Visiting Chicago soon for the 1st time (Zion, Geneva: apartment, rentals)

[blzhunter]

We will be visiting Chicago for the 1st time and thought I would ask here for some possible places to stay since most of you know Chicago very well. I know there are some "bad"/high crime rate areas, but since I'm not familiar with Chicago and since it is so big, I have no idea what areas to avoid.

We will be visiting some people we know for a long weekend. They live near Irving Park.

We are looking for a condo or townhouse but would take a hotel that has a kitchenette (trying to save money on eating out so much while we are there).

At least one of the days we are there, we would like to go fishing. I'm not sure how I find out about local tourists fishing license or where to fish or anything. Are there any places to stay on or near the water?

Also, what are some good places to visit during our stay?

Thanks in advance!

[chirack]

Fishing info: Chicago Park District: Fishing

What sort of intrests do you have and is the vaction more about seeing the friend that seeing the town? Most of the fun touristy things to do are downtown. However be warned they charge for parking at downtown hotels and the ones near O'hare.

If the vaction is more about seeing the friend and you don't want a 20-30 min commute to your hotel downtown from Irving Park then stay somewhere on the northside near Irving Park.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Explore Chicago | The Official Chicago Tourism Site

[Chicago60614]

You basically have to make a concerted effort to "wander" into any of the really high crime areas of the city. They're not near the tourist and main "flashy" and "party" areas of the city.

[soulful]

Most tourists stay in the hotels located on or just off North Michigan Avenue (also called the Magnificent Mile area). Most don't have kitchens, however, some of those suite type hotels may have them.

I don't know a good source for renting a condo for a weekend (but i know there are some websites that offer that so you can probably google "condo rentals chicago" and find it).

Wish I could be more helpful, but just not sure about the kitchen thing. good luck

[Chicago76]

The only thing I can think of that may be easily findable/available would be a Residence Inn by Marriott located downtown/Streeterville. They do offer 2-4 day stays as well and come with a full kitchen. I would think the going rate for something like this would be $200-$300 a night. As others have mentioned, parking fees down there are a killer, so the money you save on food may get washed out by parking if you're driving to Chicago.

There may also be some other hotels that offer something similar.

Private apartment/condo rentals may be cheaper (and closer to your friends in Irving Park, but they will be more difficult to track down, and quality will obviously be highly variable.

[chet everett]

There are sites that allow folks to rent condos and even houses short term. Most of the listings are in the typical vacation spots for the region (lake Geneva, New Buffalo MI, Door County WI, Traverse City MI) but there are some regular downtown condos.

If you want a charter boat for fishing your nest bet to actually catch something is probably using the charter services that run out near the state park north of Zion, there is much more "cover" on the Lake Michigan bottom up there. You will spend boring hours bobbing around down in the Chicago area. The honest charter boat guys in Chicago will tell you up front that it is cheaper to drive to that area (or even Noethwest Indiana) than to have them use thier boat as a taxi, of course if you do it for an all day combined sight seeing fishing trip you cannot best the skyline from Chicago.

The media does a horrible smear job of sensationalizing crime. The tourist areas of Chicago are well patrolled and odds of any sort of crime, even pick pockets, is tiny. If you have friends here they will certainly know there are only a few areas that are to be avoided, none of which hold any delights for the tourist that is not shopping for drugs or hookers...

[aragx6]

Check out homeaway.com for condo rentals.