Romamntic places in chicago?

It sounds like you're trying to splurge on the hotel, but save money on the rest of your trip. In terms of transportation, you can easily get a cab from the hotel to go anywhere. Also, you can rent a town car for hourly or daily use (http://chicago.citysearch.com/list/72981 ). If you really want to save money though, there's always the RTA... not romantic, but the L trains and buses get close to most major spots (http://www.rtachicago.com/ ).

ROMANTIC PLACES:

It's going to be freezing, but if you have appropriate outerwear, Millennium Park is beautiful at night (http://www.millenniumpark.org/ ). You can go ice skating.

Here are two long list of things to do on Valentine's Day at http://www.centerstagechicago.com/promos/vday/list... and http://chicago.metromix.com/events/roundup/valenti... .

Valentine's Day happens to be the start of the Lunar New Year, so Chinatown will be celebrating. You may want to join the fun. See http://www.chicagochinatown.org/cccorg/home.jsp . Bonus: It's one of the most inexpensive areas in Chicago.

ROMANTIC DINNER:

Getting a nice romantic dinner for two for $50 total is going to be tough. Just getting a regular nice dinner for two for $50 can be a challenge. That is, if by nice, you mean anything close to real fine dining. You can somewhat casually dine for under $50 for two people though. You haven't provided any information on cuisine, so...

"BYOB Valentine's Day"

http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants/article/by... and http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants/roundup/ro...

* Bringing your own liquor will save you money in terms of the entire meal. So, some restaurants on this list might be close to (yet still over) your budget constraints.

For somewhat casual dining, I like the Grand Lux Cafe on Ontario & Michigan Ave. See http://www.grandluxcafe.com/ . It is near your hotel. It's got an opulent decor. It's got reasonably priced food and great drinks. Ask for plush window seats (a booth) next to the window so that you can look down on Michigan Ave. The acoustics can be loud though. It's a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant, a restaurant management company which owns top-quality places. Check out more of their restaurants here: http://www.leye.com/restaurants .

Another restaurant is Zest (http://www.icchicagohotel.com/dining/zest_restaura... ). I remember the decor being a bright white though, so that may not be romantic to you. Yet it's a quiet setting from where you can get a view of Michigan Avenue as well. It's the restaurant for the Hotel Intercontinental. Again, it's near your hotel (Grand and Michigan Ave). I enjoyed the interesting food flavor combinations. The meal seemed a bit more expensive than The Grand Lux.

Opera - a Chinese restaurant - has a $28.95 three-course prix-fixe dinner (Sun, Tue). See http://www.opera-chicago.com/ and http://www.opentable.com/rest_profile.aspx?rid=790... .

The Signature Room (http://www.signatureroom.com/Home/ ) at the top of the Hancock Tower might be pretty cool.

The Parthenon for Greek food is tasty and classy - http://www.theparthenon.com/ .

Here is a list of romantic restaurants, where you can check for possibilities - http://centerstagechicago.com/lifestyle/articles/r... . Here's a slideshow with the same theme - http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants/photogalle... . Metromix website at http://chicago.metromix.com/restaurants - on the left side of the page, you can choose options - like $9 to $15 avg. entree - to see a list of places.

Chicago is a world-class city. You should have no problem planning out your trip, since the city has an incredible number of restaurants and attractions. Search these sites for more options: http://chicago.metromix.com/ , http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=1,5 , http://www.centerstagechicago.com/ , http://www.190north.com/ , http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/Home , http://flavorpill.com/chicago , and http://chicago.citysearch.com/ .

Forget about budget friendly in Chicaago. You can't get dinner for $50 at any fancy places in Chicago. Taxi's are available for transportation, but, again, not cheap.

check out The Sybaris.

http://www.sybaris.com/modules/main/default.aspx