I like the location and staying in a hotel with some local character and ambiance.

The Westin on Michigan AV has just lowered their points to 10,000 per night, so therefore more inquires for this property. They are also running a special for 99 per night through the high season of summer but not all dates, worth looking into.