<p>Illinoismom,</p>
<p>I’ve now been to campus several times, and I stay at the Hampton Inn on 28th Terrace in Coconut Grove. Normal room rate is $105, and it’s very clean in a nice area. It’s not a shuttle hotel, but I strongly suggest you get a car in order to really see everything. I’ve has a lot of luck getting an inexpensive car from Priceline.com, in the name your own price section. The only downside of that is that you prepay for it, so if for any reason you don’t go, you lose that money.
Every time I’m here, all I think is, Why did I go to U of I??!!??</p>
<p>VHFather,</p>
<p>Thanks for the recommendations! We’ve had great success with priceline and hotwire over the years for hotels. Haven’t tried it for a car yet, but heard the same recommendation from someone else who had good luck with a car rental that way recently! </p>
<p>Our S, who graduated college in '10, visited U of I, Purdue, Iowa, Wisconsin, and ISU the summer after his sophomore year in hs. He planned all the trips, printed directions from mapquest and did all the driving while I got to relax and read the whole way there and back
: ) He always used priceline or hotwire to book the hotels, and knew all about strategies for rebidding and adding zones, etc. He is sooo very different than D; he always knew how to get real world stuff like that done, while she has always been completely focused (obsessed?) on academics. He never signed up for a single AP class, had a job year-round all through high school, and squeaked into U of I by just barely making the top 20% of his class. Funny how two kids in the same family can be so different!</p>