Chicago Area Help Needed

[Harry in MI]

Hello, I need to make a car trip to one of the IKEA's near Chicago and need some advice. I'm coming from SE Michigan via I-94 and am wondering which IKEA store I should go to based on the following:

1. I plan to spend 1 Night at a motel near the IKEA, or otherwise cheaper area than Chicago proper between IKEA and the city.

2. I do want to spend a afternoon in the City, hitting the Apple Store of course (will be my first flagship store) and dinner and looking around time.

3. I don't want to drive into Chicago proper and hassle with parking and such so Subway/L Train is the plan.

So what advice can you give me? Is their a cool/cheap town to stay in near the IKEA that is easy to Subway into City? Do motel prices vary alot between these two burbs? Stores are in Schaumburg or Bolingbrook (both towns sound like names of Air Force bases to me for some reason).

[Gutenberg]

Calling dmann! dmann, please answer the blue courtesy phone.

[dmann]

Mileage wise, I think both stores are about the same distance from downtown Chicago- probably 30 miles or so. That 30 miles can translate into 20 minutes or 2 hours of driving depending on the horrible Chicago traffic.

I live in the city (near Wrigley Field) and I can make it to the Schaumburg store in about a half an hour if I don't try to go during peak time.

You will find every major hotel chain near each store, but I have a feeling that staying in Bolingbrook might be SLIGHTLY (and I mean SLIGHTLY) cheaper.

Schaumburg is a very well populated area NW of the city. It is the home of Woodfield Mall which at one time was the largest indoor mall in the country. There is an Apple Store in Woodfield which is 3 minutes away from Ikea.

Bolingbrook is SW of the city and is near Naperville which is a very affluent suburb. Oak Brook Mall is not too far away and there is an Apple Store there as well.

In either place you'll find all the things you'll find everywhere else- all the same stores and all the same restaurants.

Schaumburg is not too far from O'Hare, so if you stay there, you can drive a bit East and pick up the el (blue line) near the airport. It will take you right downtown for a couple bucks.

I am not at all familiar with Bolingbrook, but I imagine Metra serves that area. Metra is the rail system that links the burbs and WI with downtown Chicago. The el is part of the city's transit system.

BTW- we call it the "el" because it is elevated most of the time.

PM me if you have more questions-
DM

[Jimmypoo]

What he means by "most of the time" is.... this:






Read about it here.

[Harry in MI]

Thanks for the info dmann,

I plan to drive directly to a motel near the Subway ( I'm from D.C. originally so I usually call all hop on hop off public trans the Metro) then head into Chicago proper for the Mich Ave. Apple Store, dinner and such, then head back out to motel. Next morning I'd check out and hit the IKEA on the way out of town.

I'm putting some finishing touches on my "purpose built" office/video editing suite and IKEA has just the right wall mounted storage cabinet for above my desk (a built in "L" 12.5'x4')

[dmann]

No problem Harry in MI.

There are several hotels near the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center (formerly known as the Rosemont Convention Center.) This will give you a taste:
http://www.hotels-rates.com/hotels/locat...L/usa/419/
Pay no attention to the rates listed- you can probably find much better at all of them.

The Rosemont Blue Line stop is right there and you can hop on that to get downtown.

Have fun!
DM