where to stay what to do in chicago? (Burnham, Kansas: hotels, house)

[moparhawk]

Planning a whirlwind weekend trip to chicago for my wifes 40th b day. We've never been and I'd like to impress her with my planning. Just want her to relax and enjoy the ride. We'll be flying in from kansas city.
* Ohare or Midway?
* Hotel- we really like the intercontinental here in kc, but whats a great hotel in a good location for 300.00 or less a night?
* What are the must see places? We enjoy musuems, and I've heard about shedd aquarium but what are the "must sees"
* would like one night at a dark smokey jazz club thats close to our hotel.
Thanks in advance, Id really like for her to feel special in your town.

[alwaystraveling25]

Originally Posted by moparhawk

Planning a whirlwind weekend trip to chicago for my wifes 40th b day. We've never been and I'd like to impress her with my planning. Just want her to relax and enjoy the ride. We'll be flying in from kansas city.
* Ohare or Midway?
* Hotel- we really like the intercontinental here in kc, but whats a great hotel in a good location for 300.00 or less a night?
* What are the must see places? We enjoy musuems, and I've heard about shedd aquarium but what are the "must sees"
* would like one night at a dark smokey jazz club thats close to our hotel.
Thanks in advance, Id really like for her to feel special in your town.

Hello...used to live in KC for 2 years, so I am very familiar with both KCI and O'Hare and Midway...here are my ideas:

Airport - both are equidistance from the city (public transportation-wise and cab fair wise). I would recommend doing the "GO Express Shuttle" versus taking a cab, since it is just as convenient and the same price as a cab. I would go with whatever airport you get cheaper airfare into. Midway is less modern and with less stuff to do, so if you get stuck there on your way back to KCI you are out-of-luck. However, with O'Hare, you often run on delays, so you might get stuck there just the same! I would go with whatever is the cheapest.

Hotel - Anywhere in the Maginificent Mile/Gold Coast area will be great for you stay in. As far as recommendations, I would look at both Hotels.com and Yelp.com/chicago to read reviews on specific hotels. Before I lived here, I stayed at the Amalfi and the Hilton on the Mag Mile. The Sofitel is also very nice. It depends on what amenities you want and price you can afford.

Museums/Shedd - Shedd is undergoing a major re-modeling right now, so most of the big marine animals (if not all) have been shipped elsewhere for the time being (whales, seals, otters, etc.) The Museums close to their will be very entertaining for you...I have never been (I heard they are fabulous, but I'm not into Musuems), but they are great!

Smokey Jazz Clubs - I can't recommend any Jazz Clubs, but I HIGHLY recommend going to yelp.com/chicago to search for jazz clubs. They have steered me time and time again to great bars and restaurants. Also, there is no-smoking in the State of Illinois in any bars or restaurants, so if you or your wife are smokers you will have to smoke outside of the establishment/hotel.

Here are some other things to know, as a former-Kansas Citian:
1) You are not driving a car here, at all. You will have to walk block after block in the blustery cold, so don't forget hats, mittens, scarves, etc. I had NO idea what I was in for when I moved here last March, going from driving everywhere to walking .2 miles to the bus stop. Make sure to dress warm, since you will be walking a lot more then you are used to...and on that note...

2) Bring comfortable walking shoes for the day! A girl I know visited me when I first moved here and her feet were killing her all day...she had no idea the amount of walking we do in the city. It's at least 10 times the amount of walking I used to do when I lived in Lenexa and drove everywhere.

3) Have Fun! Chicago is a great city and has a lot to offer. Don't be afraid to see other neighborhoods too; Just like Kansas City has Midtown, the Plaza, Brookside/Waldo, River Market area, Chicago has many wonderful neighborhoods with different restaurants, bars, shops, and sights to see. You will have a great time here...Heck, I had such a great time I ended up moving here!Have fun!

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by moparhawk

* Ohare or Midway?

Either one is is fine. Midway has been recently rehabbed and is pretty much the same as O'Hare now, although a few years ago it used to be a glorified bus terminal.

Originally Posted by moparhawk

* Hotel- we really like the intercontinental here in kc, but whats a great hotel in a good location for 300.00 or less a night?

I really like the Burnham, my wife and I have stayed there a few times when work was being done on our house and enjoyed it. We've had relatives stay at the Allegro a few times during holidays and they really liked that as well.

Originally Posted by moparhawk

* What are the must see places? We enjoy musuems, and I've heard about shedd aquarium but what are the "must sees"

The Art Institute should definitely be on your list. The Field Museum is great as well. The Museum od Science and Industry and the Chicago History Museum are great as well, but if you're just in town for a weekend it might make sense to hit the big downtown museums instead of spending time traveling between museums.

Originally Posted by moparhawk

* would like one night at a dark smokey jazz club thats close to our hotel.
Thanks in advance, Id really like for her to feel special in your town.

As mentioned, everything is non-smoking. What sort of Jazz are you looking for? Check The Reader and Metromix for listings of shows and clubs. I haven't been to a lot of Jazz clubs but The Green Mill and Green Dolphin Street are both good places. Davenport's in Wicker Park is a good lounge type place.

[eevee]

depending on when you're flying in (in terms of month), if you're coming on a weekend, you may want to fly into Midway, all other things being equal. the CTA tends to do its major construction on the weekends and there may be a shuttle bus on the blue line heading to/from O'Hare, on top of the fact that certain stops on the Loop may be closed. even w/o the shuttle bus, the ride from O'Hare is longer than the one from Midway, if you're going to the Loop

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by eevee

depending on when you're flying in (in terms of month), if you're coming on a weekend, you may want to fly into Midway, all other things being equal. the CTA tends to do its major construction on the weekends and there may be a shuttle bus on the blue line heading to/from O'Hare, on top of the fact that certain stops on the Loop may be closed. even w/o the shuttle bus, the ride from O'Hare is longer than the one from Midway, if you're going to the Loop

Just make sure Obama is not in town when you come into Midway or you raise the risk of that shuttle bus or drive taking over an hour to get downtown when they close 55 down to move Obama around. Obama uses Midway exclusively. Maybe that will change with Airforce One though.

Take the Orange Line.

[Drover]

If you're staying downtown or anywhere near it (and by "downtown" I mean the area with all the big skyscrapers and stuff), then fly into Midway. It's far less delay-prone, much less zoo-like, much less maze-like, and it's a much quicker trip to downtown from there. "alwaystraveling" mentions that there's "less to do" at Midway. I don't know why that should matter, I presume you're not looking for stuff to do at the airport except exit a plane when you get here and board a plane when you leave.

[sharkylittleton]

If you are into jazz, check out The Green Mill. It's historic also. Al Capone and friends used to hang out here back in the day!

Green Mill Cocktail Lounge

[prairiestate]

Midway wasn't "rehabbed". They tore it down and built a new airport. So yes, it is quite modern, and has plenty of shopping and dining, while being much easier to navigate then O'Hare. Southwest will fly you very cheaply, non stop, from Kansas City to Midway. Upon arriving, take the Orange Line train downtown. It is the cheapest and easiest option.

[aragx6]

Prairiestate mentioned Southwest is really cheap, but that's actually less true now than it used to be. If you want to check bags, go with Southwest all the way since they still don't charge for that service, but I just flew to KC for a weekend trip and American was almost $15 cheaper.

Again, I prefer Midway, but I'm also cheap so take that for what's it's worth.

I really like the Westin Michigan Avenue. Modern, clean and friendly with the perfect location. And if you're not yet, you should join their Starwood Preferred Guest Program, I truly think it's one of the best in the industry (lots of points, no black out dates of any kind etc.)