We are booked to stay at the Palmer House in Feb for unifieds. Since Michigan has a dance call on the first Sunday, and heading to Baldwin Wallace for the following Saturday, we’ve booked almost an entire week. My kid is probably only doing 3 or 4 auditions at Palmer, the rest will be somewhere offsite (Syracuse, Tisch, etc). The hotel is convenient but pricey. Just wondering if anybody has alternative recommendations of where to stay, that is really close by or within close walking distance of Palmer, that might save us some $. Or maybe we just stay put at Palmer and suck it up for convenience? Since we aren’t going to be able to afford any of the schools, at least maybe we get a nice hotel stay out of it (-:
@CanaDad I don’t think S & I will be staying at Palmer House. Just take a look at any of the websites like hotel. or expedia, etc. and do a map search based off of the Palmer house address. As an FYI…I don’t have knowledge of any of the hotels, I’m just providing some info re: distance. It looks like the closest is about 1/2 a block away which is the Hampton Inn Majestic (~500 ft). Others within walking distance Silversmith (.1 mi), Chicago Athletic Assoc (.2 mi), Club Quarters, Central Loop (.2 mi), Central Loop Hotel (.2 mi). There are lots of others too…these just seem to be the closest.
Good luck!
@CanaDad - I sent you a PM
@CanaDad - have you talked to the hotel directly to see if they can offer any savings? Our year we were able to book in August and by pre-paying our stay we got a very low rate. But it was non-cancellable also which was a risk. We also stayed on the Executive Floor which actually saved us $ as they had breakfast in the morning, drinks all day with some light snacks, and hors d’oeuvres and drinks in evening which we often ate as our dinner.
As far as other hotels - I have read here on CC of people staying at the Hampton Inn and actually preferring to stay off-site to get away from the hustle and bustle at the Palmer House. I’m sure there are other good choices close by as well.
One other thing you may want to consider if you are driving is to check on parking rates. As I recall, the Palmer House parking garage was very expensive. There are some apps and sites where you can purchase parking for the week, probably at a lower rate than the Palmer House. And some of the other hotels may have lower parking rates also. So definitely check that out if you are driving.
Stay as close as you can to Palmer House. It is a very convenient location and with Chicago weather, you don’t want to stray too far our of that nearby zone. Palmer House was my go-to when visiting my college kid in Chicago just for convenience balanced with price. If you stay there get a room away from the elevators! I don’t think the rooms there have a fridge or microwave, and for a longer stay you might check if some of the nearby alternatives have those amenities.
thanks @lithpool! I had done a google hotel search and for some reason the Hampton didn’t show up. I thought i’d seen it somewhere in these threads but couldn’t find the discussion again. It looks like a great option, and with a breakfast-included room I just booked and saved about $900.
Thanks also @afterp89, will check that out as well.
@vvnstar, we are flying in so no parking. The palmer executive floor was sold out for what we wanted.
We stayed up Michigan Ave by the river - 1. b/c Husband had points for a hotel up there 2. it was centralized for D’s offsite auditions (NYU, Boston and Syracuse) and 3. Being near the “Magnificent Mile” gave us access to fun food/shopping options for the evenings when auditions were over, which proved to be a marvelous distraction from the stresses at hand. Some people love the energy in the Palmer, my D hated it - found if overstimulating and claustrophobic (too many schools in small meeting rooms and narrow hallways - some of those spaces are TIGHT) Not staying there was the best decision we made. We took cabs to her auditions sights 4 auditions sights (incluidng the Palmer)- under $10 a trip
We stayed at the Hampton Inn Majesic - and it was perfect for us. It was cheaper, free breakfast, free coffee/tea all day long, short walk - a block, and quieter and calmer than the energy at the Palmer (at least the public floors). Also, the train has a stop literally around the corner from the Hampton. We drove in an parked at a park and ride on the north end of the city and rode in. It was easy and so much cheaper than the parking down town. (I pre-paid parking through one of those sites - I can remember the name which saved another $20-30. Parking for Saturday - Friday was something like $70.) If you need to be on the south end of the city at the end of the week, there may be a park and ride train station on that end of the city too. The public transport site was very helpful in identifying this.
We have reservation at Hampton Inn Majestic which is 1 block away. We have reservations from 2/2 through 2/6 With a AAA rate of 177 that includes parking! I have stayed there before and was satisfied. That does not include in and out privileges for car though.
Check out some Chicago arbnb’s.
My D (class of 2021) and I did the Hampton Inn Majestic which was great. It’s basically across the street which was nice as she liked staying away from it all but still so close that we could be there in minutes. We used Parking Panda to prepay our parking so it was very cheap and was located around the block.
Also, we took the family to Chicago earlier this month to see Hamilton. We stayed about 5 blocks north at Comfort Suites which was also extremely reasonable and offered more space. Used Parking Panda once again.
Parking Panda makes me think of SpotHero. It didn’t exist when we went to unifieds - but I have used it in chicago since and found it to be a significant savings. Last year we were there over around xmas - and parked less than a block from our hotel (same one I have mentioned before - on river near mag. mile) for less than 1/2 of what the hotel would have charged us!!
Hampton Inn Majestic worked great for us. Nice to have breakfast included. Our room did not have a fridge/microwave though, which would have been nice to have dinner leftovers for lunch. 
It was close enough that my daughter could scoot down the street in her audition clothes and a coat without freezing to death. And it was COLD!
Parkwhiz and Spothero is what a lot of Chicagoans use to save on parking.